As a teacher of foreign languages, I'm all about clarity in communication. When people wonder what we meant to say, we have not communicated well. Having said that, though, I can't hide the fact that I find unclear signs very humorous. Go figure!
Today's post contains mostly signs, but there are also several other pictures that make you wonder.
I'll start off with some signs where the translations leave you wondering what was meant.
Is this place visited mostly by old men?
I'm not sure who is supposed to have the continence issues at this next establishment.
What exactly are they trying to say in this sign a reader saw while visiting China?
What is a tourist to do with this next one?
This sign makes it clear that tourists are expected to be civil shoppers.
If I have any readers in China who can read both Chinese and English, could you tell me how close the translations above actually are and where they went wrong? Thanks!
Here are a couple of signs that don't need words in English to make you wonder what they meant.
This one seems clear enough — no boxing with the bears. Is that a huge problem in Japan?!
This one was snagged in France, where they love to use what I call "international illiterate signs" — signs that often make you wonder what they are supposed to mean. Does this one mean that backhoe drivers aren't supposed to scoop up people?
A reader in Romania sent this picture of a bicycle lane in his country. What did they mean by laying it out like this? Or was doing so just being mean?
It's really special that there's a stop sign painted as the rider approaches each light pole. I wonder, though, if it's a one-way bike lane since STOP is painted on only one side of the poles.
A reader touring in the Middle East got a picture of this next sign. Did they meant to be this honest in their dishonesty?
For any science teachers out there — aren't all nightcrawlers boneless?
Literature teachers delight in telling us what deep things authors actually meant in their writings. Recently I received something that literature teachers may not enjoy as much as I did....
Whoever made up that Venn diagram didn't tell what the green area where the two circles intersect stands for. The following was a suggestion from one of my students.
Any other suggestions on what the intersection of those circles stands for?
I'll end with a link to my wife's most recent blog post with some pictures of our grandson Ryan. The post is called A day in the life of Ryan at Grandma’s house aka: Shameless Grandma Post
quotation...
"We are so glutted with luxuries that we have forgotten how to enjoy our necessities." — Warren Wiersbe
=^..^= =^..^=
Rob
Following the tragic death of the Human Cannonball, a spokesman said "We'll struggle to find another man of the same calibre."
Print This Post
E-mail this post to a friend
Share this post on Facebook
If you enjoyed this post, get updates by RSS 
e-mail 
or Twitter 
on Nov 9th, 2011 at 8:08 am
I don’t know what the intersection stands for, but the diagram does go a long way toward explaining why I didn’t get along so well with high school lit. College lit was a whole different story. Thanks for another interesting post.
on Nov 9th, 2011 at 8:51 am
Suggestion for the Venn Diagram intersection:
It’s what the teacher wrote that he/she is teaching as established literature.
on Nov 9th, 2011 at 10:29 am
Those human cannonballs always think they’re big shots.
on Nov 9th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Absolutely, without a doubt, my favorite part was “what the English teacher thought the author meant.” Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I spent my whole high school and college lit classes wondering what was wrong with me. I wanted always to believe the author meant the curtains were blue. Even after they told us what “the author meant,” I never saw it that way.
As an avid reader, I am so glad to finally find that the author meant what I always thought the author meant … “sit back and enjoy the story!”
Thank you, my friend!
on Nov 9th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
You mean the albatross was actually an albatross?!! I am not sure how I will be able to cope.
on Nov 9th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
@Ron and KT – It cleared up a lot of things for me too … and I teach some French literature courses! I tend to be a “literalist” when reading, both Scripture and literature, except when it’s clear that what’s said is a figure of speech.
@Bill – I’m not going to stick out my literal or figurative neck to answer your question.
@Michael – I think I know what you meant….
@Jonathan – I know all too well what you meant.
on Nov 9th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Even as a lover of literature, I always thought literature interpretation was a little silly. I loved writing interpretative essays/papers, though, because I could say just about anything I wanted to as long as I could back it up. I would make it a game to see how absurd I could be and still support my claims (and still get an A on the paper). A good exercise in creativity!
on Nov 9th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
I am among the majority it seems, at least with those who are posting. I’m so glad to know when the author wrote, “The curtains were blue,” that is what he meant…nothing more. I have ALWAYS asked that question–how do you garner so much meaning when maybe the author just meant what he wrote?
I’m sure I miss out on the deeper meanings, but am still enjoying reading. Thank you for your post. I laughed out loud when I read it!
on Nov 10th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
I showed my husband the English venn diagram. His response was, “The overlap is what gets you an A in the class.”
on Nov 11th, 2011 at 10:33 am
One time we bought a camping chair made in China. The tag on it said something to the effect of “If you too big then sitting may cause fall ouch”.
We about fell out of our camping chair laughing!!
on Nov 11th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
Thoroughly enjoyed the Asian signs, and Gayle’s comment made me laugh out loud. =)
on Nov 15th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
What the Japanese sign says about bears is even funnier than the picture. It says “Never ever engage in pro wresting with a bear. Never tackle a bear.”