Signs of the times
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Signs of the times
Wistfully going through some old holiday photos (the way you do), it struck me that I seem to have a penchant for taking photos of quirky, unusual and/or amusing signs, and I thought they might warrant a topic. Or maybe not; probably this'll die an even speedier death than the topic about roller coasters that I tried to start.
Anyway, if you've spotted a sign somewhere that's tickled your fancy, and you've taken a photo, post it here citing when and where you saw it. (Photos that you've merely found on the interweb - even if they're of droll signs - don't belong here; post them in the Photo Dump instead.)
I'll kick off with this one, taken at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, 1994.
Anyway, if you've spotted a sign somewhere that's tickled your fancy, and you've taken a photo, post it here citing when and where you saw it. (Photos that you've merely found on the interweb - even if they're of droll signs - don't belong here; post them in the Photo Dump instead.)
I'll kick off with this one, taken at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, 1994.
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Re: Signs of the times
Cool thread. I'll be contributing with a couple as soon as I can get through holiday pics.
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Re: Signs of the times
Boston, Massachusetts, 1998:
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Re: Signs of the times
Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1998:
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Re: Signs of the times
Hot Creek, Sierra Nevada mountains, California, 1994. This is mainly the one that prompted me to start this thread. Notice the people in the water happily ignoring the warning. (Three minutes after the photo was taken, I was among them.)
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Re: Signs of the times
Israel 2005 (sorry for the blurriness, taken on board a coach)
Edit: Just by way of explanation, "Coffee Anan" in Hebrew translates as "Coffee in the clouds". So it's a rather clever pun.
Edit: Just by way of explanation, "Coffee Anan" in Hebrew translates as "Coffee in the clouds". So it's a rather clever pun.
Last edited by Adam Gillard on Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mike Brown: "Round 12: T N R S A E I G U
C1: SIGNATURE (18) ["9; not written down"]
C2: SEATING (7)
Score: 108–16 (max 113)
Another niner for Adam and yet another century. Well done, that man."
C1: SIGNATURE (18) ["9; not written down"]
C2: SEATING (7)
Score: 108–16 (max 113)
Another niner for Adam and yet another century. Well done, that man."
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Re: Signs of the times
These are great. I don't go anywhere so I can't contribute. But they are great.
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Re: Signs of the times
Cairns, Australia, 2000.
Somewhat more thought-provoking to find on the back of your hotel room door than the usual fire drill notice; I particularly like the bit about "If the building starts to break up, protect yourself with mattresses and blankets".
(The rather obvious patching-up job was my clumsy attempt, when I was less experienced with Photoshop than I am now, to clarify some text rendered illegible by the reflection of the flash.)
Somewhat more thought-provoking to find on the back of your hotel room door than the usual fire drill notice; I particularly like the bit about "If the building starts to break up, protect yourself with mattresses and blankets".
(The rather obvious patching-up job was my clumsy attempt, when I was less experienced with Photoshop than I am now, to clarify some text rendered illegible by the reflection of the flash.)
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Re: Signs of the times
Brisbane, Australia, 2000.
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Re: Signs of the times
Who knew Cornwall was so risqué?
"There's leaders, and there's followers, but I'd rather be a dick than a swallower" - Aristotle
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Re: Signs of the times
Although foreigners are of course innately funny, you can find amusing signs a lot closer to home - indeed I spotted this one in my home town:Jon O'Neill wrote:I don't go anywhere so I can't contribute.
Llandrindod Wells, Wales, 2002
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Re: Signs of the times
Nice that it's next to the sign for slug pellets!Jennifer Steadman wrote:
Who knew Cornwall was so risqué?
Re: Signs of the times
Might be buttplug and er.... Lil-lets.Karen Pearson wrote:Nice that it's next to the sign for slug pellets!
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Re: Signs of the times
Queuing in a coach to get on the ferry to go to Bruges, 2010
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Re: Signs of the times
My favourite 'lets laugh at johnny foreigner' photo, was a sign at a laundrymatt in Singapore saying 'Dont kill your wife, let us do it' . Can't believe that missing '.
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Re: Signs of the times
Spanish town whose name I forgot, late 2008:
Point taken.
Point taken.
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Re: Signs of the times
Shop entirely dedicated to constipation, in Nice, France (2007):
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Re: Signs of the times
Near Gianno's Campanile in Florence, Italy (2007):
Re: Signs of the times
Wonder if they're struggling these days.Matt Morrison wrote:Shop entirely dedicated to constipation, in Nice, France (2007):
You know, with the state of the economy and that.
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Re: Signs of the times
Saw tons of cool graffiti around Europe on trip in 2007, but it's not really the same thing as signs even though the messages are interesting, so I've just plumped for this favourite of mine, seen in Venice:
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Re: Signs of the times
Um, Nerja by any chance?Mark Deeks wrote:Spanish town whose name I forgot
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Re: Signs of the times
In Munich, you can park your dog:
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Re: Signs of the times
Another thing I found interesting around Europe was the use of English obscenities to advertise/name 'hip' events.
I saw a few posters for music events around Italy with "fuck" or "shit" in the title, and here is a poster from Berlin:
I saw a few posters for music events around Italy with "fuck" or "shit" in the title, and here is a poster from Berlin:
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Re: Signs of the times
Yeah, see, the idea of specifying that you post your own photos saying when and where you took them was precisely to discourage people from repeating lame old clichéd shit off the internet.Marc Meakin wrote:My favourite 'lets laugh at johnny foreigner' photo, was a sign at a laundrymatt in Singapore saying 'Dont kill your wife, let us do it' . Can't believe that missing '.
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Re: Signs of the times
Seen on a ferry between Hamburg and Copenhagen, a potentially deadly but cool-sounding room filled with CO2 and rum:
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Re: Signs of the times
Quite funny seeing someone trying desperately to imitate me in Amsterdam:
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Re: Signs of the times
A twist on the "English obscenities" thing, seen on a national theatre poster in Bruges:
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Re: Signs of the times
Word stemming in Prague, 2011:
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Re: Signs of the times
Very specific customer eligibility at Prague airport, 2011:
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Re: Signs of the times
On a similar theme, this was in Bishop Stortford Tesco's male toilets, a place I like to hang out in of an evening.
Eoin Monaghan wrote:
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Re: Signs of the times
I've been to Singapore , I'll have you know...I was merely making a comment about this form of of racism.Phil Reynolds wrote:Yeah, see, the idea of specifying that you post your own photos saying when and where you took them was precisely to discourage people from repeating lame old clichéd shit off the internet.Marc Meakin wrote:My favourite 'lets laugh at johnny foreigner' photo, was a sign at a laundrymatt in Singapore saying 'Dont kill your wife, let us do it' . Can't believe that missing '.
And if you only think I'm whinging because I'm jealous as I cannot start new topics, you'd be right .
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Re: Signs of the times
nearly as good as the doctored FLAME RETARDANT sign I saw recently in a lift........no photo though.Mark Deeks wrote:On a similar theme, this was in Bishop Stortford Tesco's male toilets, a place I like to hang out in of an evening.
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Re: Signs of the times
More of a logo than a sign and it has to be looked at from the right angle.
Re: Signs of the times
I think you'd have to be a good swimmer to follow this sign in Kew Gardens:
2 signs from Dr Who Experience that probably don't meet the criteria of the thread, but what the heck:
First one is very blurry as very dark when I took the pic, but it's of an angel. The second is self explanatory:
2 signs from Dr Who Experience that probably don't meet the criteria of the thread, but what the heck:
First one is very blurry as very dark when I took the pic, but it's of an angel. The second is self explanatory:
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Re: Signs of the times
Sorry, no picture, but I remember seeing this sign on the road to Limerick: "Inane road improvement scheme. This project has been funded by the Irish Government and by the European Regional Development Fund."
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Re: Signs of the times
A random bench we saw in China. No idea what it's on about, but it has the word 'condom' in it, and that makes it funny.
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Re: Signs of the times
An unusual speed limit in Connah's Quay, North Wales.
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Re: Signs of the times
With regards to butt-plugs, they do actually have an 18+ section in that shop. Not sure why, because it's not exactly Orgy Central there... unless I was hanging out in the wrong places.Jon Corby wrote:Might be buttplug and er.... Lil-lets.Karen Pearson wrote:Nice that it's next to the sign for slug pellets!
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Re: Signs of the times
Couple of puerile ones my friend Oli sent me from a trip around Europe in 2005 or 2006:
The Wikipedia page for Fucking, Austria is quite funny, but I'm not sure it's all true.
The Wikipedia page for Fucking, Austria is quite funny, but I'm not sure it's all true.
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Re: Signs of the times
From Disneyland Paris
"Hold hands and no dancing"
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Re: Signs of the times
I wonder if I was the only person who thought "someone's replaced NUND with 2".Matt Morrison wrote:Seen on a ferry between Hamburg and Copenhagen, a potentially deadly but cool-sounding room filled with CO2 and rum:
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Re: Signs of the times
When on holiday in Scotland last year, I noticed a lot of their signs involve people falling off of things, and looking particularly pleased to have done so. Here are some from a path around a gorge:
Do not attempt the YMCA dance on the cliff path.
Do not attempt to race boulders down the cliff.
Also this one:
Do not attempt to wear the recycling bank as a hat.
Do not attempt the YMCA dance on the cliff path.
Do not attempt to race boulders down the cliff.
Also this one:
Do not attempt to wear the recycling bank as a hat.
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