SIGNS, SIGNS, Part 1

I love taking pictures of signs that tickle my funny bone. Sometimes it’s a mistranslation into English (if you get a kick out of these, check out the engrish.com website).

Other times it’s the sign equivalent of a typo. I know this isn’t from Europe, but I can think of no better example as the infamous Crapi Apartments in Los Angeles. I used to live right around the corner and it’s been like this for years. I don’t know if the owners aren’t aware or just don’t care. (Moral of the story, if you’re going to try to sound exotic, be sure to check the spelling!)

Still other times it’s just words or phrases that have a slightly different meaning to Americans than they do to, say, the Brits. (I’m sure they find examples when they come over here too.) For example, ‘homely’ means ‘plain and slightly ugly’ to Americans but to the British it’s the same as ‘home-y’ to Americans. (That is, cozy and home-like not the ghetto-slang meaning someone from your ‘hood…!)

Sometimes it’s just something that strikes me funny…such as the this sign I saw in the

Madrid airport. I know how it feels! (Why it wasn’t in Spanish, I’ve no idea!)

Other times, it might be something that requires a sentence or two to explain why I found it funny at all. Here’s another Madrid sign. I only have basic high school Spanish but to me for all the world like it’s advertising parking for a Bono concert.

Lastly, there are signs that strike me as funny just because of linguistic cultural differences. I was confused by this sign - is it for a team of youthful offenders or a team of people whose job it is to offend the youth?

Whereever I am, I try to snap signs that tickle my funny bone. Have you done that too? If so, I'd love to hear about it or see the pictures! You can contact me at wordgoddess@gmail.com.