Those readers who are female will know just what I'm referring to when I say that there is often additional, hand-written or computer generated signage in a womens' restroom.

In my youth, I was quite amused by the one at the church I attended (and where Dan and I later married) that read: "Do not throw tampons in the toilet."  In the grammatically correct sense, the sign instructed people not to throw tampons while in the toilet.  What the individual meant to say was "Do not throw tampons into the toilet."

So today, while out to breakfast at Crystal Cove with Ken, Cindy, Erik and Dan, I heeded the call of nature.  I laughed out loud when I read the sign in the public restrooms there.  "Do not put anything other than toilet paper into the toilet, especially sand."

I pictured myself making an offering of toilet paper to the toilet and silently hoping that the toilet's acceptance of the toilet paper would somehow relieve my need to pee.

Happily, I went with what I believe the writer intended to say...which was, "Please do not put anything in the toilet other than bodily waste and toilet paper."

And, since I hadn't been in the water, I didn't need to worry about the inadvertant sin of some sand falling out of my bathing suit and into the bowl.

What's the funniest sign you've ever seen (in a grammatically incorrect way)?

 


Comments

Todd

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:06:10

I am consistently amused by the use of quotation marks to indicate emphasis. In Cleveland several years ago, I daily walked by signs proclaiming Cleveland's Best "Chicken" or Try Our "Hot" Corned Beef (or sometimes Hot "Corned" Beef). Evidently the proprietors were unaware that used in this fashion the quotation marks indicated that the term enclosed by quotes should be taken ironically. I never did want to find out what the "Chicken" really was or whether my beef would be room-temperature. I also was rather confused about what "Corned" might mean if it didn't mean the usual--cured with a mixture of salt and spices.

In any event, these always provided much amusement.

 

Mom #1

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:55:17

I still think one of the funniest ones I ever saw was with you, in the men's department at a long-ago department store. The sign read: JEANS STYLED FOR A MAN'S FITS.

 

Laura

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:02:08

Good observation, "Todd."

<grin>

 

Laura

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:03:58

Mom,

I'd forgotten all about that one!

I have a friend who said that this from my blog, "In my youth, I was quite amused by the one at the church I attended (and where Dan and I later married)" indicates that Dan and I were married in the bathroom!

Ah well...it's not easy to be perfect about one's grammar.

 

Bill Davis

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:12:40

Wow.... the "funniest" ungrammatical sign we've ever seen? That's a hard one to narrow down! It's seems we've spent our lives reading and documenting those kinds of signs, especially living here in the Philippines. Besides prodigious and wrongly-placed use of apostrophes, some signs are ungrammatical, but many involve issues of semantics. TV ads which have incorrect stress in the intonation give wrong meaning which is often hilarious.

Some of our favorites are "Please demand for your receipt" "Fill up this form" and "Please Flash the Urinal" ('flash' is how they would spell the way they pronounce 'flush.') Recently we saw, "Caution, Strong Undertow. Swimmers Must Take Extra Careful."

My favorite TV ad has two young women at a table drinking Cali (pineapple soft drink.) Girl 1: There he was, looking straight at me. Girl 2: What DID you do? Girl 1: Well, I just held up my Cali and gave him SOMEthing to look at! (in other words, I'm not so pretty, so I'll show him my drink!)

The classic sign of all time was outside a building in Manila: "Impotence Demo Center." We didn't even want to know...

 

Laura

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:22:21

Bill,

What great examples of cross-cultural errors in grammar. You had me rolling, expecially with the one about the flashing of the urinal.

 

Bill Davis

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 00:40:24

Thanks... today I thought of another which is really and truly a grammar error. At the Starbucks at Medical City, the nicest hospital in Manila, there is a sign: IN ORDER TO SERVE YOU BETTER, PLEASE FALL IN LINE.

First of all, some people argue that "fall in line" is Filipino English. But I grew up in a military family and our church Boy's Brigade had military structure and "falling in line" was an expression we used.

But of course, the other issue is that the Starbucks sign switches subject midstream. It should be: IN ORDER (for us) TO SERVE YOU BETTER..."

And for "Todd," we also have "stores" here which sell "Coca Cola" products and other "foods" where the proprietors don't realize how the quotation marks affect the meaning.

 

Laura

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 11:42:38

Bill,

I like that one, too. Language is a tricky thing. I always feel I'm perfectly clear until someone points out an error or looks at me like I just descended from "Mars."

<gg>

 

Bill Davis

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:16:23

I "found" another misuse of quotation "marks" today. At our favorite Chao Long "noodle" house...

Sorry, we only serve "beer" til 12 midnight.

Hmmm....

 



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