Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Seriously, What Does That Mean?

Cities like Rome and Venice get a lot of tourists every year.  And the tourists come from all over, so these cities try to design signs that are easily interpreted by people from all over the world speaking hundreds of different languages.  Some of the signs are very effective.  Then, there are the less effective signs.  Luckily, Mark and Anne are experts at interpreting signs.  For example...


This is a traffic sign we found in Sorrento.  Obviously, this sign limits the towing loads that snails are allowed to carry.  

Earlier, in Rome, we found the following sign outside a church:

Rock n Roll ain't noise pollution

For some reason, the city of Rome feels the need to ban either singing or rock n roll music in general.  (Also note the "no aerosol" sign on the left, which - apparently - bans underarm deodorant).  

Many signs are easy to understand, given the context in which they are found.  We found and decoded this sign on our hike up Mt. Vesuvius:



In that context, the meaning of this sign is clear: When you fall off this mountain, you should roll up into a ball to roll down the mountain faster.

Sometimes, though, the signs are not clear, even given the context.  For example, is this street sign from Venice banning nipples or underwear?

No people without necks allowed?

Sometimes, signs make even LESS sense, given their context.  For example, we found this sign on a trash can which banned depositing of bagged trash and .... unbagged trash.

So... what goes in here?

And, finally, this sign is awesome, although bewildering in that it was found in Italy: No Soccer.


Anne and Mark: like a walking Rosetta Stone.


1 comment:

  1. You made my day. Thanks for sharing about life abroad. Blessings to you both!
    -Heath

    ReplyDelete