Misinterpreting Signage: Year in Review
Last year I took on a new hobby: Misinterpreting signage and sharing those misinterpretations on Instagram. For example:
Use caution while breakdancing.
Do not drink mustaches.
The Fun in Misinterpreting
Misinterpreting signage is a game that’s always in play at the periphery of my attention and allows me to inject a bit of wonder into everyday life. It’s particularly exciting when I’m traveling and unfamiliar signs are plentiful. Some signs, such as “Caution: Wet floor,” are ubiquitous even internationally and give me a reason to smile on a regular basis after misconstruing them.
I enjoy the constraint of the project: It would be difficult to look for funny things in the environment when there’s no limit on what I’m looking for. By becoming more attuned specifically to signage, it’s become more automatic and amusing signs and interpretations often jump out at me when I'm not actively looking for them. This post contains a selection of my favorite signs from last year.
Strategies for Misinterpretation
There are several strategies for misinterpreting signage and trying different strategies on a particular sign helps to keep the game engaging in situations where something amusing about a given sign hasn't already made itself apparent. For example:
Misinterpreting context
It is dangerous to ride a bicycle on top of a truck on top of a motorcycle.
Misinterpreting symbols
Designated Human-Whale makeout zone.
Use of cat toys with non-felines is prohibited.
Misinterpreting text
IM GOING TO WIN SO MUCH CANDY
Sorry that I made things awkward. Can we still be friends?
I try to acknowledge every element of a sign in my misinterpretations. Sometimes this leads to elaborate captions:
The hand of God will strike down your dog and give life to a snail
Do not perform the Macarena in front of the crouton bird.
Even as a robot I am aware that your breath is terrible. It is cruel of you to mock the objection I am expressing through my displeasure indication light.
And sometimes they're much simpler:
Refuse magic.
Push to dispense eyes.
Sound of one hand clapping.
Signs in foreign languages are ripe for misinterpretation:
Ring bell for omelettes.
It's just having its coffee.
Speaking of language, I've found that people don't always agree on the meaning of words they use in their signs. For example, I thought everybody agreed on what a sandwich is:
Finally, those days of painful ambiguity are behind me.
But it turns out that people don't always agree!
Nope.
Of course, where there's transportation, there is probably signage to misinterpret:
Your checked bags are probably f@#%^ed.
I'd like to read you a poem I wrote about this seatbelt.
Levitating luggage is forbidden from following passengers.
Caution: Submarines surface below road.
Mortality contemplation area
Please cleanup after your giant dog.
We will key your car.
Disrespect the letter 'C' over there.
This is where babies are made.
Sometimes it’s fun to hone in on subtleties in the postures of people depicted in a sign:
Zombies, please exit to the left.
It is rude to tell people to "talk to the hand."
My friend Brant Wynn posted a great misinterpretation of this NYC subway sign - one which millions of people see on a daily basis. I hadn’t been able to come up with a caption for this one.
No James Dean impersonators
Nice job, Brant!
Some signs are ambiguous.
Let's not be friends.
While others are overbearing:
OK, but what I *really* want is a sale.
Some signs just scream hypocrisy:
HI IM CALLING TO REPORT THIS SIGN
Except this sign.
Inspired by Ze Frank:
I became interested in misinterpreting signage after watching “The Show with Ze Frank,” a daily video blog that ran from 2006-2007 (spanning Google’s acquisition of Youtube and before both Youtube and Vimeo were the de-facto places to post video online). The original videos from the series are offline, but Ze Frank rereposted some of his videos inconspicuously on YouTube. Three episodes in particular stand out to me as including some great (and possibly NSFW) sign misinterpretations.
Let's Misinterpret Together!
This misinterpreting signage game would be a whole lot more fun if more people could share their own unique interpretations. Going forward, I plan to tag my Instagram signage posts with the hashtag #SignageFun and I invite you to do the same. I hope to misinterpret with you soon.
For more signage fun, you can check out my Instagram.