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February 19, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Construction warning sign

Prohibited_1 Brett Pemberton submits a picture taken in Melbourne, Australia:

I saw this warning sign guarding a construction site with the text -

Entry to this
site by
unauthorised
persons is
"Prohibited"

I wonder, does the underline cancel out the quotation marks?

Comments:

_@_v - "first"! i couldn't resist...

Posted by: she-snailie_@_v at February 19, 2007 12:20 AM

At least they used the proper opening and closing quotation marks.

Posted by: John Russell at February 19, 2007 01:57 AM

"Trespassers" will be "violated"

Posted by: tartan at February 19, 2007 02:16 AM

And cooperation hasn't been hyphenated in generations.

I like the inconsistency between *is prohibited* and *your cooperation*. Shouldn't it be, Thank you for *your obedience*?

Posted by: tartan at February 19, 2007 02:20 AM

I also love how signs like this usually don't say much, because "entry prohibited for unauthorised persons" is basically the same as "entry prohibited for people for whom entry is prohibited".

They could as well have just written "Entry not allowed for everybody."

Posted by: Andreas at February 19, 2007 05:36 AM

"Offenders" may be remanded to "Guantanamo Bay."

Posted by: Ben Thoma at February 19, 2007 09:19 AM

Whenever I see something like this in quotes I figure it means someone said it.

"Prohibited", said the lawyer.

"Great Savings" cried the marketing department.

Posted by: arcticJKL at February 19, 2007 10:12 AM

I read it like it's prohibited .. You know, wink-wink? Technically, you're not "allowed" in, but, you know, nobody's watching.

Posted by: Fastolfe at February 19, 2007 11:24 AM

(Sorry for the duplicate, previous comment didn't like my use of angle brackets.)

I read it like it's *air quotes* "prohibited" *air quotes* .. You know, wink-wink? Technically, you're not "allowed" in, but, you know, nobody's watching.

Posted by: Fastolfe at February 19, 2007 11:26 AM

You mean how the company I work for gives me a "paycheck" every other week?

Posted by: Haggai at February 19, 2007 01:21 PM

This is "broken"

Posted by: Andreas at February 19, 2007 03:29 PM

Whenever someone gets diarrhea of the mouth (sorry) like this sign demonstrates, it usually means they've lost focus. What this sign needs is a great big DO NOT ENTER, followed by, See Larry in the trailer for permission.

Posted by: tartan at February 19, 2007 04:06 PM

How about just "Authorized Personnel Only"?

I do have to say, though, that the horizontal line is more likely a separator between the different messages, rather than an underscore for "PROHIBITED".

Posted by: Six-ft-Six at February 20, 2007 12:42 PM

I always thought quotation marks were either for literal quotes OR 'don't takes this to seriously'. Neither makes sense in above example. I see it everywhere here in the US.

Posted by: Zephyr at February 20, 2007 02:54 PM

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