June 26, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Sign at Oakland Airport

Scott Souchock submits a picture taken by Brian Jones in Oakland, California:

My friend Brian Jones sent me the photo above. He commented: "For me, in person, it was hard to decipher what was to the right and what was directly out the door to the street that this sign was above."

To solve this problem most clearly would be to print "Through door to" or simply "To." on the sign.

I believe we rely on arrows maybe a bit too much. In either case, things that are through the door should have a downward pointing arrow because you're going under something.

Airports and transportation facilities in general, should have the highest quality of signs anywhere, because a lot of people coming and going are one time or infrequent users.

June 15, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Dark Horse Saloon restroom signs

Paul Schreiber points out a photo found on Buzz Andersen's Flickr photostream:

These gender restroom indications at the Dark Horse Saloon in Boulder, Colorado are very confusing.

It would be interesting to find out how many people walk into the wrong bathroom.

June 7, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Lawn sign in the Forbidden City

Base80 submits a picture of a sign taken in Beijing, China:

Here's a sign I saw on in a park behind the Forbidden City:

"Please do not disturb me." 

Is the sign feeling grumpy?

June 6, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Taxidermy and cheese

Nikki Brown submits a picture of "Wisconsin's Finest Taxidermy and Cheese." Nikki writes:

It's hard to know where to start with what's broken here really...are you purchasing a block of cheese with a stuffed squirrel treat inside or can you get your beloved dog filled with brie?

June 2, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: "Just Oak" store sign

James Krippendorf submits a picture of a sign taken in Wales, Wisconsin:

I saw this sign for a store called "Just Oak & More."

Who can figure out what they sell?

I sure can't.

May 30, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Post office hours sign

Sarah Beckley writes:

This US Post Office sign informing you that they will be closed on the upcoming holidays in May and June is broken.

It is trying to be an ad for the new Star Wars stamps AND a holiday hours notice, but it fails at both.

The sign is posted on the front door of the post office branch, but the text is not large enough to read at a glance.

May 25, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: (Just for Fun) Valero gas station sign

A reader named Jon writes in:

While driving through Colorado, this Valero gas station sign caught my eye.

Apparently this gas station would like to its visitors to barter pizza for unleaded gas.

Who knows? Maybe using a different monetary unit makes it look cheaper.

May 11, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Max's restaurant sign

Scott Souchock submits a picture of a restaurant sign taken in Seattle, Washington:

I stumbled across this sign for a restaurant called Max's at the Ramada Inn the other day.

It is interesting how on the sign, an "All Day Breakfast" is served from "7am to 1:30 pm."
I wonder what they consider the other 17 1/2 hours to be?

May 8, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Toilet paper sign

Nick C. submits a picture taken at a gas station bathroom in Arizona:

I stopped at a gas station somewhere in Arizona. I went into the bathroom and saw this sign in the stall which read:

"*No*
Toilet Papers inside the Toilet please!
*Thank you!*"

I found the sign to have very interesting grammar, particularly the use of asterisks.

May 3, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Hair dryer instructions

Mallory O' Connor submits a picture taken in a gym in Vancouver, Canada:

This sign appears at the gym I attend – the YWCA in beautiful Vancouver. It alternately makes me weep with laughter that we need such a sign in the women’s (or anyone’s) change room.

I felt a little weird taking this photo on the sly with my phone, but probably nowhere near as silly as the designer who had to be briefed on the assignment to create this happy-hairdrying-hair-on-head-only icon!

April 26, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Clean sweep campaign sign

Jason Aller submits a picture of a sign taken in Davis, California:

I found this sign on campus at UC Davis. It reads:

NOTICE:
This item has been identified as abandoned.
Please remove in 14 days or it will be removed.

The problem with this clean sweep campaign sign is that they left off the frame of reference for when the 14 days begins.

If you see the sign do you have 14 days left, or 1 day left?

April 20, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: No dumping sign

Eric Greiner submits a picture taken in Seattle, Washington:

There are two broken things going on here.

1. The signs states "Dump No Material.  Whatever."
(I know it's a misprint, it should say "Dump no material whatsoever" but it is funny).

2. The fact that there is a big pile dumped (obviously it was dumped by park services) right in front of the sign adds to the irony.

April 16, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Warning sign at cliff edge

Rory Parle submits a picture taken in Ireland:

I took this photo of a half-hidden warning sign at the Cliffs of Moher in the west of Ireland - half of the sign is literally inside the wall!

April 4, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Sign over garbage can

Karl Mok submits a picture taken in Ontario, Canada:

March 27, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Additional parking sign

Jane Gaboury submits a picture taken in Norcross, Georgia at "an upscale shopping center called The Forum."

March 20, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Red Cross sign

Terry Spittle submits a picture writes:

We took this picture of the Red Cross medical post sign in the village of Casarabonela in southern Spain. 

There was some building work going on at this street corner, and the signs had been put up temporarily to aid the visiting tourist. 

However, potentially the most important sign, the one for the Red Cross medical post (fourth from the top), is upside down. So it's not clear if the clinic is actually to the right or to the left.

March 13, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Caution children sign

Jeffrey MacEachern submits a picture of a sign taken in Maple Ridge, British Columbia:

I took this picture in my townhouse complex of a caution sign which reads, "Caution: Live Children Playing."

As opposed to...?

March 7, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Thai bathroom sign

Eric McDaniel submits a picture taken in Thailand:

I recently took a bus from Sukhothai, Thailand to Bangkok. This is a sign on the bus's bathroom door.

The sign is clearly prohibiting doing something in the bathroom, but what is it? Even our native Thai-speaking companion couldn’t figure it out.

February 26, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Parking sign in front of police station

Joel Ballon submits a picture of a sign taken in West View, Pennsylvania:

I photographed the set of signs above in West View, a suburb to the north of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

The set of signs are directly in front of the common entrance of the Borough building and the police station, which is located in a strip mall.

would you park between 7 PM and 10 PM?

February 22, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Mexican jewelry shop sign

Chris Bell submits a picture taken in Huatulco, Mexico:

On my recent trip to Huatulco, Mexico, we came across this nice little jewelry shop called "Gold Silver shop."

If you look closely at the store sign, you will see the store's slogan which is "We wont cheat you too bad,"  which, with the obvious grammar errors, also isn't really the best marketing plan. 

February 19, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Construction warning sign

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?

February 14, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Hidden "No Parking" sign in San Francisco

Mike Kaufman submits a picture taken in San Francisco, CA:

"In August 2006, my daughter got a parking ticket in San Francisco for parking on Marina Boulevard on a street cleaning day.  However, as shown by photograph above which I took a few days later (as part of an appeal of the ticket), the relevant "No Parking" sign cannot be seen because a tree has grown around it."

P.S. Mike wrote in after his original submission to add: "My daughter Tanya's appeal of the parking ticket was successful! However, I'm not sure whether the city has bothered to fix the problem of the hidden sign."

February 10, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Lawyer sign

From Oswego, Illinois, Brooke Novak shows us the sign for the "drive thru lawyer".

January 29, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: One way signs

Brendan Bartholomew submits a picture taken in San Francisco, California:

I saw a pair of contradicting "one way" signs in San Francisco's financial district.

Also of note is the little, orange sign nearby, whose arrows seem to be saying "not one way."

Best of all, the "one way" signs were at the corner of a dead-end street, which means if you are already on that street, you've disobeyed one sign in order to get there, while exiting said street would require going against the other sign!

There was some sort of construction or roadwork taking place down that dead-end, so it's possible the dead-end-ness of it was only temporary.

January 26, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Misuse of apostrophes in signs

A photo from Jannygirl's Flickr photostream:

The plural of oreo is oreos - not oreo's.

For examples of the rampant misuse of apostrophes in signs see the Grocer's Apostrophe image pool on Flickr.

January 23, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Sign with website url

David Barnes submits a picture taken in the UK:

I spotted this sign on a primary school display board with the website address UNCONDITIONALCOMPASSION.COM in all upper case, which is not broken in itself.

What is broken however, is that on the same sign, there is text underneath the url in all upper case that states "all in lower case."

Whoever printed the sign should have checked to see if web site addresses were case sensitive, (and they would have found out they weren't) before they printed the sign. It is broken to make people think that website addresses are case sensitive.

January 15, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Free customer parking

Giudo Loches submits a picture taken in Salem, Oregon:

We saw these two signs together in downtown Salem - "Entering FREE Customer Parking District" on top of "No Parking."

I couldn't tell if I was able to park on that block or not.

January 11, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: (Just for Fun) No fishing sign

A No fishing sign from the site Signs of Life.

Thanks, Jerome in Paris.

January 9, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Canada Science and Tech museum sign

Jay Heins submits a picture taken in Ontario, Canada:

While approaching these steps at Canada Science and Tech museum our observant three year old exclaimed that we couldn't use the stairs! 

This sign, I suspect, was meant to prohibit climbing on the concrete bench. Two changes could have made the message more clear:  place the sign on the front side of the bench, and re-draw the pictogram steps to look less stair-like and more bench-like.

There was no sidestepping the meaning of the sign for the boy, though. We had to go around to the side door to get in.

January 4, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Harajuku station sign

(Just for fun...) Dominick Washburn submits a picture taken in Tokyo, Japan: it appears that smoking giant, human-sized cigarettes isn't allowed in Tokyo's Harajuku station.

January 1, 2007 12:03 AM

Broken: Metro car dealership sign

Jay Heins submits a photo of a car dealership sign in Ottawa, Canada:

This is a sign in front of a car dealership called Metro, which I pass daily.

They are always cycling through pithy sayings but this one takes the prize. If you can't get the customer's business, you may as well insult them!

December 21, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Wal-Mart photo lab sign

Mickey Mellen writes:

This picture was taken at Wal-Mart.  I have no problem with them closing the photo lab for 30 minutes, but there's one key piece of information missing - the time the sign was posted!

I don't know if the sign has been up there for 1 minute or 29 minutes. Without the posted time included, that sign is almost worthless.

December 19, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Renter sign

Morgan Johnson submits a picture taken in San Francisco, California:

I saw this renter's sign with the url www.715page.com - with "street" written in as the last part of the url with a sharpie.

Really, what would be cheaper?  Printing up new signs or just registering the mispelled url?

December 12, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Fresh donuts sign

Flickr user Triborough points out a sign from Long Island City in New York:

This picture was taken at Queensboro Plaza in Queens.

The store owner should probably redo the "donuts" sign text if they want to try and convince customers to buy their "fresh donuts!"

November 29, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Cape Cod restaurant sign

Rhea Becker submits a picture of a sign taken in Provincetown, Massachusetts:

This sign reads "Parking while dinning at Napi's 5 pm dinner only."

It belongs to a restaurant named Napi's - a restaurant that has been around for a very long time, here in Cape Cod.

Is the sign trying to inform me that parking is only available for dinner at 5 pm?

Or is it trying to say that you can only park while dining at Napi's - and that dinner is at 5 pm?

You would think that since they have been around for awhile that they would have had plenty of time to fix their sign!

November 22, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Embassy Suites exit signs

Adam Bromwich submits a picture taken in Irvine, California:

I recently stayed at an Embassy Suites in Irvine where my wife was taking her California Architect's Board exam. On our floor, we spotted these pretty crazy exit signs in a corner of the hallway.

Simply exchanging them would make sense, since the two exits are equidistant from this corner, but the current configuration is clearly broken.

It was a little ironic that she and hundreds of other architects at the hotel were there to test/be tested on building and safety regulations.

November 17, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Boston airport welcome sign

Reader Linda submits a picture taken at Boston's Logan airport:

When I arrived at Logan's baggage claim, I was greeted by this sign:

"Gilead Hepatitis Team welcomes you to Boston."

There's a surefire way to make visitors feel welcome in your city!

Actually, I know why the ad was there, but only because I specifically work in this field. A few weeks later Boston hosted the big Liver Meeting.

November 14, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: No smoking sign

A reader submits a picture of a sign taken in Iraq:

If smoking isn't allowed, why is there a need to pick up your cigarette butts?

November 11, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: "Main apartments" sign

A reader named Terry points out:

I like the slogan for the apartment - "Living on Main," when they clearly live on 5th Street in Branson, Missouri.

November 8, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Pharmacy sign

Blaise Coutaz submits a picture she took in an Italian pharmacy. It continually scrolled a test message...

Memory lost!

Blaise writes, "It was rather fun for a pharmacy."

November 7, 2006 12:05 AM

Broken: Do not enter sign

I recently spotted this sign in Riverside Park, on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Is there any place free from marketing hype?

"New and improved! Don't enter!"

November 6, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Sign in Gaffney, South Carolina

PD from Atlanta, Georgia sends this in:

This sign found in Gaffney, South Carolina shows a new variation on the misspelling of "it's" - i'ts.

(Yes, Gaffney is the location of the Peachoid water tower .)

November 1, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: St. Peter's Basilica sign

Kristen Lindgren submits a picture taken in the Vatican City in Rome:

I took this picture while waiting in line to get into St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. 

I can't really figure out what this sign is trying to communicate. Maybe that one-legged people or people without a shoulder aren't allowed to enter?

October 23, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Cash machine sign

Kevin Micalizzi submits a picture taken in England:

I was recently on a trip to England and came across this sign on a trash bin at the South Mimms auto service area. 

Every trash bin has this sign that says "Cash machine here."

I personally wasn't willing to reach in the garbage can to find the cash machine.

It would have made more sense for the sign on the trash can to say "Cash Machine" and then have an arrow under the text pointing in the direction of the cash machine.

October 16, 2006 09:15 AM

Broken: Spurious "copyright area" sign

Commenting on a sign declaring a "copyright-protected area", Cory comments on BoingBoing today:

"One of the side-effects of the entertainment industry's war on copying is that it's created a kind of folk-mythology about copyright being a kind of magic word you can invoke to put a fence around anything that you want to police."

Link

October 12, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Cuyama town info sign

Ernie Glenesk submits a picture taken in Cuyama, California:

What is the total trying to describe exactly?

October 9, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Surgery sign

Dan Thornton submits a picture taken in Dublin, Ireland:

This surgery sign was taken on a main street in the center of Dublin.

If they can't keep their sign in good condition I fear how I would actually be treated in surgery!

October 3, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Warning sign

Deric Bundy writes in:

Here is a picture of a sign I saw in Texas.

If people aren't going to pay attention to the warning signs in the first place, is putting out another sign telling them to obey the signs that they're already ignoring really going to help?

September 26, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Electronic billboard

Jade Wu submits a picture taken in Las Vegas, Nevada:

I saw a huge electronic billboard in Las Vegas was showing a Microsoft windows calculator.

Maybe the operator was asleep and didn't realize what was being shown in the sign.

September 21, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Braille help sign

Chris Barr writes in:

I went in to pick up my bicycle today from this bike shop and saw this printed paper sign that says - "Please ask staff for help." 

Right under that text is braille, but the braille is printed on paper that has no variable texture, therefore making the braille unusable.

September 18, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: "Off limits" sign

Alex Barrett submits a picture of a sign taken in Anoka, Minnesota:

So...what? Only unauthorized personnel are allowed?

This is a completely undoctored photo. I've seen this sign nearly every day for five years when I drive home from work, and it still makes me laugh. The fence is guarding a few military vehicles at the Army Reserve Center in Anoka.

September 12, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: "Left lane" sign

Erik Dahl submits a picture of a sign taken in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:

"Left lane must..." Do what?  What must the left lane do? 

Luckily for me this is on my commute to and from work, so I know what I need to do.

This is a very confusing intersection, there is a bridge, a tunnel, and several hills. If you make a wrong turn it is going to be awhile before you can turn around. I see people get it wrong at least once a week, and I'm only going through the intersection 5 times in a week. 

August 26, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Hotel map

David Brown submits a picture taken in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico:

This is the evacuation sign in the room I was in at Hotel Playa Los Arcos in Puerto Vallarta.

Can anyone looking at this map determine where I was supposed to be located?

Didn't think so.

August 22, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Chinese restaurant sign

Eric Ford submits a picture taken in Globe, Arizona:

This is a picture of a sign I took of a Chinese restaraunt in Arizona.

Since when did Chinese food become "New York Style?"

August 16, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Discount lunch special

Joel Adria submits a picture taken in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada:

I think what is most entertaining about this "0% off Lunch Special" sign, is that it has been that way for about 5 years.

August 9, 2006 12:04 AM

Broken: Huahine bungalow sign

Michael A. Schulman submits a picture taken in Huahine, French Polynesia:

This was the sign directing us to our bungalow during our honeymoon.

Good thing there were only 40 rooms total. Why not just put them in order?

August 5, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Pranked street sign

Jen Hough sends in a picture of a sign taken in Seattle, Washington:

I saw this modified parking sign on 14th avenue that had the word "questioning" pasted on top of "parking."

This was actually the work of a pranksters who occasionally modify city signs.

[Funny or not, it's illegal - don't try this at home, kids :) -mh]

July 27, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Boston signage

Matthias Bohler points out a picture taken in Boston, Massachusetts by Randy:

How could anybody get lost in the Big Dig?

July 22, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Road signs stack

Paul Schreiber points out a picture from Julian Missig's Flickr photostream:

What is this series of signs together trying to tell drivers?

July 17, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Chair sign

Jim Shuma writes in:

At the Orlando International Airport, some chairs had gotten wet, and they were marked with "wet chair" signs to keep people from sitting on them.

The signs read: "Welcome to Orlando International Airport. Wet chair."

The only problem is that the text "Welcome to Orlando International Airport" is so small compared to the rest of the text on the sign that it just looks like the sign says "Welcome to Wet Chair."

July 12, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Bathroom sign

Michael Schulman submits a picture taken in Columbus, Indiana:

Is this a bathroom or a conference room? Maybe it is both?

Since I am a male, I could not enter to find out.

July 8, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Truck sign

Tyler Walles points out:

If you are going to name a company "Yellow" then the sign should be yellow as well, not orange.

July 4, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Bus sign

Cindy Roche submits a picture taken in London, England:

I saw this bus sign in London.

So where do the buses pick up passengers?

June 23, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Tea list

Seth Godin points out:

When this menu of fancy teas was new, I'm sure it was impressive. And when they ran out of the first or second flavor, it was probably okay that they crossed out the missing flavor with a mixture of whiteout and blue magic marker.

Now, of course, it's just a billboard screaming about a lack of attention to detail. Note that broken plastic stand on the bottom...

Read Seth's full post

[...and thanks to Seth for giving us the idea for This Is Broken three years ago! -mh]

June 21, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Arby's sign

John Thompson submits a picture taken in Lakesite, Tennessee:

I saw this sign at the local Arby's, and I'm still trying to figure out what a chicken fish is.

[Plus... what was the less than 100% natural chicken made of? -mh]

June 5, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Emergency exit

Morgan Harris-Warrick points out:

In the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy center, I came across this door which has both the signs "Emergency Exit Only" and "Not an Emergency Exit."

So, in case of an emergency, am I supposed to go out this door or not?

June 1, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Construction site sign

Ken Feldman submits a picture taken in Brooklyn, New York:

I saw this sign outside a construction site.

So, only unauthorized people are allowed? This is definitely a unique warning sign for a construction site.

May 27, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: To restaurant/toilets sign

Alan Clarke writes in:

I came across this sign while I was attending a software design methodology course at an IBM building in London.

After wondering several times why each time I tried to go to the toilets I ended up in the restaurant, I looked carefully at the sign.

As you can see, the sign system is of a modular design. One sign would work fine. Two clearly doesn't. With three or more, the system would probably start working again.

After I took the photo, I watched people make their decisions for a while. I saw that at least 70% turned the wrong way, even after having gone the wrong way once before.

May 23, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Door instructions

A reader submits a picture taken in Palermo, New York:

I biked across the country this summer and stayed in churches almost every night. One night I stayed in a church in Palermo, and I found a door with a plastic sign on it with the text "Keep Door Closed," but there was also a note posted on that same door with the text "Please keep this door open for ventilation."

However, the door was closed. Which sign would you have paid attention to?

May 15, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Road status sign

Steve Horne submits a picture taken in Pelham, Alabama:

This has to be one of the most poorly thought-out signs I have seen. When is this road going to be closed? One week from when? Which three days of the week?

This sign definitely doesn't serve as a very useful warning.

May 10, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Scrapbook store sign

Aaron Vincent submits a picture taken in Littleton, Colorado:

It's unfortunate that the "S" on this Scrapbook store sign had to be the unlit letter.

May 2, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Hancock Tower sign

Todd Jennings submits a picture taken during a trip to Chicago:

This was taken on the ground floor of the 1,150-foot-high Hancock Tower. I was looking for the observatory, and found this less-than-helpful sign apparently trying to convince me that the observatory I was looking for was in the basement.

April 3, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Parking sign instructions

I saw this sign in a parking lot...

... and was confused: no vehicles beyond the yellow line? What about parking inside it? (And what about those millions of vehicles beyond it? Isn't that a bit extreme to ban them all?)

March 29, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Garage stalls sign

Quick: where is stall 268? I had to do a double-take.

(Hint: signs shouldn't count right to left.)

March 23, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Broken speed limit

An anonymous reader sends in this picture from Rocky Hill, New Jersey: a 25 mph speed limit sign, then a few yards later a 35 mph sign, then a few yards later a 25 mph sign. Have fun gunning the engine for 0.2 seconds before hitting the brakes again!

March 18, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Left arrow

Ayse Sercan sends in a picture taken in San Luis Obispo, California:

I took this photo of a traffic sign at the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus.

The arrow must have meant "the other left."

March 15, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Liberty Caskets sign

Rick Chambers submits a picture of this unsettling sign in Kalamazoo, Michigan:

I saw this sign one morning while out for a run and laughed so hard I got a side stitch. Hey, I guess it's good to give the customer options!

What's even funnier is that unless you peeked in a window, you would see that the business had gone under -- so to speak -- and that the sign refers to the building, not the product.

March 9, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Parking violation sign

Lauren sends in this picture taken in an airport parking garage, and notes: "Maybe they are trying to cheer you up after realizing your car is gone?"

March 7, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Stop sign

Sally Lewis sends in a picture from Louisiana:

These two signs on the same pole completely baffled me and my passengers.

Was I supposed to stop or keep going?

March 3, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Parking restriction signs

Paul Schreiber sends in pictures of two parking restriction signs in Mountain View, California:

I was trying to park my car on a Saturday on Castro Street. The sign on the left was in front of my car and the sign on the right was behind my car. Am I supposed to obey the sign in front of our car or the sign behind it?

February 27, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: "Fortune" store mall sign

Kevin Jones sends in this picture taken at a shopping mall in Belarus:

I recently went on a trip to the country of Belarus with my girlfriend. We were walking around a shopping mall and discovered this sign.

The store is suppose to be a "hip" clothing store, so the sign is made to be in English. The name of the store is actually "fortune."

In Russian, (the native language in Belarus) they abbreviate the word fortune. The abbreviation translates to "fart."

The store clerk is aware and just said they didn't know what it meant at the time. Oh well, it has probably tripled their sales.

February 20, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Temperature indicator on sign

Josh Santangelo submits a picture of a temperature indicator from Matt C's flickr photo stream:

Wow, Boston must really be suffering.

February 13, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Sign to cenote

Ryan Heneise submits this picture taken in Tulum, Mexico:

This sign is posted over the entrance to a cenote (which is an underground river). This picture shows the stairs leading down to the cenote.

What is the "No Touch No break control" sign trying to tell me?

February 6, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Series of directional signs

Jim McDonough submits a picture of a series of signs taken in Dublin, Ireland:

No left turn, no right turn, no straight ahead, and a stop sign!

No wonder there aren't any cars!

January 31, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Hotel rooms sign

Harriet R. Goren submits a picture of a sign at a hotel:

If you were staying in this h