As most of my regular readers know, my daughter lives in London. Even before she settled in London, she made many trips in England as she was student of British history. On several of those trips, we visited her.
Coming from “over the pond”, we were fascinated by the beauty of England, the wonderful people, and the amazing history. In addition, being typical Americans we found the signs in England unique and interesting.
Recently, while looking through some my old photographs of our trips to visit my daughter in England, I found some pictures of road signs I had taken.
I thought these were interesting and sort of fun. Some of you may recognize these and know exactly what they’re for, but others may find them as unusual as I did when I took the pictures.
Your picture story challenge today is to guess the meaning of these signs or have fun and make up your own meaning. You are welcome to include the headline photo in this challenge.
Have fun, be creative and enjoy yourself:~)
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Otherwise known as the “Hunchbacked Pelicans of Notre Dame”, these French tourists of the avian variety have frequented Britain in rental cars ever since the construction of the Channel Tunnel. As you can imagine, after making such a long journey these pelicans tend to be a little dazed and travel fatigued (driving is hard work when you only have wings to steer with!), and have thus been known to stagger out of the rental store into oncoming traffic. This sign was set up for their benefit.
As for the other signs… well, I’ll take a guess and say that they’re all dread portents of a coming apocalypse that will heavily feature zombie owls that drop out of the sky in vast numbers after being shot by punters at shooting gallery kiosks all over Britain. Yeah, that must be it.
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Great captures, Sara! You have a great eye.
I’m still laughing at the “Have you paid and displayed” – it certainly makes parking sound infinitely more interesting!
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Sara, these are hilarious! Lol on Tony’s explanation of the Humped Pelican Crossing. I’m assuming the “paid and displayed” is referring to displaying proof of having paid for parking — that ticket that you’re supposed to leave on your dash when you leave your vehicle.
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@ Tony — You are without a doubt one of most creative people I know. I loved your interpretation of these signs:~)
@ Talon — The first time I saw the “have you paid and displayed” sign, I laughed out loud. I really love England for it’s unique signage. One of my favorites is when we taking a trip to a place in Northern England, we got on one of their M roads and there was a sign that said, “TO THE NORTH.” It was definitely clear, but I can’t imagine a sign like that in the States:~)
@ Davina — I know…isn’t Tony a hoot! Yes, that’s what “paid and displayed” means. In the States, you don’t see this very often…just like “roundabouts.” These are just now becoming more popular for traffic control. I’m sure a visitor to the States would find just as many funny signs here as I did in England:~)
Hi Sara,
These photos are fantastic and hilarious! They all kinda make you wonder what the sign makers was thinking ( or not thinking ) when they made those signs. I mean “Have you paid and displayed?” Come on man! LOL
Thanks for the laughther today Sara!
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“Dead Slow Hoot” sounds like the name of a Steven Seagal movie from the ’90s — in keeping with the three-word tough-sounding theme of his earlier films’ titles like Hard To Kill and Out For Justice. The plot is that he breaks many criminals’ arms.
These signs are hilarious!
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@ Keith — Glad to share the laughter:~) Actually “have you paid and displayed” makes perfect sense to anyone in England. You purchase your parking ticket and display it on the dash of the car — hence “pay and display. However, for those of us who find the particular combination of words interesting, it can bring on a laugh. My favorite was “Dead Slow Hoot.”
@ Chris — That’s the most interesting comment…I hadn’t thought about the comparison to an action flick. All I can imagine is a spoof of a Steven Seagal with an owl playing the main character. To carry it a bit farther. I bet this movie would be real “hoot”:~)
@ Gerri — So glad you found them funny!
OH my goodness I laughed and laughed at these.
Thanks for sharing. I wonder which of our signs the Brits would find funny?
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@ Jannie — I bet the Brits would find a lot of our signs funny. While not exactly road signs, the signs for BBQ places where I live are truly hysterical. It’s amazing the lengths some people will go to advertise:~)