There’s a reason “lost in translation” is more than a movie, its a cliche. Phrases that make sense to a native speaker may not impart the message they intended. The fun starts when you make your own interpretations; this is a collection of some of my favorites.
In Norway, motorcycles are not allowed to jump over cars. Not on this street anyway.
This cafe sells ridiculously huge hot dogs. Are they the biggest in the world? Probably.
This is something I found at the market while looking for gloves for doggy clean-up duty. Not sure what their intended use is, and I didn’t want to take any chances that the check-out guys would make fun of me, so I didn’t buy them.
I think this next one is a travel brochure for spring break in Mexico:
Reminds me of college.
Speaking of liver damage, this was an unfortunately ironic sign in the New Orleans airport:
New Orleans is probably also #1 in tattoo removal and nicotine patches. At least in Turkey they warn you when things are bad for your health (this is a carton of cigarettes):
On the topic of nannyish signs, we were protected from all types of dangerous behavior while staying at a hotel in Oman:
I can see how you might hurt yourself with hand sanitizer. But a phone? And the restroom?
My wife the risk-taker.
And really, is this some type of tourist-eating Venus flytrap?
And lastly, on the juvenile side, here a few of my kids’ favorites.
They particularly like the “historical diarrhea” sign. Gets a laugh every time.
Stones in the Road 