On the interpretation of signs


Weirdness comes in waves, I guess. Both Karmen and Kevin are talking about strange road signs. I’ve got a sign to top them.

This is a sign … of the Apocalypse!!!

Wait…not enough exclamation points or emphasis. A SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE!!!!!

i-5ab309efcb77e7bcd9e87c7399468795-apocalypto.jpg

I’m not kidding, man. Seriously. According to Rapture Ready, scantily clad men in snug spandex and waving big purple sticks is one of the signs of the End Times. It says so in the Bible.

I’m not sure why, but I think Kevin might especially appreciate the symbology here.

Comments

  1. Stephen Wells says

    The other day I drove past a church in Phoenix. It’s called Faith Church. There was a sign on the road with an arrow:

    “FAITH OVERFLOW PARKING”

    The mind boggles.

  2. Hank Fox says

    The verse cited on the Rapture Ready site, Romans 1:27, appears to say nothing at all about hot lesbian sex.

    I’m just sayin’.

  3. Hank Fox says

    And why does Rapture Ready hate American families, and the YMCA workout programs they participate in?

  4. Rey Fox says

    What a bunch of party poopers. Those men could just be men putting on a dance routine. What, you have to be gay to have choreography? Thbbt.

    They’re also jealous that these men look better than they do.

  5. Mystic Olly says

    The greatest sign I’ve seen was just north of Aldershot in the UK and it said.

    “SECRET NUCLEAR BUNKER AHEAD”

    Awesome,

    Oli

  6. says

    Geeze, don’t dose fundies got no respect for tradition? Obviously, dose guys is practicin’ for da Mummers Parade.

    As a former Philly resident, PZ should know what I’m talking about. For non-Philadelphians, the Mummers Parade is a New Years tradition.

  7. Azkyroth says

    My favorite was a streetcorner in the Seattle area where there were at least 20 political campaign signs stuck in the ground, accompanied by one sign advertising a “junk removal service.”

  8. says

    The one that really confused me was “SLOW FALLING ROCKS” – I decided the fast ones are the ones to worry about, anyway.

    On a related note, they recently put up a sign by my place that says “SLOW CHILDREN IN AREA” which I thought was a bit harsh and definitely not “politically correct” so to speak.

  9. Azkyroth says

    Gah, hit post too soon. Sadly they’d been taken down by the time I was able to get there with a camera.

    Another one I like is a store in Carmichael called “P&S Liquors.”

  10. Peter Ashby says

    We have a Secret Nuclear Bunker near us, despite the signs it is still hard to find. When we lived in London the bus station had a sign that simply and only said ‘failure to comply with this notice will incur a £10 fine’.

  11. Dianne says

    If there are any secret nuclear bunkers near me they are, in fact, secret. But there is a building near where I work labelled simply “building”. In case you were unsure, I guess.

  12. Shirley Knott says

    My personal favorite remains the roadsign along the highway outside Portland proudly proclaiming
    Progress, next exit

    Seems oddly aprpropriate these days…

    hugs,
    Shirley Knott

  13. Tim Tesar says

    A couple of my favorites:

    “Watch for Pedestrians” – I always wonder why pedestrians deserve to be rewarded with a watch. Perhaps because they are brave enough to expose themselves to crazy drivers.

    “Door is Alarmed” – Posted on emergency exits of the company where I used to work. It was never apparent to me that an alarmed door looked any different from a calm one, so I suppose the sign served a useful purpose.

  14. says

    Or the one in Boston, pre-Big Dig, that used what I hope is just an abbreviation for “North”:

    TUNNEL
    NO END

    BTW, does this mean there are gonna be guys in tight purple Speedos in heaven? Or in hell? I’d kind of like to be clear on this ahead of time.

  15. MReap says

    I live down the road from the actual K-T boundary. No, really. Trempealeau County roads K and T form a left/right split near Galesville. The road sign shows < --K T-->.

  16. Jeff says

    The greatest sign I’ve seen was just north of Aldershot in the UK and it said.

    “SECRET NUCLEAR BUNKER AHEAD”

    Lol, I missed that one when I was there. Go Shots!

  17. CalGeorge says

    God doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to smote those guys.

    Maybe he’s enjoying the show!

    Up there in the clouds, tapping his toes –

    “Macho, macho man, I’ve got to be a macho man…”

  18. MReap says

    Damn, my little graphic thingy didn’t work. There’s an arrow pointing left followed by a K and then a T with a right arrow.

  19. says

    There’s a sign up in the kitchen at work that says “if you enjoy the last cup of coffee, please start a new pot for the next person”.

    I always think – what if I drink it, but don’t enjoy it? It’s the last cup after all…

    Another misinterpretation here.

  20. rjb says

    A couple of humorous signs that I’ve seen with letters missing:

    Hotel advertising: “Indoor Poo_”

    Steakhouse: “Black An_us”

    I sense a theme here.

  21. NeoGothic says

    There’s a sign on a street corner close to my house that simply says, “No Signs”. I guess the guy who owns the property has either a strange sense of humor or no sense of irony.

  22. chris says

    In the town I lived in for a while in New Jersey there was a post office on one corner of the main intersection. In front of the PO was a mailbox with one of those chutes in the front where you can drop letters from your car without getting out. In front of the mailbox was a sign reading:

    NO STOPPING OR STANDING ANY TIME

    We lived nearby so I just walked to mail my letters, but I always pictured someone driving past at 30 mph trying to hit the chute with a stack of bills.

  23. says

    I’m really getting sick of fundie Xians and their gay-bashing.

    As far as I recall, the bible’s a pretty thick book. I’m not certain, but I think it also contains a line or two that don’t relate to homosexuality, not that these fuckwits have ever read it.

  24. Stolen Dormouse says

    Funniest shop sign (seen from a major roadway on the south side of Pittsburgh): a hair salon called “Joanne’s Curl Up and Dye.”

  25. says

    When I lived in Rome, Georgia, someone had strategically broken out part of the plastic on the main street pedestrian crossing light so that it read either WACK or DON’T WACK.

    The town also has an absolutely hideous bronze statue in front of City Hall of Romulus and Remus suckling at the teets of the she-wolf – donated by Mussolini, no less.

    But it’s the menus and store shelves in the South where you find the really fun stuff, like Chicken Fried Pork Shapes (on my high school lunch menu every Thursday) or canned Pork Brains in Milk Gravy. Mmm mmm good.

  26. Stephen Wells says

    In Oxford I’ve seen a “DOOR IS ALARMED” sign that had already been graffiti’d twice; once with “Why? There is no reason to panic,” and once with “I can recommend a good therapist.”

  27. says

    the elevator door on the 2nd floor of my secondary lab has a “Jesus Saves” scrawled next to it; of course, some wit has added “Passes to Moses – HE SCOOORES!”

    i laugh every time, especially seeing as that’s the floor where the Divinity students come to type up their theses.

    Lepht

  28. says

    My favorite is still “Jesus Saves”, after which someone wrote “And takes half damage” (If you know any AD&D players, you’ll get that).

    As for Pride marches being a sign of THE APOCALYPSE, well…as a gay man myself, I can say that while they can be embarrassing, Pride marches aren’t nearly as bad as the average Jessica Simpson concert.