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UNDERSTANDING ENGLISH SIGNS
One of the most confusing elements of visiting other countries is understanding signs. But if we can't understand signs we can easily get lost, break laws, and make numerous other mistakes.
English signs aren't the same everywhere in the world. The signs on this page are in the USA. Most of the common signs in the USA and Canada are the same. In the UK and many other English-speaking countries signs are slightly different, but if you can master the meanings American signs, you should be able to understand most of the essential signs around the world. The signs in these pictures are explained below. However, to exercise your mental English muscles, I recommend you try to figure the meanings out yourself before you look that the explanations below. |
WHAT DO THESE SIGNS MEAN?
1. PET-FREE AREA. In English, free has more than one meaning. The most common use of this word means something is given without cost. The second meaning is "without." For example, sugar free chocolate means chocolate without sugar. Likewise, a smoke free zone is an area where you can breathe clean air because people are not allowed to smoke there. Back to our sign: This sign is posted at a beach where pets are not allowed. Some pet-free areas simply post signs that say no pets. But, pet free sounds more friendly and positive and less demanding.
2. This beach sign is a little more direct than the pet free one. No animals is simple - no animals, or in other words, no pets allowed. They really mean pets, unless of course they think a wild deer walking though the area will read the sign! No glass containers is another easy one. Container is a very common English word meaning something that contains something, usually referring to bottles, jars, cans, boxes, etc. This sign is posted to prohibit people from taking soda and other drinks in glass bottles to the beach. Glass bottles tend to get broken, and nobody wants to walk barefoot on a beach that has broken glass.
3. This sign uses light humor to encourage people to not leave trash on the ground. The message obviously isn't about leaving footprints.
4. What you carry in, please carry out. Here's another sign encouraging people not to litter. (Litter means to put trash on the ground.) However, this sign is on a very special place. If you're asking yourself, "what's that white thing hanging down?" you are looking at the purpose of this sign. The white things are free plastic trash bags. They are making it convenient to avoid littering by providing bags for visitors to use for taking their trash out of the park, to the nearest trash can.
2. This beach sign is a little more direct than the pet free one. No animals is simple - no animals, or in other words, no pets allowed. They really mean pets, unless of course they think a wild deer walking though the area will read the sign! No glass containers is another easy one. Container is a very common English word meaning something that contains something, usually referring to bottles, jars, cans, boxes, etc. This sign is posted to prohibit people from taking soda and other drinks in glass bottles to the beach. Glass bottles tend to get broken, and nobody wants to walk barefoot on a beach that has broken glass.
3. This sign uses light humor to encourage people to not leave trash on the ground. The message obviously isn't about leaving footprints.
4. What you carry in, please carry out. Here's another sign encouraging people not to litter. (Litter means to put trash on the ground.) However, this sign is on a very special place. If you're asking yourself, "what's that white thing hanging down?" you are looking at the purpose of this sign. The white things are free plastic trash bags. They are making it convenient to avoid littering by providing bags for visitors to use for taking their trash out of the park, to the nearest trash can.