The Bad Sign Language Contest

The Leonard Lopate Show is collecting grammatically incorrect signs. Upload your photo below and you might be a guest on the show to talk about your sign.

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July 06, 2010 08:17:03 PM
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Jack Vietas

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Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, sign above urinal in first-floor men's room.
Translation: Our aim is to keep the men's room clean, your aim will help.

July 06, 2010 08:04:40 PM
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S Paintner

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The Bronx, New York, 2006
In the middle of a parking lot, this sign appeared - WRONG on many levels.

July 06, 2010 07:53:22 PM
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S Paintner

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This appeared in front of my linguistically challenged supermarket in 2004. As if the "SROD FILLET" wasn't bad enough, the "RED SNAPPLE" certainly caught my eye. I wondered if the price per pound or by the case!

July 06, 2010 03:11:37 PM
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Charles Baldanza

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This sign greets visitors entering the town of Mamakating, NY. It looks like it is in very good condition for a sign that is 267 years old.

July 06, 2010 01:20:36 PM
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Ashley Albert

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On 27th Street and 3rd Avenue in New York City...as I was walking into Japas 27 for a bit of the ol' traditional Independence Day Karaoke.

July 06, 2010 08:14:12 AM
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Reginald Yong

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taken from a hotel lobby in Orlando FL

July 05, 2010 11:19:43 PM
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Jack Vietas

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Zuoying MRT Station, the new subway for Taiwan's 2nd largest city. Announcements and signs are in four languages. Mandarin, English, Taiwanese, and Hakka.

July 05, 2010 11:13:49 PM
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Jack Vietas

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Zhong Shan 2nd Road, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
The Chinese characters stand for Xiang1 Shui3, perfume. This is a club where men have tea and drinks served to them by female escorts. It's the perfect setting for a future Taiwanese detective novel.

July 05, 2010 11:06:11 PM
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Jack Vietas

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Kaohsiung Municipal SiaoGang Hospital, hospital directory in the elevator.
The Funk Hole is not far from the morgue, but what could it possibly be? A punishment area? A repository for medical waste?
My wife, a Mandarin native speaker suggests that it might be a bad translation of "fallout shelter".

July 05, 2010 10:58:21 PM
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Jack Vietas

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Lingya District afternoon-night market, Kaohsiung City Taiwan.
This is a city-wide chain which sells flavored teas to go. Hip and trendy name, eh?

July 05, 2010 10:50:59 PM
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Jack Vietas

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The Splendor Hotel, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
This is a five-star hotel which gets a great deal of foreign English-speaking traffic. Surely someone could have suggested a correction to "Hot Surface" on the back of this industrial coffee machine?

July 05, 2010 10:21:24 PM
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jack Vietas

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Explanatory text at the "Sewer Exhibition"
Love River, Kaohsiung City. Beware the stink, folks. Just sayin'

July 05, 2010 10:14:02 PM
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jack vietas

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Ciatou Sugar Refinery, Kaohsiung County Taiwan

July 05, 2010 07:54:48 PM
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Campbell

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95th St. & 4th Ave. in Brooklyn

July 05, 2010 02:07:57 PM
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Barbara Bergier

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Hotel room in Cefalu, Sicily

July 05, 2010 01:51:23 PM
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Peter Michaels

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I saw this sign while traveling through Tuba City, AZ.

July 05, 2010 01:46:03 PM
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Ross Bennett Lewis

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Essex Street, NYC

July 03, 2010 10:24:33 PM
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Franco Ambriz

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Park Slope -- 7th Avenue and 8th Street.

July 03, 2010 11:07:45 AM
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Linda Novenski

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No longer there, this sign was on 37th Ave, Jackson Heights, Queens. Photo taken this past Spring.

July 03, 2010 03:18:23 AM
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Lewis Stein

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Chicken Head Mountain in Yunnan Province in China in the vicinity of Dali.