Time for another funny sign. Or rather, I should say signs, because this time we are going to look at two signs. Each from opposite ends of Eurasia. Unlike last time, where the sign had a definite meaning, we see this time a pair of funny signs, with no obvious meaning.

First up is this oddball sign I spotted in Warsaw, which is in Poland. Look at it! Now, really, what does it mean?

‘Cars daring to make a turn at the next left or right, do so at their own risk’? ‘Although we cannot guarantee this will happen to you, there have been a number of suspicious incidents involving cars catching on fire down the next two sidestreets’? Or maybe it is simply a filtering system to ensure all cars with a particularly potent exhaust system head off down these routes, leaving the fresher cars to the main expressway? Who bloody knows?

Secondly is this right beaut from Beijing, which seems to be saying, plainly and simply: ‘All cars that are so old and decrepid that they are likely to explode upon impact with one of the billions of pot holes down this crappy street are not to travel down this crappy street’. Or something. What do you think? Don’t put your answers on a postcard, but rather leave them in the form of a comment below…

Both Warsaw and Beijing are totally excellent places to visit, by the way!

I thought it was about time I introduced one of my favourite life topics: The Funny Sign. Funny signs are everywhere. They are either outright funny funny or just plain stupid funny. Sometimes, they are funny because they represent a waste of money. Sometimes because they carry an alternative meaning. Often, translation can play a part in the humour, which is what we will cover in today’s lesson.

Today’s sign comes from back in 2004 while on a roadtrip with some mates to the south of France. We travelled for about five days, sometimes without sleep, to reach this town. It was the aim of the entire holiday.

We didn’t actually stay in Condom, but about a two hour drive west, in a town called Arcachon. The best part for me was that ‘condom’ doesn’t actually have a meaning in the French language, but the local residents have adopted the English meaning with pride. In Condom, there was a museum dedicated to the history of the sheath, along with piles of retailers all selling their, well, urm, ‘interesting’ souvenirs.

A highly recommended visit! Funny Sign Posts will be a regular from now on…