I Had to Read These Signs Twice (11 Photos)

October 18, 2026

By Vidar

Read the sign. Then read it again.

In each of these, the joke is in the words. Some copy official notices closely enough to pass at a glance; others are flyers taped to trees and poles.

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📵 “Beware of Smartphone Zombies”

The triangle shows two people walking with their heads down and their phones out. The plate underneath gives them a name. Most of us have been one of them this week.

💡 Word Fact: The Germans have a word for it. “Smombie,” a mix of smartphone and zombie, was voted Youth Word of the Year there in 2015.

More: Clever Signs (9 Photos)

📜 “Near Misses Throughout History” — By Michael Pederson in Sydney, Australia 🇦🇺

A small black plaque on a park step, styled like a heritage marker. It honors Amy Keane, who tripped here on June 5, 2016, and somehow landed on her feet. Nobody saw it, so she went home to bed.

💡 Artist Fact: Pederson, who also goes by Miguel Marquez Outside, puts his signs up around Sydney. They copy official warnings and notices in both design and placement.

More: Clever Art by Michael Pederson (17 Photos)

🔗 Follow Michael Pederson on Instagram

⚫ “Luke, I Am Your Father”

The drainpipe outlet already had the shape of a famous helmet. One speech bubble on the wall next to it did the rest.

💡 Nerd Fact: The famous line is a misquote. In The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader actually says, “No, I am your father.”

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🧭 “Ignore Sat Nav & Engage Brain” — Linthwaite, England, UK 🇬🇧

A sign for drivers who follow the GPS a little too far. The smaller print on Lees Mill Lane spells out the cost: no through road, a security barrier and a £100 release fee.

📷 Photo: Tim Green / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

🎉 “Congrajlashins” — North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 🇨🇦

The marquee outside Contact Printing in North Vancouver, with the shop’s web address along the bottom. Hard to argue with the logic. Bob Gibson wrote more than 700 one-liners for this sign over three decades before retiring in 2022.

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🔒 “Private Sign, Do Not Read”

A blue board on a post by a forest track, hand-painted: private sign, do not read. By the time you reach the last line, it is too late.

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📞 The Lionel Richie Flyer

“Hello?” at the top, a young Lionel Richie in the middle and a line from his 1984 hit underneath. Every tear-off tab is another line of the song, so you can take one with you.

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🧠 “Lost My Brain”

It looks like any lost-and-found flyer on a tree, with a drawing of what went missing. Then the line at the bottom: “Please don’t contact me, I’m happy.” Two more copies hang on trees further along the path.

More: Funny Signs (20 Photos)

😐 “Please Do Not Smile at Strangers” — 14th Street Station, New York City, USA 🇺🇸

White letters on black, on a green column a few steps from the 14 St plate. It reads like any other subway rule until the word smile. Art students put it up at the 14th Street F train in February 2011; it was never an official MTA sign.

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🔁 “Reboot Universe”

Where the label would normally say push to cross, this one offers something bigger. One press, and everything starts over.

💡 Button Fact: Many of these buttons do nothing. In New York City, more than 2,500 of the 3,250 walk buttons had been switched off for years when The New York Times called them “mechanical placebos.” Residents answered with fake labels over the buttons, “Reboot Universe” among them.

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🐔 “Closed. Frig Off.” — St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦

Two lines on the glass, each with a little white hen standing on top: “closed.” and, underneath, “frig off.” Ruder than “back tomorrow,” and politer than the word it stands in for.

📷 Photo: Gogerr / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)