I remember something, from somewhere, sometime, about how They were going to simplify all traffic signs in this great country and switch to only using pictures. I can’t remember whether this was in response to linguistic diversification or the belief that reading was just too hard for some people behind the wheels of cars. I can’t even prove it’s true and not a total figment of my imagination or something that seemed like a good idea at 3am in the dorm lounge. Google isn’t helping, although it did lead me to the absolutely delightful Irrational Signs blog, which is now going to suck up some of my time.

[time passes]

Ahem. Anyway. It would appear that something is going on in the field of Sign Dumbification, and we have evidence.

I’m going to go ahead and guess that the sign on the left is newer. For one thing, it’s shinier. But mostly because it looks like it used a little less metal (cheaper!) and clearly its authors felt we wouldn’t mind a little fast-and-loose with spelling. Sigh.

Of course, it’s also possible this is some kind of science experiment. Somebody has hypothesized that the juxtaposition of these two signs will cause a certain type of person to stop, do a double-take, and then suffer a massive HEAD ASPLODE. Hey, as long as they take a picture first. Right, John P.?