Road Signs - Unfortunate Juxtapositions. Joia Linguistica

Views from the Traffic Jam

Hamburg, Germany. Traffic stalls for many reasons.

No matches allowed in this tunnel.

The Necessaries. Salutes to Ingenuity and Linguistics

Necessaries.

Denmark ladies

Denmark Gents

The Wickeltisch. Language issues. Switzerland

We all know WC.

Now what, advanced class:

Dusche -- shower.

Clear enough who goes where.

Wickeltisch -- changing table. Not in babelfish, however. Have to look up Wickeltisch itself and hit the translate this page button.

In pertinent part, fair use: a small part of the whole offering there:

"A changing table is a table on the infants to toddlers, the diaper can be changed. The winder can perform while standing the change. The table is either a converted kitchen table or a washing machine or a specially designed table, one of the sides a gang and has various compartments for certain implements such as diapers, baby powder and others. The changing table is uncommon in a changing room. To prevent falls, you can handle babies from the fourth month on the ground."

Original German text:

Ein Wickeltisch ist ein Tisch auf dem Säuglingen bis Kleinkindern die Windel gewechselt werden kann.

Exact grammar is not needed to get points across. You don't need to know the language before you go.

One word to know, however, is DETOUR. In all languages you may encounter, know that one. When in doubt, point each index finger in opposite directions, and proceed.

And now, the four-square life.

Facilities for every shape. Milan, Italy

Outside to the Necessary, Telc CZ

At Telc, in the Czech Republic. Pay your nickel at the restaurant, and follow the stairs, down and out.

No problem.














Then, a castle on the Rhine, Kaub and Burg Gutenfels, I think. See ://www.castle-liebenstein.com/germany/rhine-river-castles/index.html. Note the little outcropping there center left, up near the top level of the castle. There it is.

WC on the Rhine, Kaub and Burg Gutenfels, Germany













Tower WC, Blarney Castle, Ireland

And at Blarney Castle, in Ireland, there is same kind of little WC outcropping there, seen on the outside. A little room up there. Some have covered sluices going down -- an old access route for invaders.  War is not pleasant.

We do not have a picture of the outside WC at London Tower, but it is there.

People had to trust the tides in the moat, from the river, in the old days to keep matters tidy.  The moats were drained in the 19th Century at London Tower, we think.














TP Dispensary, Trebic CZ, WC

Sometimes the best things in life are not free.  Here, paper is passed out two sheets per. Keep change in your pocket, for the 4-5 cents (in koruna increments) up front. You will not get the key to go in until you pay in many places.

Gas stations have free facilities, however, as do most larger restaurants-cafes. It seems to be the smaller establishments and public WC's that charge.


This one may be in Trebic, the Czech Republic. Pay for what you need.
In many countries, you also will find the kind we were told were "Turkish toilets." See one at ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet. They work fine. In Greece, there were many, as in the outlying areas of Romania, the Balkans. See also ://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1153527.

Gender Recreation

 A lighter touch

Ancient Pompeii, another sign showing you the way to what you think you want. No linguistic barrier.

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Pompeii, Italy; street sign, a house of joy. Or a C Street House?

Don't blame me.  Dan took the picture. I just took the picture of Dan taking the picture of the picture somebody created centuries ago, in better times.

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Then you follow the pavement signs, and the beds are stone in there, with stone pillow raised areas - had to have cushions back in the day. And depressions where lots of feet swung off and swung up and came and went. Very short beds. Teeny windows.  Good thing.  Or an ancient C Street House where all is safe because you are with friends accountable to noone outside, and all justifying each other inside, and not telling. Not a good thing.

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 A house of joy, perhaps appetizers only, Switzerland, hard to know, near Liechtenstein

Switzerland's.  You find out and let us know. Roadside conveniences.

Eating Out

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Ingenuity in food.  Predictable, but perfect timing. The Dracula Club in Bucharest, on Halloween. Tasty, tasty.

Romania, Bucharest, the Dracula Club on Halloween

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Try the fried rats. Boneless chicken breast in pumpernickel crumbs, stuffed with pureed pimento to ooze out, little feetses and eyes and whiskers and tails and yum. Where is this from? Love to eat them mousies. Mousies what I love to eat. Bite they little heads off. Nibble they tiny feet." Looking.

Design Winners

10. Ingenuity.

Ingenuity in access.

Staircase with slide. Wolfsberg, Austria.

Far smarter and more fun than we, is that so? Just add 24" for a slide beside the staircase. Wolfsberg.

Royalty

9.  Royalty

Is half a king as good as a whole?  Here, Romania.

 Romania. Half a king, half a king, half a king. onward.

Is it Mircea the Old? We hope this is a salvage from a whole statue, just with the bottom lost, but have no idea.  Just in a town, looked like somebody's back yard.

Tourist Business - A Few of our Favorite Childish Things

Tours for the Bloated

Turistfart.

Tours for the gaseous, Denmark

Tours for Couch Potatoes.

The VegaTour

VegaTour, Geneva, Switzerland. Bus for veggies.

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Vegetable Tour bus. Geneva, Switzerland. Beets me.

Environment, Recycling

Environment matters.
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Pet recycling center, Geneva, Switzerland

Recycle your pet here.

The Unexpected Rest Stop

Road Fatigue.  If you tire while driving down the Dalmatian Coast, after the seventh gorgeous walled city on an island or peninsula, here is your armchair rest stop. Sit yourself down and set a spell.

 Croatia. Roadside Armchair Rest Spot

Religion beckons

The arts. 

Cathedral front portal,  Bern, Switzerland. Cramping someone's style.

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Repent. 

Bern Cathedral presents the alternative.

Surnames, Place Names, Graffiti

Enjoy with us some other oddments or notables (barely) here. We are told that figuring out anomalies is good for intelligence. There is creativity in just noting and figuring out anything, making silly connections. Go.

1.  Surnames, Place Names.

My own birth name meant "cormorant" - an ugly bird if there ever was one - but useful - so these other country and language matters are not poking fun at, just enjoying.

Car ad for Buttburner Company, Switzerland

 Store chain, Fuchs, Murten, Switzerland

The f word with its alternate spellings constitute venerable surnames and town names. See ://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t201682-austrian-town-name-warning-dorty-werdz.html/. But no fair looking them up first, and then going.  It has to be spontaneous.

Translating and its pitfalls; a normal part of a lexicon one place turns into fun in another.

The affinity of the German language for joke-translations of its f-word  into the notorious Anglo-Saxon four letter word was a product of  WWII, 1945 and on, said one site we found. The homecoming soldiers spoke at home of words and places, and they and the folks back home picked up from the sounds the two way streets suggestions.  Is that so? 

Then why not earlier, at WWI?  Did nobody talk?

Windpassing, Austria

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Find a site of unusual place names, including this Windpassing, at ://infao5501.ag5.mpi-sb.mpg.de:8080/topx/archive?link=Wikipedia-Lip6-2/772930.xml&style/.

 Frankensteiner Strasse, Frankfurt, Germany

The danger of this one, Le Sars, we hope, has passed.

France.  Le Sars. 5 km

2.  Graffiti

This near Wittenburg Castle.

 How high the moon? Germany

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For a history of classical and other mooning, peruse Vetting Roots, Michelangelo and History of Mooning

The serious and the nonsensical: underpinnings

Countries share recurrent migrations, disasters, boons, mythologies, invasions, and other tensions surrounding population ethnic identity and self-determination. There is also the fun in humor. No matters along those lines are intended to belittle any culture or language, but to share the kicks of delight. Even if short-lived, and non-intellectual. We hope you enjoy, but don't worry about it. This is for us.

People in Passing - including Mr. Magic

From a traffic stop in Hamburg.

Go ahead. Click on the picture here of Mr. Magic on Tour -

Mr. Magic on Tour

Hah!

Mr. Magic on Tour. It says so. Right there.

Mr. Magic is a plumber.