Us yabancıs often find Turkish warning signs amusing, in large part because there are so few of them -- Want to fall off our ancient castle? Feel free! It's not like we're going to put up a railing or anything -- and because those that you do see are largely ignored. Case in point: The admonitions to wait for the gangplanks to be laid down before leaping off the ferry. As if.
But two signs I saw this week on a trip to the Princes' Islands particularly jumped out at me. The first, inside the St. George's Monastery on Büyükada (roughly translated from Turkish):
Do not write your petitions on the walls or the icons.Who knew there was such a problem with monastic graffiti?
We have a box for petitions.
Write them on a piece of paper and put them in the box.
And the other, along the island's shoreline:
Yüzme bilmeyenleri denize girmek tehlikeli ve yasaktır.Why, that's practically right up there with "Caution - contents may be hot" on a cup of coffee. Who says Turkey isn't getting more Western by the day?
It is dangerous and prohibited for those who do not know how to swim to enter into the ocean.
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4 comments:
Personally, my favorite "do not" sign is the one outside the German Hospital on Siraselviler Cad. of a horn in a red circle with a line through it. For the longest time, I seriously thought you weren't allowed to play a trumpet outside of the hospital, until Jeff pointed out to me that the sign means that drivers aren't supposed to honk their horn. Seriously! How was I supposed to know that! ;) It isn't as if anybody follows THAT rule!
The construction warning sign you posted of the guy dangling by a harness? He's neither wearing his hard hat NOR the safety glasses in the subsequent signs. How can he lead by example?!? :)
Whatever do you mean, Barbara? This is a quiet neighborhood where no one would ever dream of honking their horn without a darn good reason! ;)
TW, the pictured signs read, from left to right:
-To work without a safety belt is dangerous and prohibited.
-To work without a hard hat is dangerous and prohibited.
-Put on your work glasses.
Hi Jen,
Maybe this would be a good post for WBSD one of these days! Very interesting how "do not" signs vary by country!
WBSD is almost here! Please visit http://sheroffthebeatenpath.blogspot.com for updates and the link list.
This should be a fun one with the theme of food! Can’t wait to see what the posts will be like on Saturday!
Have a great day,
Sher :0)
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