Unique, Odd, or Interesting Signs aka The good, the bad, and the ugly

[SidS1045]

The FL sign posted a page back made me think of this:



Are NH and ME the only two states to provide distance in miles and kilometers?

NY has some on the Northway in Clinton County (Plattsburgh area), up to the Canadian border.

[vdeane]

I don't recall seeing any the two times I was there.  Maybe they used to have them?  Even the French "limited cell service" sign uses miles!
http://www.nysroads.com/photos.php?route=i87&state=NY&file=101_0612.JPG (unfortunately blurry due to the sun; click for the full size which is kinda sorta readable)

[hbelkins]

There are a few signs in both Kentucky and Tennessee that have miles and kilometers listed.

(Why do we pronounce it "killahmahters" instead of "killometers"?)

[jakeroot]

(Why do we pronounce it "killahmahters" instead of "killometers"?)

Depends on where you're from. I've always said the latter. Probably because that's how most Canadians pronounce it (notably, everyone in BC, even the British transplants).

[The Nature Boy]

I remember distinctly pronouncing it "kilo-meters" in school but being told that I was incorrect. As a grammatical construct, kilo-meters makes sense because it's in line with how you pronounce the rest of the metric system.

[1995hoo]

I remember distinctly pronouncing it "kilo-meters" in school but being told that I was incorrect. As a grammatical construct, kilo-meters makes sense because it's in line with how you pronounce the rest of the metric system.

Heh. I remember when I was a kid one of my classmates asked the teacher why we don't say "kill-ah-grums" instead of "kilo-grams" if we are to say "kill-ah-mitters."

To carry it to further absurdity, consider "kilolitres."

I've always said "kilo-metres" (with the first "e" a long "e").

[Mapmikey]

There are a few signs in both Kentucky and Tennessee that have miles and kilometers listed.

(Why do we pronounce it "killahmahters" instead of "killometers"?)

Thermometer would be a good barometer for how to pronounce kilometer....

I'm trying to think of a xxxometer that is not pronounced this way but cannot.

Velometer, pedometer, speedometer

Mapmikey

[1995hoo]

But most ordinary people don't pronounce other metric measurements ending in "-metre" like "ih-tur"–it's not "sen-TIM-ih-tur," for example, or "mill-IH-mih-tur." It's illogical for this one measurement to be pronounced differently.

[TXtoNJ]

American English, when given the choice, tends to stress the second syllable in words that have more than three syllables. Millimeter and centimeter once* were both pronounced with the stress on the second syllable (~1828), but that faded away, owing in part to "e" being a stronger vowel than a "short i". With kilometer, though, the "short o" tends to be a stronger vowel than "e", making it more resistant to this change in pronunciation.

*To be fair, at that time, only the very well-educated would even know what a millimeter or centimeter were.

[kurumi]

We should all just say "klicks".

[Brandon]

We should all just say "klicks".

I'll stick with 0.62 mile, thankyouverymuch. 

[SignGeek101]

Never seen this one before.

http://goo.gl/maps/r34HJ

[mass_citizen]

Thermometer would be a good barometer for how to pronounce kilometer....

I'm trying to think of a xxxometer that is not pronounced this way but cannot.

Picometer, nanometer, hectometer

[mhh]

In modern English, emphasis on the first syllable (CENT-i-meter, MILL-i-meter) usually indicates a metric unit, while emphasis on the  second syllable (spee-DOM-eter, o-DOM-eter, ther-MOM-eter) usually indicates a measuring device. The pronunciation "kil-OM-eter" is an illogical exception.

Also, in most if not all English-speaking countries other than the United States, metric units end with "-re" while measuring devices end with "-er".

[AsphaltPlanet]

Signs like these debuted along the 402 in Sarnia, ON about a decade ago.  Queued US bound trucks were instructed not to block ramp lanes, and signs like these were installed at the end of each ramp in Sarnia.  Only this one remains:

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I'll stick with 0.62 mile, thankyouverymuch. 

I'll prefer to go with 1.609344 km instead of a mile .

[SignGeek101]

Don't really know where to post this, so I'll post this here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadagood/5146461955/in/pool-canada-signs

Love it. Not my pic.

[elsmere241]

I'll stick with 0.62 mile, thankyouverymuch. 

I'll prefer to go with 1.609344 km instead of a mile .

Except it's 1.609347218694 because a km is 5280 survey feet (exactly 39.37 in/m vs exactly 2.54 cm/in).

[Pete from Boston]

Don't really know where to post this, so I'll post this here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadagood/5146461955/in/pool-canada-signs

Love it. Not my pic.

In the Rural Municipality of Happyland!

[PHLBOS]

During last weekend's Cape May mini-meet; we all saw this gem of a sign along CR 621/Ocean Drive in North Wildwood.

IMHO, the above would rival this one in Lower Township; the site of the meet's group photo (which will eventually be posted in the meet thread).

Close-up of similar sign at the opposite side of the bridge, now gone; scroll down.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

[kkt]

That's hilarious.   

[SignGeek101]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/4118984473/in/pool-canada-signs

Quite unique. Not even sure what font this is, but it's not Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman or any of the arialveticverstesk combination.

Doesn't look like the MTO installed it though. Could be local or private.

Not my pic. Credit goes to the author.

[jakeroot]

I always like seeing Series E for interstate numerals...wait this shield also appears to be a 2di. I love it even more now.

For what it's worth, this sign has been installed for a long time. I'm still not sure what the green-out covers.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/4118984473/in/pool-canada-signs

Quite unique. Not even sure what font this is, but it's not Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman or any of the arialveticverstesk combination.

Interesting. I imagine it might be a bit difficult to read from a distance with all the detail in the letters. I think that's why sans-serif fonts work so well on road signs.

[NE2]

For what it's worth, this sign has been installed for a long time. I'm still not sure what the green-out covers.

http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-705_wa.html