Toilet sign - for bird lovers

[occam]

Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
bird lovers in AUE.

There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
different cultures.


<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

occam wrote:

> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
> bird lovers in AUE.

Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Paul Carmichael]

Well, you have me confused. I mean, it's American, but I believe they use
the word pecker to mean willy. What men have. The other one is what women
have.

Or have I been whooshed?


--
Paul.

https://paulc.es

[Jerry Friedman]

Cute.

I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 9:01:21 AM UTC-7, Paul Carmichael wrote:
> El Mon, 05 Feb 2024 13:47:56 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen escribió:
>
> > occam wrote:
> >
> >> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
> >> bird lovers in AUE.
> >
> > Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
> > completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.
> Well, you have me confused. I mean, it's American, but I believe they use
> the word pecker to mean willy. What men have. The other one is what women
> have.

...

Not so sure it's American. All the tits shown are British, and we call related
birds titmice and chickadees. The woodpeckers are hard to see, but I think
they're all European.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Paul Carmichael wrote:

>>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>>> bird lovers in AUE.
>>
>> Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
>> completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.
>
> Well, you have me confused. I mean, it's American, but I believe they use
> the word pecker to mean willy. What men have. The other one is what women
> have.
>
> Or have I been whooshed?

I don't know. I just meant that in these days where some people do not
want to be called "man" or "woman", they would like a sign that doesn't
use those words.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Blueshirt]

The way the world is going why not just have toilets for everyone
these days? One sign, saying "Toilet". No need for little drawings
of people either. Think of the money it would save!!!

I don't have separate toilets in my house for Male and Female... one
toilet sits all.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

That's also how it is in aeroplanes, buses and trains. It doesn't seem
to create any problems. In France it's not unusual for people to use
the "wrong" toilet when it's necessary (for example when the "right"
one is closed for cleaning).

Apparently it's different in Belgium. Once in a university department
in Brussels the women's toilet was closed for some reason, but my wife
was greeted with horror when she suggested using the men's. In France
no one would raise an eyebrow. Most of the toilets in the bulding where
we worked are unisex.

--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 36 years; mainly
in England until 1987.

[charles]

In article <l2cn87...@mid.individual.net>,

On looking round our new office premises, we spotted a shower room with a
"unisex" (man/woman) symbol. One of the female secretaries asked, in
horror, "Does that mean you have to take a boy in with you?"

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England - sent from my RISC OS 4t้ฒ
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

[occam]

You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
in astronomy department toilets.

I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
which I mean everyone on Earth.

[Tony Cooper]

The signs are there to direct the person the appropriate toilet. I
doubt, when needing to go to the toilet, they will stop to object to
being gendered.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2024-02-05 19:28:50 +0000, occam said:

> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35 AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
>>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>>> bird lovers in AUE.
>>>
>>> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
>>> different cultures.
>>>
>>>
>>> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
>>>
>>
>> Cute.
>>
>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>
>
> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.

"Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".

> Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.
>
> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
> which I mean everyone on Earth.

[Jerry Friedman]

On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 12:28:55 PM UTC-7, occam wrote:
> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35 AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
> >> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
> >> bird lovers in AUE.
> >>
> >> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
> >> different cultures.
> >>
> >>
> >> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
> >
> > Cute.
> >
> > I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
> >
> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.

Well spotted. I didn't want to be taken figuratively.

> Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English.

A couple of gray cells are connecting... I'm searching... here it is, a note
by Dudley Fitts on his translation of Aristophanes' /The Birds/:

"26: Bird of Araby: This is the Cock, the Persian Bird, here called Mêdos
'the Median'. (The phallic pun is the same in Greek as in English.)"

You'd know whether the pun still works in modern Greek.

> Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.

:-)

> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
> which I mean everyone on Earth.

The graphics would probably be a little too graphic.

--
Jerry Friedman

[bil...@shaw.ca]

The northern flicker, a largish and attractive woodpecker, is definitely native
across southern Canada. There is at least one pair in my immediate neighbourhood.
We often see them -- but always one at a time -- on the narrow strip of grass outside
our apartment windows, pecking for ants, grubs and the occasional earthworm.
This being Vancouver, they're here year-round; I don't know about elsewhere in Canada.
Wikip says they're native all the way down to Central America.

bill

[J. J. Lodder]

occam <oc...@erewhon.nix> wrote:

> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:

> > On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35?AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
> >> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
> >> bird lovers in AUE.
> >>
> >> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
> >> different cultures.
> >>
> >>
> >> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey
=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
> >
> > Cute.
> >
> > I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
> >
>
> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.

???
The traditional astronomical/astrological symbols for Venus and Mars
(circle with cross below and circle with diagonal up arrow)
have been widely taken over as male/female symbols,
in all of 'western' culture,

Jan

[Jerry Friedman]

I meant all the woodpecker species in the image occam showed.

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>

--
Jerry Friedman

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Tony Cooper wrote:

>>I don't know. I just meant that in these days where some people do not
>>want to be called "man" or "woman", they would like a sign that doesn't
>>use those words.
>
> The signs are there to direct the person the appropriate toilet. I
> doubt, when needing to go to the toilet, they will stop to object to
> being gendered.

True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
toilet rooms.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Blueshirt wrote:

> The way the world is going why not just have toilets for everyone
> these days? One sign, saying "Toilet". No need for little drawings
> of people either. Think of the money it would save!!!

+1

I have actually tried it because I rented a room at a camping site, and
the room was in their oldest building with two bathrooms common for all
the rooms. There were no signs, but helpful people had written "mænd"
and "kvinder" on the door frames - only there had been many helpful
people, and they had different oppinions about what was the men's and
the women's room, so the users were mixed. The shovers were in cubicles
with curtains.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

occam wrote:

> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.

... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
religion.

> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
> which I mean everyone on Earth.

A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>
>>
>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>
> "Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".

They wouldn't perhaps get the penis meaning, but surely the male one?

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Tony Cooper]

That's rarely an issue for men. Women, however, often object to
unisex bathrooms. With cause.

[Tony Cooper]

Whom did they shove?

[Tony Cooper]

The traditional symbols in the US are stick figures with the female in
a skirt.

The Scottish Games are held in this area every year. The Scots males
consider both signs to be unisex.

[Rich Ulrich]

On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 23:41:01 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen
<gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:

Data analysis I performed were most often dealing with rating scales.

In my day, the personal information of "sex" was coded as binary, M
and F. Most often these were coded as 1 and 2 -- Zero was avoided
as a numerical response on arbitrary scales, possibly owing to the
Fortran data-reading convention that a blank numeric field
("missing"?) is translated as 0. (I saw one convention, circa 1972,
where the blank= zero was disambiguated from other zero by
making use the "-0" defined on one line of computers.)

However -- How do you code M and F if you will use 0/1?

"DREAM INTERPRETATION Simplified. Everything's either concave or -vex,
so whatever you dream will be something with sex. Piet Hein."

I had to object when a saw a proposed data collection form
where 0= Male, 1= Female. Respect the symbolism.

I might or might not have already been familiar with the obscene
hand signal, where a forefinger is poked into the circle formed
by the other thumb and forefinger. IIRC, that was well-known
in South America. I think it is wider than that, now.

--
Rich Ulrich

[Peter Moylan]

On 06/02/24 12:23, Rich Ulrich wrote:

> I might or might not have already been familiar with the obscene
> hand signal, where a forefinger is poked into the circle formed
> by the other thumb and forefinger. IIRC, that was well-known
> in South America. I think it is wider than that, now.

It was common where I grew up, in Australia.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

[Mark Brader]

Athel Cornish-Bowden:

> Apparently it's different in Belgium. Once in a university department
> in Brussels the women's toilet was closed for some reason, but my wife
> was greeted with horror when she suggested using the men's. In France
> no one would raise an eyebrow. Most of the toilets in the bulding where
> we worked are unisex.

And now I'm thinking of the movie "Hidden Figures", when it comes out
that the reason Katherine Johnson seems to be spending too much time
away from her desk is that she has to walk half a mile to get to the
nearest *colored women's* lavatory.
--
Mark Brader | "We may take pride in observing that there is
Toronto | not a single film showing in London today which
m...@vex.net | deals with one of the burning issues of the day."
| -- Lord Tyrell, British film censors' chief, 1937

My text in this article is in the public domain.

[Paul Carmichael]

France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.

--
Paul.

https://paulc.es

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Tony Cooper wrote:

>>I have actually tried it because I rented a room at a camping site, and
>>the room was in their oldest building with two bathrooms common for all
>>the rooms. There were no signs, but helpful people had written "mænd"
>>and "kvinder" on the door frames - only there had been many helpful
>>people, and they had different oppinions about what was the men's and
>>the women's room, so the users were mixed. The shovers were in cubicles
>>with curtains.
>
> Whom did they shove?

They shoved misspellings under the carpet.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[charles]

In article <ld03silmg5ecno813...@4ax.com>,

and, anyway, many females wear trousers!

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Rich Ulrich wrote:

> I might or might not have already been familiar with the obscene
> hand signal, where a forefinger is poked into the circle formed
> by the other thumb and forefinger. IIRC, that was well-known
> in South America. I think it is wider than that, now.

I learned that in school - maybe as early as 4th grade? There was aboy
in my class who was quite well-informed in these matters. I also learnt
several fourletter words without knowing what they meant.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Paul Carmichael wrote:

>>>True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
>>>toilet rooms.
>>
>> That's rarely an issue for men. Women, however, often object to unisex
>> bathrooms. With cause.
>
> France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.

Is there often pee on the floor?

In the bridge club in my previous town there were two gendered toilets.
At the one for men it took maybe only an hour beforere there was pee on
the floor. It didn't help that there was a humourous poster
recommendingthe proper behaviour. One line said:

Please stand a little closer. It is not as long as you think.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Paul Carmichael]

El Tue, 06 Feb 2024 09:24:40 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen escribió:

> Paul Carmichael wrote:
>
>>>>True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
>>>>toilet rooms.
>>>
>>> That's rarely an issue for men. Women, however, often object to
>>> unisex bathrooms. With cause.
>>
>> France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.
>
> Is there often pee on the floor?

This depends on where the toilets are. In an alcoholic environment (pub/
bar), yes, drunks piss all over the place. If they had to sit down, this
wouldn't happen, so perhaps urinals have had their day.

My wife has worked in hotels etc. and says that the women's toilets are
always far filthier than the men's.

--
Paul.

https://paulc.es

[occam]

Oh? Have you seen any French women take a leak in a "pissoir"? (They do
still exist you know. We even have an experimental one in Luxembourg. )

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/11x1dcd5zr8c8mg7trd93/Pissoir-Luxembourg-Gare.jpg?rlkey=19p2f601etg0ji29aaok75ks2&dl=0>

[Peter Moylan]

A similar sign that I've seen says "Our aim is to keep this place clean.
Your aim will help."

The best solution for this problem that I've encountered is at Schiphol
airport. Each urinal has a picture of a fly on it. This has, I'm told,
improved everyone's aim enormously.

[Silvano]

occam hat am 06.02.2024 um 09:57 geschrieben:

Oh? Do you really call a pissoir a "unisex toilet facility"?

[Hibou]

Le 06/02/2024 à 09:33, Peter Moylan a écrit :
> On 06/02/24 19:24, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>>
>> Please stand a little closer. It is not as long as you think.
>
> A similar sign that I've seen says "Our aim is to keep this place clean.

> Your aim will help." [...]

I've seen a variant of that one: "We aim to please. You aim too, please."

[occam]

On 05/02/2024 21:50, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 12:28:55 PM UTC-7, occam wrote:
>> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>>> On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35 AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
>>>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>>>> bird lovers in AUE.
>>>>
>>>> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
>>>> different cultures.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
>>>
>>> Cute.
>>>
>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>
>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>
> Well spotted. I didn't want to be taken figuratively.
>
>> Note, these mental images which only make
>> sense in English.
>
> A couple of gray cells are connecting... I'm searching... here it is, a note
> by Dudley Fitts on his translation of Aristophanes' /The Birds/:
>
> "26: Bird of Araby: This is the Cock, the Persian Bird, here called Mêdos
> 'the Median'. (The phallic pun is the same in Greek as in English.)"
>
> You'd know whether the pun still works in modern Greek.

Yes, it does. 'κοκοράs' (cockerel) is a modern euphemism. 'γάτα' (cat)
on the other hand is not.

[occam]

Yes, I'd recognise the circle (with a cross / arrow) as male/female
symbols. But I doubt if many people - outside of astrology charts -
would attribute them as symbols for 'Venus' and 'Mars'. (The
intermediate step has been lost except to star-sign columns.)

I came across another interesting 'universal' symbol of male/female
toilets. 'XX' and 'XY'. The problem is, most people would be walking
into the wrong room 50% of the time, if they're anything like me.

It's best to be more explicit (and less clever) in such cases.

[Hibou]

Le 05/02/2024 à 19:28, occam a écrit :
>
> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.

Hot and cloudy vs cold and red?

[occam]

On 06/02/2024 09:15, charles wrote:
> In article <ld03silmg5ecno813...@4ax.com>,
> Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 23:41:01 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen
>> <gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:
>
>>> occam wrote:
>>>
>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
>>>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>>>> in astronomy department toilets.
>>>
>>> ... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
>>> religion.
>>>
>>>> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
>>>> which I mean everyone on Earth.
>>>
>>> A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.
>
>> The traditional symbols in the US are stick figures with the female in
>> a skirt.
>
>> The Scottish Games are held in this area every year. The Scots males
>> consider both signs to be unisex.
>
> and, anyway, many females wear trousers!
>

Ha hah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7evo7ZWCYU0

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2024-02-06 08:15:03 +0000, charles said:

> In article <ld03silmg5ecno813...@4ax.com>,
> Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 23:41:01 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen
>> <gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:
>
>>> occam wrote:
>>>
>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
>>>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>>>> in astronomy department toilets.
>>>
>>> ... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
>>> religion.
>>>
>>>> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
>>>> which I mean everyone on Earth.
>>>
>>> A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.
>
>> The traditional symbols in the US are stick figures with the female in
>> a skirt.
>
>> The Scottish Games are held in this area every year. The Scots males
>> consider both signs to be unisex.
>
> and, anyway, many females wear trousers!

You know what they say: if you wear a kilt in London they think you're
from Scotland; if you wear one in Edinburgh they think you're from the
Highlands; if you wear one in the Highlands they know you're American.
--
Athel cb

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-05, charles wrote:

> In article <l2cn87...@mid.individual.net>,
> Athel Cornish-Bowden <m...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> On 2024-02-05 18:04:04 +0000, Blueshirt said:

>
>> > Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>> >
>> >> occam wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to
>> >>> the bird lovers in AUE.
>> >>

>> >> Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
>> >> completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.

>> >
>> > The way the world is going why not just have toilets for everyone
>> > these days? One sign, saying "Toilet". No need for little drawings
>> > of people either. Think of the money it would save!!!
>> >

>> > I don't have separate toilets in my house for Male and Female... one
>> > toilet sits all.
>
>> That's also how it is in aeroplanes, buses and trains. It doesn't seem
>> to create any problems. In France it's not unusual for people to use
>> the "wrong" toilet when it's necessary (for example when the "right"
>> one is closed for cleaning).

>
>> Apparently it's different in Belgium. Once in a university department
>> in Brussels the women's toilet was closed for some reason, but my wife
>> was greeted with horror when she suggested using the men's. In France
>> no one would raise an eyebrow. Most of the toilets in the bulding where
>> we worked are unisex.
>

> On looking round our new office premises, we spotted a shower room with a
> "unisex" (man/woman) symbol. One of the female secretaries asked, in
> horror, "Does that mean you have to take a boy in with you?"

"Save water --- shower with a friend"


--
Just memorize these shell commands and type them to sync up. If you
get errors, save your work elsewhere, delete the project, and download
a fresh copy. <https://xkcd.com/1597/>

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-05, J. J. Lodder wrote:

> occam <oc...@erewhon.nix> wrote:
>
>> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:

>> > On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35?AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
>> >> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>> >> bird lovers in AUE.
>> >>

>> >> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
>> >> different cultures.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey
>=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
>> >
>> > Cute.
>> >
>> > I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>> >
>>

>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>> in astronomy department toilets.
>

> ???
> The traditional astronomical/astrological symbols for Venus and Mars
> (circle with cross below and circle with diagonal up arrow)
> have been widely taken over as male/female symbols,
> in all of 'western' culture,

I agree: I think a lot more people know what they mean as
toilet/gender symbols than in astronomy, astrology, or alchemy.


--
The stakes are high and so am I

[Adam Funk]

People complained about the nekkid humans on the Pioneer Plaque. Some
people also complained about the prudish lack of vulva on it.



--
I have a natural revulsion to any operating system that shows so
little planning as to have to named all of its commands after
digestive noises (awk, grep, fsck, nroff).
_The UNIX-HATERS Handbook_

[Adam Funk]

I think he's talking about the ones in (some, many? not all) bars
where there is one room with a sink and several toilet stalls.



--
[English doesn't] just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued
other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle
their pockets for new vocabulary. (James Nicoll)

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-05, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:

> Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
>
>>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>>
>>>

>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>>

>> "Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".
>
> They wouldn't perhaps get the penis meaning, but surely the male one?

I think "le chat" & "la chatte" both work, but maybe the
(grammatically) feminine one is more common now. The penis words are
mostly feminine: la bitte, la queue, la verge.

So I don't think "male chicken" would get the meaning across except as
Frenglish.


--
I take no pleasure in being right in my dark predictions about the
fate of our military intervention in the heart of the Muslim world. It
is immensely depressing to me. Nobody likes to be betting against the
Home team, no matter how hopeless they are. ---Hunter S Thompson

[charles]

In article <l2el0f...@mid.individual.net>,

But, my father had a friend who was Sheriff of Orkney and he wore a kilt
all the time.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Yes. I've seen those in various places. I think they're German in
origin. It's a very realistic-looking fly.

Something that I was very struck by when we were first in France was
that there was almost no graffiti in French toilets, and when I did see
one it was usually in English and dealt with such subjects as the sizes
of the penises of supporters of Manchester United. I think that's
probably still true, but now I don't often visut public toilets. I'm
not sure how to explain it, but maybe it has to do with a lack
embarrassment about natural functions.

--
Athel cb

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

When I was in Israel in 1962 I saw that they used 00 and 000 as
symbols. I suppose at the time I learned which was which. More recent
visits to Israel suggest that this system is no longer used.

>
> It's best to be more explicit (and less clever) in such cases.

--
Athel cb

[Adam Funk]

That's pretty fancy. This is the real deal:

<https://www.ducksburg.com/misc/20130125-113333.jpg>

and it's still there, according to Google maps:

<https://maps.app.goo.gl/TcNQaobTFfkQ1Y789>


--
Slade was the coolest band in England. They were the kind of guys
that would push your car out of a ditch. ---Alice Cooper

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-06, occam wrote:

> On 05/02/2024 23:17, J. J. Lodder wrote:

...

>> The traditional astronomical/astrological symbols for Venus and Mars
>> (circle with cross below and circle with diagonal up arrow)
>> have been widely taken over as male/female symbols,
>> in all of 'western' culture,
>
> Yes, I'd recognise the circle (with a cross / arrow) as male/female
> symbols. But I doubt if many people - outside of astrology charts -
> would attribute them as symbols for 'Venus' and 'Mars'. (The
> intermediate step has been lost except to star-sign columns.)
>
> I came across another interesting 'universal' symbol of male/female
> toilets. 'XX' and 'XY'. The problem is, most people would be walking
> into the wrong room 50% of the time, if they're anything like me.

(Other sex chromosome combinations exist. Androgen insensitivity can
result in XY with completely female external appearance.)

> It's best to be more explicit (and less clever) in such cases.

Mnemonic device:
<https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1985/12/29>


--
And I won't like [this usage] any better if you produce examples from
Shakespeare, Milton, Johnson ... Or, indeed, myself. --Mike Lyle

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2024-02-06 13:17:24 +0000, Adam Funk said:

> On 2024-02-06, occam wrote:
>
>> On 05/02/2024 23:17, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> ...
>>> The traditional astronomical/astrological symbols for Venus and Mars
>>> (circle with cross below and circle with diagonal up arrow)
>>> have been widely taken over as male/female symbols,
>>> in all of 'western' culture,
>>
>> Yes, I'd recognise the circle (with a cross / arrow) as male/female
>> symbols. But I doubt if many people - outside of astrology charts -
>> would attribute them as symbols for 'Venus' and 'Mars'. (The
>> intermediate step has been lost except to star-sign columns.)
>>
>> I came across another interesting 'universal' symbol of male/female
>> toilets. 'XX' and 'XY'. The problem is, most people would be walking
>> into the wrong room 50% of the time, if they're anything like me.
>
> (Other sex chromosome combinations exist. Androgen insensitivity can
> result in XY with completely female external appearance.)

Yes. See the pictures at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_androgen_insensitivity_syndrome

I read once that certain beautiful actresses had complete androgen
insensitivity but I haven't seen any recent statement to that effect.

>
>
>> It's best to be more explicit (and less clever) in such cases.
>
> Mnemonic device:
> <https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1985/12/29>


--

Athel cb

[charles]

In article <l2eodr...@mid.individual.net>,

There was the Readers' Digest joke about the Americanin Germany looking
hard for the one that said "Hissern"; he'd seen the one marked "Herren".

[Jerry Friedman]

...

Good to know some traditions are kept up.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-06, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

> On 2024-02-06 13:17:24 +0000, Adam Funk said:
>
>> On 2024-02-06, occam wrote:
>>
>>> On 05/02/2024 23:17, J. J. Lodder wrote:
>> ...
>>>> The traditional astronomical/astrological symbols for Venus and Mars
>>>> (circle with cross below and circle with diagonal up arrow)
>>>> have been widely taken over as male/female symbols,
>>>> in all of 'western' culture,
>>>
>>> Yes, I'd recognise the circle (with a cross / arrow) as male/female
>>> symbols. But I doubt if many people - outside of astrology charts -
>>> would attribute them as symbols for 'Venus' and 'Mars'. (The
>>> intermediate step has been lost except to star-sign columns.)
>>>
>>> I came across another interesting 'universal' symbol of male/female
>>> toilets. 'XX' and 'XY'. The problem is, most people would be walking
>>> into the wrong room 50% of the time, if they're anything like me.
>>
>> (Other sex chromosome combinations exist. Androgen insensitivity can
>> result in XY with completely female external appearance.)
>
> Yes. See the pictures at
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_androgen_insensitivity_syndrome
>
> I read once that certain beautiful actresses had complete androgen
> insensitivity but I haven't seen any recent statement to that effect.

That article lists a few people but I hadn't heard of them.


--
We got music in our solar system
We're space truckin' round the stars

[lar3ryca]

On 2024-02-06 03:33, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 06/02/24 19:24, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>> Paul Carmichael wrote:
>>
>>>>> True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one
>>>>> kind of toilet rooms.
>>>>
>>>> That's rarely an issue for men.  Women, however, often object to
>>>> unisex bathrooms.  With cause.
>>>
>>> France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.
>>
>> Is there often pee on the floor?
>>
>> In the bridge club in my previous town there were two gendered
>> toilets. At the one for men it took maybe only an hour beforere there
>> was pee on the floor. It didn't help that there was a humourous
>> poster recommendingthe proper behaviour. One line said:
>>
>> Please stand a little closer. It is not as long as you think.
>
> A similar sign that I've seen says "Our aim is to keep this place clean.
> Your aim will help."

One I saw said:

We aim to please.
You aim too, please.

> The best solution for this problem that I've encountered is at Schiphol
> airport. Each urinal has a picture of a fly on it. This has, I'm told,
> improved everyone's aim enormously.
>

--

A rolling stone gathers momentum.

[soup]

On 05/02/2024 19:38, Tony Cooper wrote:
> On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 18:33:38 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen
> <gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:

>
>> Paul Carmichael wrote:
>>
>>>>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>>>>> bird lovers in AUE.
>>>>

>>>> Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
>>>> completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.
>>>

>>> Well, you have me confused. I mean, it's American, but I believe they use
>>> the word pecker to mean willy. What men have. The other one is what women
>>> have.
>>>
>>> Or have I been whooshed?

>>
>> I don't know. I just meant that in these days where some people do not
>> want to be called "man" or "woman", they would like a sign that doesn't
>> use those words.
>
> The signs are there to direct the person the appropriate toilet. I
> doubt, when needing to go to the toilet, they will stop to object to
> being gendered.

Allow me to make the introductions, "Tony trans-delusions,
trans delusions Tony".
Not only do they stop to whinge that they are not allowed (sometimes) to
conform to their delusions, there are also such things as men's
bathrooms/toilets/restrooms with tampon dispensers.

[soup]

On 05/02/2024 22:31, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:

> Tony Cooper wrote:
>
>>> I don't know. I just meant that in these days where some people do not
>>> want to be called "man" or "woman", they would like a sign that doesn't
>>> use those words.
>>
>> The signs are there to direct the person the appropriate toilet. I
>> doubt, when needing to go to the toilet, they will stop to object to
>> being gendered.
>

> True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
> toilet rooms.

So everybody has to wait for a stall, even men who only want to urinate?
Not very time effective is it?
Or are you advocating men urinate in front of grown women (I had to
urinate once in front of a four(?) year old girl (her dad had brought
her into the gents)V V V cringeworthy.

[soup]

On 06/02/2024 08:03, Paul Carmichael wrote:
> El Mon, 05 Feb 2024 19:46:07 -0500, Tony Cooper escribió:
>

>> On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 23:31:22 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen
>> <gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:
>>
>>> Tony Cooper wrote:
>>>
>>>>> I don't know. I just meant that in these days where some people do not
>>>>> want to be called "man" or "woman", they would like a sign that
>>>>> doesn't use those words.
>>>>
>>>> The signs are there to direct the person the appropriate toilet. I
>>>> doubt, when needing to go to the toilet, they will stop to object to
>>>> being gendered.
>>>
>>> True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
>>> toilet rooms.
>>

>> That's rarely an issue for men. Women, however, often object to unisex
>> bathrooms. With cause.
>
>
> France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.
>

France also has 'pissoirs' in the street.
I wouldn't use France as an exemplar of good toileting.

[Sam Plusnet]

Something I haven't seen for quite some time is the "Gents" sign which
showed a silhouette of a man in full evening dress with a top hat and
cane. I can't recall the "Ladies" sign, but I suspect it involved both
bonnet and bustle.

--
Sam Plusnet

[lar3ryca]

Not quite graffiti, but found in a public toilet:

<https://www.flickr.com/photos/62449798@N03/53513486498/in/dateposted-public/>

--
What if there were no hypothetical questions?

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Peter Moylan wrote:

> The best solution for this problem that I've encountered is at Schiphol
> airport. Each urinal has a picture of a fly on it. This has, I'm told,
> improved everyone's aim enormously.

I've read the same.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Hibou wrote:

>> A similar sign that I've seen says "Our aim is to keep this place clean.

>> Your aim will help." [...]
>
> I've seen a variant of that one: "We aim to please. You aim too, please."

Very nice, but aiming won't solve the problem. I think that it's more
than ten years ago that I began to sit down to pee. No matter how well I
aim, I can't guarantee that I don't pee on the floor if I stand up.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

> Something that I was very struck by when we were first in France was
> that there was almost no graffiti in French toilets, and when I did see
> one it was usually in English and dealt with such subjects as the sizes
> of the penises of supporters of Manchester United. I think that's
> probably still true, but now I don't often visut public toilets. I'm
> not sure how to explain it, but maybe it has to do with a lack
> embarrassment about natural functions.

I helped to start and run a music club in my previous town. There soon
was graffiti all over the walls on the toilet. The subjects were totally
varied.

Here everything can happen.

(someone added under it)

I'm still waiting for Marilyn Monroe.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[lar3ryca]

On 2024-02-06 06:06, Adam Funk wrote:
> On 2024-02-05, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>
>> Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
>>
>>>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>>>
>>> "Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".
>>
>> They wouldn't perhaps get the penis meaning, but surely the male one?
>
> I think "le chat" & "la chatte" both work, but maybe the
> (grammatically) feminine one is more common now. The penis words are
> mostly feminine: la bitte, la queue, la verge.
>
> So I don't think "male chicken" would get the meaning across except as
> Frenglish.

See this page for a LOT of interesting ones:

https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/?

Rooster and cat are #11.

My favourites: 39, 43, 57

--
my haiku rocks
it has four, eleven, and five syllables
that's right, isn't it?

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

soup wrote:

>> True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
>> toilet rooms.
>
> So everybody has to wait for a stall, even men who only want to urinate?
> Not very time effective is it?

How do women manage? Not very well I'm told.

The problem could be handled by screening off the pissoir part. It's not
rocket science.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Tony Cooper]

I doubt that. They may object, but not at the time, or - at least -
whilst still on the move.

Needs trump principle.

[lar3ryca]

On 2024-02-06 06:12, Adam Funk wrote:
> On 2024-02-05, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>
>> occam wrote:
>>
>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
>>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>>> in astronomy department toilets.
>>
>> ... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
>> religion.
>>
>>> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
>>> which I mean everyone on Earth.
>>
>> A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.
>
> People complained about the nekkid humans on the Pioneer Plaque. Some
> people also complained about the prudish lack of vulva on it.

I remember reading something, probably a short story, that had some
aliens finding the Pioneer Plaque and taking umbrage at just about
everything on it, and angering them enough to plan an invasion of Earth.

Anyone know who wrote it?

--
All roght, whi swotched my keytips ariund?

[J. J. Lodder]

A full length strapless evening gown,

Jan
(IIRC)

[lar3ryca]

No matter how much you wiggle and dance,
the last drop always ends up in your pants.

Two fellows standing at adjoining urinals.
One says, "Wow, I see you're holding it with all your fingers."
The other replies, "Yes, but so are you."
The first says, "Sure, but I'm pissing on two of them."

--
Yeah, Windows is great... I used it to download Linux.

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

lar3ryca wrote:

> No matter how much you wiggle and dance,
> the last drop always ends up in your pants.

I used to use a piece of toilet paper to prevent that. Nowadays I use
panty liners due to a prostate operation.

Is "panty liners" the correct word? The pictures on the net all show
women types.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Madhu]

* occam <l2eaj2Fmru1U1 @mid.individual.net> :
Wrote on Tue, 6 Feb 2024 09:57:07 +0100:

> On 06/02/2024 09:03, Paul Carmichael wrote:

>> France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.

> Oh? Have you seen any French women take a leak in a "pissoir"? (They
> do

The point is you can't see them

%
In France they piss on Main Street. (In pissoirs, Mama, not cheap display).
-- Joni Mitchell

[Peter Moylan]

I initially read that as "Trump needs principles".

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

[Peter Moylan]

On 06/02/24 23:08, Adam Funk wrote:

> On 2024-02-05, J. J. Lodder wrote:

>> The traditional astronomical/astrological symbols for Venus and Mars
>> (circle with cross below and circle with diagonal up arrow)
>> have been widely taken over as male/female symbols,
>> in all of 'western' culture,
>

> I agree: I think a lot more people know what they mean as
> toilet/gender symbols than in astronomy, astrology, or alchemy.

The book "Women are from bras, men are from penis" clarified it for a
lot of people.

[Peter Moylan]

An accident that I have now and then is where the urine goes under the
seat and over the edge of the bowl, ending up on the floor. Many toilet
bowl designers seem to be ignorant of a basic fact: women squirt
downwards, but men squirt forward.

[Snidely]

On Tuesday, Peter Moylan queried:

well, yes, but that's a tautology.

I think both Tony and soup are oversimplifying, but not as skillfully
as needs Trump.

/dps

--
Who, me? And what lacuna?

[Hibou]

I think I prefer this sign, seen in Alsace, where they're big on recycling:

<https://www.cjoint.com/c/NBhgKboopdz> (link valid 21 days)

[Peter Moylan]

Someone appears to have been unclear about the distinction in English
between "sorted" and "sorted out".

[occam]

That URL is the most comprehensive listing of toilet signs I have come
across. Thank you.

I would diss all those signs that rely on the English language. (Your
Chicks/chick magnates (#39) falls in this category.) If language was not
an issue, I'd chose (#9) Bla v. (bla, bla, bla...)

Q- Does the 'seat up' v. 'seat down' sign (#1) hold across all
cultures? Or is it just a Western feminist meme?

I fear the future is pointing to #58. Men, Women, Emo

[occam]

#17 in this list (courtesy of Larry):
https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

occam wrote:

> I fear the future is pointing to #58. Men, Women, Emo

Why not just a picture of a toilet with or without words?

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Peter Moylan]

On 07/02/24 19:01, occam wrote:

> Q- Does the 'seat up' v. 'seat down' sign (#1) hold across all
> cultures? Or is it just a Western feminist meme?

Quite a few cultures have toilets without seats.

Q. What's the definition of a fact.
A. Before squatting, you have to place your feet correctly.
If you get that wrong you're in the shit,
and that's a fact.

[Kerr-Mudd, John]

At last! an url that links to a jpg!

--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Hear, hear. Someone was saying that he preferred No. 58, but how does
one get to No. 58 without ploughing through Nos. 1–57?

--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 36 years; mainly
in England until 1987.

[Peter Moylan]

On 07/02/24 21:20, Kerr-Mudd, John wrote:

> At last! an url that links to a jpg!

The jpegs on my web site started out as jpegs on my FTP site. Then all
the browser makers colluded in dropping support for FTP. (And showed no
interest in supporting SFTP.) So I had to map my public FTP directories
(and some of the password-protected ones as well) into HTTP space.

Many of those jpegs can be found at
http://www.pmoylan.org/ftp/humour/
To keep this on topic, one of them is toilet humour, but I have to admit
that the cat files outnumber the others.

[occam]

I don't see a urinal for water drinkers. That's teetotally discriminatory.

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-06, soup wrote:

> On 06/02/2024 08:03, Paul Carmichael wrote:
>> El Mon, 05 Feb 2024 19:46:07 -0500, Tony Cooper escribió:
>>
>>> On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 23:31:22 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen

>>> <gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Tony Cooper wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> I don't know. I just meant that in these days where some people do not
>>>>>> want to be called "man" or "woman", they would like a sign that
>>>>>> doesn't use those words.
>>>>>
>>>>> The signs are there to direct the person the appropriate toilet. I
>>>>> doubt, when needing to go to the toilet, they will stop to object to
>>>>> being gendered.
>>>>

>>>> True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
>>>> toilet rooms.
>>>

>>> That's rarely an issue for men. Women, however, often object to unisex
>>> bathrooms. With cause.

>>
>>
>> France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.
>>

> France also has 'pissoirs' in the street.

AFAIK there's only one old one left, at least in Paris (on the
Boulevard Arago, linked in one of my posts yesterday).


> I wouldn't use France as an exemplar of good toileting.

Hey, last time I was in Paris the Métro smelled better than I
remembered it.


--
You know that I can surely see that I don't want to get caught up in
any of that funky shit goin' down in the city. (Steve Miller)

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

The cleanest and least smelly public toilets I've ever patronized were
in the centre of Sofia (Bulgaria), of all unlikely places, when I was
hitchhiking from Istanbul to Vienna in about 1964.

[Janet]

In article <3j95sidrvlqb1iv74...@4ax.com>,
tonyco...@gmail.com says...

Tony, you appear to be unaware of current fetish
"interests" in tampons, pads, and every other aspect of
menstrual periods by biological males with no uterus or
vagina, who fantasise about having periods and describe
themselves as women. Here's just the tip of the iceberg.

https://www.modibodi.co.uk/blogs/womens/transwomen-
period

"Bottom line is, people of all genders menstruate. Trans
women?s periods are just as real and valid as anyone
else?s, "

Janet

[Tony Cooper]

Oh, please. My comments in this thread have nothing to do with what
I'm aware of or not aware of other than in the scope of what I have
written.

What I'm saying is that if a person's bladder is full-to-bursting, the
only thing of paramount consideration to that person is which door to
enter.

That person may observe and comment on the wording or icon on the
door, the appliances in room, or anything else of personal interest to
them, but after entering the room where the very urgent and immediate
objective can be performed or after leaving the room.

[Tony Cooper]

On Wed, 7 Feb 2024 13:42:17 -0000, Janet <nob...@home.com> wrote:

.
>> >Not only do they stop to whinge that they are not allowed (sometimes) to
>> >conform to their delusions, there are also such things as men's
>> >bathrooms/toilets/restrooms with tampon dispensers.
>>
>> I doubt that.
>
>
> > They may object, but not at the time, or - at least -
>> whilst still on the move.
>
> Tony, you appear to be unaware of current fetish
>"interests" in tampons, pads, and every other aspect of
>menstrual periods by biological males with no uterus or
>vagina, who fantasise about having periods and describe
>themselves as women. Here's just the tip of the iceberg.
>

Drifting a bit, but staying on topic of dispensers in public
toilets...

When I was growing up, it was not uncommon to see a prophylactic
dispenser in a public men's room. In the men's toilet of a bar,
particularly.

In light of the above comment about tampon dispensers, I wonder now if
they were also present in the women's bathrooms.

To obtain a package of Trojans, a quarter was inserted in the slot and
a knob was to be twisted. The older boys always told the younger boys
that doing so would result in an alarm going off much like it when you
push down the bar of an emergency exit.

Prophylactics, in those days, were not on display in drugstores. To
buy a package required going to the pharmacist's desk where they were
brought out from behind the counter. Again, the older boys said that
one had to specify brand and size and to sign a log with one's name,
address, and phone number.

The slang term "rubber" was the only one I saw/heard growing up. I
remember reading a book set in the UK where "johnny" was used and not
knowing what that meant. In those days, there was no source like
Google to check meaning of slang terms.

[lar3ryca]

On 2024-02-07 02:01, occam wrote:
> On 06/02/2024 22:11, lar3ryca wrote:
>> On 2024-02-06 06:06, Adam Funk wrote:
>>> On 2024-02-05, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>>>
>>>> Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".
>>>>
>>>> They wouldn't perhaps get the penis meaning, but surely the male one?
>>>
>>> I think "le chat" & "la chatte" both work, but maybe the
>>> (grammatically) feminine one is more common now. The penis words are
>>> mostly feminine: la bitte, la queue, la verge.
>>>
>>> So I don't think "male chicken" would get the meaning across except as
>>> Frenglish.
>>
>> See this page for a LOT of interesting ones:
>>
>> https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/?
>>
>> Rooster and cat are #11.
>>
>> My favourites: 39, 43, 57
>>
>
> That URL is the most comprehensive listing of toilet signs I have come
> across. Thank you.
>
> I would diss all those signs that rely on the English language. (Your
> Chicks/chick magnates (#39) falls in this category.) If language was not
> an issue, I'd chose (#9) Bla v. (bla, bla, bla...)

That's 'chick magnets'.

> Q- Does the 'seat up' v. 'seat down' sign (#1) hold across all
> cultures? Or is it just a Western feminist meme?
>
> I fear the future is pointing to #58. Men, Women, Emo

--
I want to die in my sleep, like my grandfather,
not screaming in terror, like his passengers.

[lar3ryca]

That were this'n, but it was #57. Sorry, but there is no way to get
directly to #57 unless you want to spend a lot of time deciphering the
database pointer (or whatever that is after the '?'.

I thought for a moment that I'd just supply URLs to the ones I enjoyed
the most, but it would have been more than I was willing to endure to
run through the entire sequence again.

In that the signs ranged all the way from a total thumbs-down to
excellent, with most being in the middle of the range, I figured I'd
just mention the numbers.

But as luck would have it, I have the history of the pages, so...

<https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/39?4f1e054b-09ef-44dd-bb70-6f5325e49f62=1&cache_buster=3d7008d0-c5e1-11ee-bec8-37a7b2abf1cb_39>

<https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/43?4f1e054b-09ef-44dd-bb70-6f5325e49f62=1&cache_buster=221d67d0-c5e1-11ee-bec8-37a7b2abf1cb_43>

<https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/58?4f1e054b-09ef-44dd-bb70-6f5325e49f62=1&cache_buster=6218c240-c5e0-11ee-a337-2b5c6da3b560_58>


--
The five weekdays abbreviate to Mt. WTF

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-06, lar3ryca wrote:

> On 2024-02-06 06:12, Adam Funk wrote:
>> On 2024-02-05, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>>

>>> occam wrote:
>>>
>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make

>>>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>>>> in astronomy department toilets.
>>>

>>> ... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
>>> religion.
>>>
>>>> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
>>>> which I mean everyone on Earth.
>>>
>>> A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.
>>
>> People complained about the nekkid humans on the Pioneer Plaque. Some
>> people also complained about the prudish lack of vulva on it.
>
> I remember reading something, probably a short story, that had some
> aliens finding the Pioneer Plaque and taking umbrage at just about
> everything on it, and angering them enough to plan an invasion of Earth.
>
> Anyone know who wrote it?

Does anything on either of these links sound close enough?

<https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/3o8mun/has_anyone_ever_written_a_story_about_aliens/>

<https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/80359/short-story-space-probe-voyager-discovered-by-aliens>


Here's something somewhat related that I found on the way:

In Tetrahedra of Space, author P. Schuyler Miller employs sign
language as a means of communication between aliens and
humans. This is, however, not before having considered other
methods such as drawings. A notable attempt from the novel is that
the human in the story draws a diagram of the solar system to
explain to the alien its heliocentric nature. This method is
susceptible to the arbitrariness of images. This is similar to the
criticisms often applied to the Pioneer plaque that Frank Drake and
Carl Sagan placed on board the Pioneer 10 spacecraft. The diagram
in the story, much like the diagrams on the Pioneer plaque, can be
easily misunderstood by any nonhuman life form that comes across
it. In short, the strategy of using images to communicate with
aliens in science fiction is not linguistically robust.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics_in_science_fiction#Alien_communication>


--
One hundred million years old
Transcendent creature
No bones about it
Hot bottom feeder

[Snidely]

Just this Wednesday, lar3ryca explained that ...

Interesting. The 58 appears before the '?', but it appears to be
decoration. It's the cache_buster var that steers things. With the
last 3 characters.

If you omit the other var, it shows up when the page displays, and it
seems to always be the same.

/dps

--
As a colleague once told me about an incoming manager,
"He does very well in a suck-up, kick-down culture."
Bill in Vancouver

[Snidely]

lar3ryca explained :

> On 2024-02-06 06:06, Adam Funk wrote:
>> On 2024-02-05, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>>

>>> Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
>>>
>>>>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>>>>
>>>>>

>>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>>>>

>>>> "Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".
>>>
>>> They wouldn't perhaps get the penis meaning, but surely the male one?
>>
>> I think "le chat" & "la chatte" both work, but maybe the
>> (grammatically) feminine one is more common now. The penis words are
>> mostly feminine: la bitte, la queue, la verge.
>>
>> So I don't think "male chicken" would get the meaning across except as
>> Frenglish.
>
> See this page for a LOT of interesting ones:
>
> https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/?
>
> Rooster and cat are #11.
>
> My favourites: 39, 43, 57

#57 cheats ... there are words above the doors.

/dps

--
Rule #0: Don't be on fire.
In case of fire, exit the building before tweeting about it.
(Sighting reported by Adam F)

[J. J. Lodder]

These sites all want to dump a no doubt nasty load of cookies,
so no, thanks,

Jan

[lar3ryca]

On 2024-02-07 12:41, Adam Funk wrote:
> On 2024-02-06, lar3ryca wrote:
>
>> On 2024-02-06 06:12, Adam Funk wrote:
>>> On 2024-02-05, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>>>
>>>> occam wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
>>>>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>>>>> in astronomy department toilets.
>>>>
>>>> ... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
>>>> religion.
>>>>
>>>>> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
>>>>> which I mean everyone on Earth.
>>>>
>>>> A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.
>>>
>>> People complained about the nekkid humans on the Pioneer Plaque. Some
>>> people also complained about the prudish lack of vulva on it.
>>
>> I remember reading something, probably a short story, that had some
>> aliens finding the Pioneer Plaque and taking umbrage at just about
>> everything on it, and angering them enough to plan an invasion of Earth.
>>
>> Anyone know who wrote it?
>
> Does anything on either of these links sound close enough?
>
> <https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/3o8mun/has_anyone_ever_written_a_story_about_aliens/>

Nothing rings a bell, not even in the links on that page, but it did
lead to a Wikipedia article entitled 'Message From Space', which in turn
prompted me to look up the 'Message From Space', a 1978 Japanese answer
to 'Star Wars'. This was supposed to be a serious SF film, but when I
saw it, it did not take too long before I started chuckling, then
laughing, much to the chagrin of my wife, who stopped trying to shush me
after I and the rest of the audience were laughing uproariously.

It got a lot of bad reviews at the time, but I consider it to be one of
the funniest SF films ever, in the same class as 'Galaxy Quest'.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_from_Space

> <https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/80359/short-story-space-probe-voyager-discovered-by-aliens>

Nothing there either. Thanks for trying.

If my (admittedly faint) memory serves, one of the reasons for umbrage
was the pulsar periods/coordinates from Earth (the long lines from the
origin) may have resembled either the aliens that found it or their enemies.

Thanks for trying.

> Here's something somewhat related that I found on the way:
>
> In Tetrahedra of Space, author P. Schuyler Miller employs sign
> language as a means of communication between aliens and
> humans. This is, however, not before having considered other
> methods such as drawings. A notable attempt from the novel is that
> the human in the story draws a diagram of the solar system to
> explain to the alien its heliocentric nature. This method is
> susceptible to the arbitrariness of images. This is similar to the
> criticisms often applied to the Pioneer plaque that Frank Drake and
> Carl Sagan placed on board the Pioneer 10 spacecraft. The diagram
> in the story, much like the diagrams on the Pioneer plaque, can be
> easily misunderstood by any nonhuman life form that comes across
> it. In short, the strategy of using images to communicate with
> aliens in science fiction is not linguistically robust.
>
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics_in_science_fiction#Alien_communication>

Interesting indeed.

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Snidely wrote:

>> <https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/58?4f1e054b-09ef-44dd-bb70-6f5325e49f62=1&cache_buster=6218c240-c5e0-11ee-a337-2b5c6da3b560_58>
>
> Interesting. The 58 appears before the '?', but it appears to be
> decoration. It's the cache_buster var that steers things. With the
> last 3 characters.

This is sufficient:

https://spotlightstories.co/65-amusing-bathroom-signs/?cache_buster=744d4af0-c606-11ee-a9b1-bdf1e8cfab9c_58

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

J. J. Lodder wrote:

> These sites all want to dump a no doubt nasty load of cookies,
> so no, thanks,

I'm surprised that you have a problem with cookies. I set my policy
decades ago, and it works well: My browser deletes all cookie data when
I close it. So I always accept all cookies.

--
Bertel, Denmark