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If you've been around Bored Panda long enough, you know we have a soft spot for signs.

From Australian artist Michael Pederson to the legendary El Arroyo restaurant, we cover pretty much everyone who knows how to send a message. Or doesn't!

There's a Facebook group called 'The Absurd Sign Project' and, as the name implies, its members are sharing the funniest sign fails they can find.

We're talking brutal spelling mistakes, contradictory statements... you know, the good stuff. So join us and let's take a look at some of the most popular posts on the group.

More info: Facebook

#2

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Dubravka Latifić Moran Report

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Katie Lutesinger
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mum gave me a tin of biscuits for Christmas and said "I thought you could keep your sewing things in it!" It's full of needles and spools of thread now.

Rita Jacobsen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m Danish and once had a summer job at the factory that made those, and they were really proud about what a popular export they were. And I’m not saying anything bad about Danish butter cookies, but I was thinking that surely you guys would be able to bake this kind of thing yourself? I mean are they really ‘send all the way across the atlantic’ good? And then finally this year I started seeing the sewing kit meme and somehow at least this makes a tiny bit more sense 😄

Ella Blackwood
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I actually love those cookies! So does my brother. We are addicted to them, but usually only get them around the winter holidays.

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Lara Verne
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Believe it or not, I found one of these at home, opened it, and it was full of cookies! I was so happy.

Bullseye
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sewing? Damn, I thought they were made for storing loose screws and nails.

Samantha Whitley
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes!!! My grandma had all kinds of buttons in one of these tins. She never used the buttons though they were just a collection, some of them were really pretty and unique. She would put a button on a looped string and give it to us to play with, you hold it in both hands spin it and pull your hands apart and watch the button spin and slide when you tip the string(if that makes sense, hard to explain in text lol). I miss those days, simpler times and simpler amusement 🥰.

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Tuesday's child
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Theses aren't cookie boxes, they are sewing tins and the cookies are just a bonus

Me
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have 3 filled with sewing and art supplies. I love those tins.

Toodles ️
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

Rebecca Rain
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have my embroidery floss, scissors and current itty bitty project in one of these RIGHT NOW! lol

Paul Pienkowski
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You know, I don't ever remember seeing those things with cookies in them? We had a lot, but yes, they were storage bins for nonsense.

BLONDTROBL
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I recently was given a small pin of this tin, and inside is a picture of a sewing kit. Really cute.

Brae
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lmao, I use that exact tin to store all my sewing stuff

Catch 22ish
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Omg, I for real use that exact same tin for my little seeing it; thread, needles, pins etc.

Janis Wise
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Uh, I don’t know, but back in the day there were some who kept their weed and paraphernalia in those tins… I uh read that somewhere.

PADNA
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My granda used to live a bum nowhere in rural USSR and still had this box for a sewing supplies as well as do I.

Cailey_Aesthetic
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

Poly Amorous
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mom had one of these. It stood on the desk for 5 months. One day, I opened it, to try and get a sewing needle that I knew my mom had. I opened it to find analmost full tin of kind of stale cookies

Pascale Pierloot
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those Mac Gyver moments where you need to repair a cookie in secret.

Jude Kay
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You obviously don't have a circular sewing kit. You wouldn't feel the need to explain that if you did.

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Fluffy Griffin
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This reminds me of the Crown Royal velvet bag. We had a couple for toys, and it took me about 25 years to learn that it used to hold alcohol 😄

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We contacted the group's administrators and moderators and one of them, Craig Hey, was kind enough to tell us more about this amusing corner of the internet.

"The community is fantastic," Craig told Bored Panda.

The gang is approaching 100,000 members but the predecessor of 'The Absurd Sign Project' had 166,000 before Facebook decided to ban it.

However, when it comes to content, numbers aren't the most important thing. 

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Floof
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yes, the chances of you pooping on your hairdresser is never 0

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#5

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Jack
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How many incidents have happened to need a sign put up Before said sign little kid pat's fart squirrels gets sprayed parents complain because they thought it was a squirrel many many complaints later

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From time to time, bigger Facebook groups attract toxic users who want to litter all over them but Craig said they don't have this problem.

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"Sometimes we have to take down a post we think Facebook won't like, but we don't get too many trolls. We have a dedicated admin and mod team who love seeing the group thrive and grow. Our most common issue is people not being happy over the posts we have to take down so we don't get shut down."

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Steve Falletti Report

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Kona Pake
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw her last week running out on the pitch and the referees tackled her.

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As you can see, the signs that get featured on the group come from a variety of places but there are a few leaders.

"The biggest provider of entertainment, I would say, are restaurants and supermarkets," Craig said.

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The representative of 'The Absurd Sign Project' thinks the main reason why there are so many funny signs isn't incompetence. Rather, it's our desire to make each other laugh.

"We are the biggest absurd sign group I've found and we are the original group," Craig added.

"If anyone has any absurd signs of their own and wants to share, we would love to keep growing as a community and we want to see them!"

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If you also have to make a sign, whether it's for your kid's lemonade stand or a business of your own, it might be worth remembering a chat in our earlier piece on funny and clever signs with Adrian Geach.

Geach, who has been a signwriter since 1980, told Bored Panda that "a good sign should be eye-catching, easy to understand and not too wordy with enough negative space around the text or logo, and have a good color scheme."

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phil bishop
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stay in drugs, eat school, and don't do vegetables. Sounds reasonable to me....

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Geach has been successfully involved in all areas of signage and graphics for decades but not that long ago, he went back to his roots and now concentrates on traditional signwriting.

With the current resurgence of interest in signwriting and hand-rendered work, he utilizes his skills to offer clients a more personal, unique, environmentally friendly, and organic signage solution using old-fashioned materials and techniques.

"A sign might only be looked at for a few seconds so it needs to leave an impression within this time frame, hence the less is more approach," he said.

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Di Davies Report

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"There are many factors to take into account when designing a sign, but the most important thing is to make sure it doesn't get lost in its surroundings," Geach revealed. 

"A bad sign is too much lettering, not enough space around or in-between text and logos, and bad color choices."

But after seeing a few more posts on 'The Absurd Sign Project', we'll become experts on those by ourselves!

#27

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Moe Rogers Report

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ThePanInPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Watch someone take the table and leave all the rest of the stuff on the ground, untouched.

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#34

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Tricia Allen Report

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June’s Very Own
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love EVERYTHING about this. Especially the voodoo dolls being made while you wait 😂

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#39

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Daniel Adams Report

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June’s Very Own
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The fact that they probably had to write the sign based on some persons actions is unreal

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#40

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Susan Dault Powers Report

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Lawrencium
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those of you not familiar, Rocky Mountain Oysters are bull testicles...

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#48

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Lawrencium
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The missing closing quotation marks is what bugs me the most about this...

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#49

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Barrett Ludwig Report

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June’s Very Own
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the weirdest thing I have ever seen/read in my whole life without a doubt

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#51

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Naomi Wilkey Report

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Rose the Cook
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had a student who called everything a thingy when she couldn't remember the name of it in English.

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#55

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Aaron Essig Report

#60

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ThePanInPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All of you talking about the sign, meanwhile me: 'why are that guy's legs so long?'

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#69

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Bella V. Vid Report

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Natalia Linnik
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Our visit was wonderful but we never saw any bears. Please train your bears to be where guests can see them. This was an expensive trip to not get to see bears.” – Yellowstone visitor complain.

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#71

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Greg X Scragg Report

#76

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Jesse Holland Report

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Troux
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Welcome TO the fence. Not welcome IN the fence.

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#80

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Nathaniel Gordon Report

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Trophy Husband
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is it sad that my new goal is to have a BP comment with 500 up votes?

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#84

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Fredrik Viklund Report

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Katie Lutesinger
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I understand they put these signs up to assist people from countries where toilets aren't raised but are set into the floor so you have to squat over them.

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#90

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Mark Gilchrist Report

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ThePanInPanda
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Guys, it's filler text, it appears automatically as sample text in many programs. It's not supposed to mean anything important, they just forgot to delete it.

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#91

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Eddy Darbinian Report

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sanityisnotproven
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Welcome to the Hotel California. You can never leave. Because you are forever lost.

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#93

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Rob Jones Report

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APL
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, because some smoke alarms detect a change in air conductivity rather than smoke per se. Nothing odd about this.

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#98

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Lawrencium
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This sign makes a lot more sense when you realize it's in Hawkins, Indiana

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Trophy Husband
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And here's what it looked like after the small tornado from that Bugs Bunny cartoon came through!

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#107

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David Meacheam
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In my home town there was the White Bus Company. The buses were painted blue. The White family preferred them that way.

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