A painted sign, forgotten on the wall of a small Swiss railway station, abstracts the German imperative and admonishes simply, "VERBOTEN"

An ongoing construction at the Bedford Street building site, just north of and below the Williamsburg Bridge: a large plain traffic sign warns "SIDEWALK CLOSED" and points a thick arrow at its neighbor, "USE SIDEWALK"

On the Massachusetts Interstate (the transposition is a matter of Yankee pride), a sign crosses three lanes and with two words. The top one gives the direction of the two left lanes, the bottom, the name of a nearby town. The sign reads "SOUTH WESTERLY".