Have you ever read a sign in English and wondered who translated it? You know the words, but the sentence makes so little sense that you have to read it again to make sure you aren’t missing something. And the more you try to figure out what it’s supposed to say, the funnier it gets.

Here’s a collection of signs that lost the plot somewhere between one language and another. Some translations are so ridiculous you’ll wonder how they made it onto a sign in the first place, while others sound like accidental threats from someone who really has it out for you.

Get ready to laugh a lot and feel some serious secondhand embarrassment, because we are sure that these signs say absolutely nothing like what their creators intended.

Translating a sign word for word can produce some truly baffling results. A sentence that sounds perfectly normal in one language might turn into complete nonsense in English, leaving readers wondering if they missed a crucial detail.

Research on public signs has documented how literal translations can distort the intended message. It’s a little like asking someone to repeat a joke in another language and getting a completely different punchline. The words are technically there, but the meaning has gone on vacation.

Idioms are a common source of translation disasters. Every language has expressions that make sense to native speakers but sound ridiculous when taken literally. A phrase meant to tell someone to calm down might end up sounding like an instruction involving an actual object, animal, or body part.

A study on translating humor across cultures highlights how much a joke can depend on shared knowledge and cultural references. Miss that little detail, and a perfectly ordinary expression can end up having an absolutely unhinged meaning.

Grammar mistakes can make a straightforward sign look as though its words were shaken up in a bag and dropped onto the page. An awkward word order or the wrong verb can leave readers struggling to understand the sentence.