The joy of double entendre
Reading a fellow writer’s blog, I was inspired by his musings on a recently observed road sign. As word lovers I suppose it’s not surprising that we linger longer over such things.
He pondered “Prohibited Traffic” and wondered if anyone could get away with venturing down roads so marked. A commenter added that the “Heavy Plants Crossing” sign always made her giggle with its visual pun.
This reminded me of our family habit reenacted each annual coast-road drive. One of us would read out the sign, “Koalas Cross Here at Night,” and another would reply, “Let’s hope they’re feeling happier in the morning.”
It made me laugh all the more, once my favourite English teacher told this story about the same sign. His first posting was out the back of Bourke. That Koala sign was the inspiration for the creative writing component of the Year 10 General English exam. During the year’s practice sessions, one student had managed to make every story about drinking beer, his mates and their ute; whether the jump-point was “My day at the beach,” “Looking after our elderly” or “My worst nightmare.”
For his exam, this student wrote about drinking beer, in the ute, with his mates, as they headed out for a camping weekend. That night they went roo shooting but accidentally killed a koala instead. Driving home they passed a sign that read, “Koalas cross here at night.” The others laughed as they shot three holes in the sign and replied, “Not anymore they don’t!”
Footnote: The teacher would have given him full marks except that it was supposed to be creative fiction and he believed it to be a genuine news report.
Right-o. Any good Australian will have spent hours traversing this fine country of ours and many the world over. What’s the funniest sign you’ve seen?
Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte
