Monday, January 02, 2012

Blaze

There is a pillar of light at the top of the hill, it scorches the retina in a blazing vertical streak.  A change of perspective and it says Cédez le Passage - Give Way.

7 comments:

Zhoen said...

(o)

Bee said...

I'm very prone to placing meaning (perhaps other and deeper than that which was intended) in such signs.

Happy New Year to you, Lucy. x

Roderick Robinson said...

Would Brits use the verb "cede" in a public notice? I know we're not comparing apples with apples and that words carry different nuances of meaning on either side of the Channel but responding to the five-dollar words is one way I have of lightening the driver's burden. I trust you haven't been in France too long to have lost this innocent form of entertainment and that you still smile faintly at the ever-so-slightly cockeyed Merci pour votre compréhension.

Has the ever-so-slightly under-selling strapline gone for good?

J Cosmo Newbery said...

What's French for '...or else"?

Julia said...

Happy new year! French street signs make me happy too. Their almost Englishness feels so comfortably familiar once we cross the border.

Lucy said...

Thanks dear readers!

We used to laugh about the idea of ceding one's passage. 'Risque de carambolage' is another favourite.

The blog description. A joke's a joke but we don't want to die laughing, as my elders used to say. I still maintain it said what needed to be said, but I kind of got tired of typing the text; I changed it round last time but didn't want to keep that for long or go back either, so I think it can go now. I might or might not think of another.

Roderick Robinson said...

Since I have commented on the strapline before I don't want to be a bore on the subject. However, you might consider a floating strapline - putting in something new that has just occurred to you en route to the supermarket, leaving it there for a limited period, and thus providing a sort of truffle hunt for your devoted admirers. In fact the first such strapline suggests itself: Basically ephemeral and with a deep hatred of supermarkets. (Because it isn't a subject you often tackle, is it?)