Signs. They’re everywhere. Whether used for controlling traffic or the trajectory of one’s life—let’s be honest, quite a few of us have likely asked the universe to send us one—they’re typically worth paying attention to.

Some of them, though, might be less consequential, but not less attention-worthy. And they’re often shared on the ‘Funny’ subreddit—“Reddit’s largest humor depository”. Today we have gathered some of their best examples—signs found in all sorts of places, be it a local business, a church, or someone’s home. Typically witty, often unexpected, they ought to make you giggle, so scroll down and enjoy.

#1 Sign Posted Outside A Fencing Academy!

Image credits: shksona

#2 I Thought It Was Weird Someone Put Tape Over The Sign

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#3 My Local Super 8 Is Being Rebuilt. I Didn’t Know Why Until I Saw The Sign

Image credits: AdmiralSkippy

Nowadays signs—in one form or another—can be found nearly everywhere, be it the door of a huge shopping mall or a lonesome road in the middle of nowhere. But what was the first sign ever created, one might wonder?

Well, it might be difficult to determine exactly that, but the symbols in caves dating as far back as the Ice Age are likely to be among the first ones, at least. Canadian paleoarchaeologist Genevieve von Petzinger explored such caves in great detail and revealed that the symbol, which is considered to be the oldest example of cave art (roughly 41,000 years old), is painted inside a rock formation in El Castillo, Spain. “It’s the size of a teacup’s saucer,” she pointed out to TED.

#4 This Sign On A Vending Machine At My Work

Image credits: AlphaOmniWolf

#5 Legit Sign Post

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Genevieve von Petzinger also revealed that there are 32 symbols that can be found in ancient caves all over Europe. Such a discovery wasn’t made in a day, though. Over a decade ago, the paleoarchaeologist started her mission of systematically cataloging the geometric signs in caves all over the continent.

#6 This Synagogue Sign In Toronto

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#7 My Husband Is In The Process Of Redoing Our Lawn. He Recently Began Killing Off All Our Grass. I Didn’t Want Our Neighbors To Think We Were Neglectful Homeowners, So I Made A Sign

Image credits: csidlauskas

#8 All Or Nothing! A Sign From A Local Business

Image credits: MajorLeeClueless

One of the paleoarchaeologist’s very first steps was compiling a database of geometric signs that were found at roughly 370 known rock art sites across Europe. Then, in 2013 and 2014, von Petzinger continued her exploration focusing on caves in Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy, recording the details of geometric signs in 52 of them.

Ted reports that after finishing with the fieldwork, the expert analyzed the catalog she put together and found that 32 signs repeated themselves across the span of 30,000 years and the entire continent of Europe. “That really small number tells you that they must have been meaningful to the people who were using them, because they were replicating them,” von Petzinger suggested.

#9 Everyone Kept Hitting Their Heads As They Walked Down My Stairs, So I Hung A Sign As A Warning

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#10 This Doctor’s Done Listening To Kids

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#11 Sign At My Local Dry Cleaners

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Among the 32 signs documented by von Petzinger, there are dots, asterisks, spirals and a thing called ‘negative hands’. The latter refers to a negative image of a handprint, which is considered to be one of the oldest and the most popular signs of the time (roughly 22,000 – 40,000 years ago).

Nowadays, common signs and symbols exceed 32, but some are still known across entire continents if not even further. Let’s take another symbol of a hand, for instance, the Hamsa, popular throughout North Africa and in the Middle East, which is believed to bring good luck, protection, and good health.

#12 Utah Has Its Issues, But It’s Traffic Signs Are Top Notch

Image credits: B4ldy

#13 This Wet Floor Sign At The Toronto Aquarium

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#14 This Sign At My Dog Groomer

Image credits: Timbo879

If you’re wondering why the “change my mind” bit sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because a sign saying exactly that became an internet sensation back in 2018. That’s when, according to Know Your Meme, American-Canadian podcaster Steven Crowder uploaded a picture on his Twitter account of him seated by the table with the renowned phrase written on it outside of Texas Christian University.

#15 One Cardboard Sign To Rule Them All

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#16 The Most Honest “Do Not Enter” Sign Of All Time

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#17 These Guys Sit At This Table Every Morning. The Restaurant Owners Made This Sign To Claim The Table For Them

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Seemingly dating as far back as the Ice Age, signs have long been helping people express themselves and their opinions. Such a way of communicating ideas never seemed to have lost its relevance, as it is still vastly used today, whether in the shape of a piece of cardboard saying that the one holding it loves Harry or Taylor or a thought-provoking sign ending with a “change my mind”.

#18 A Sign Outside A Off Strip Casino In Las Vegas…talk About Pulling A Ferris

Image credits: LVbellman

#19 This Sign In Front Of A Bunch Of Venus Flytrap

Image credits: Karl_DavidH

#20 This Sign In My Kid’s Elementary School Fills Me With Nihilistic Joy

Image credits: clifflampe

The uploaded picture was reportedly part of Steven’s podcast and YouTube series, where he tries to have people with opposing views discuss various issues with him. Even though the sign in the original picture read “Male privilege is a myth / Change my mind”, it soon became a template—an empty canvas, if you will—for people to let their imagination run free and insert whatever they feel is worth discussing.

#21 A Few Days Ago A Car Drove Through An Arby’s. This Was Their Sign Today

Image credits: TotesOfGoats

#22 Someone Altered A Deer Crossing Sign In Upstate NY

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#23 These Were Signs I Made For A Yard Sale Back In 2017

Image credits: SilverOwl321

Another internet sensation known for his painfully truthful and often quite entertaining signage is the Dude With Sign. Expressing his views on all sorts of matters, from food prices to popular culture, the dude, whose real name is Seth Phillips, is a New York-based creative, whose public protests have already attracted over 8 million followers.

#24 Sign In A Taxi Cab

Image credits: jaykirsch

#25 This Sign On The Door Of A Local Business

Image credits: OneTrueClassy

#26 A Local Music Store In My Town Has Had This Sign Up For A Few Days. The Shoe Store Across The Street Finally Replied

Image credits: madsmadhatter

The signature shades and a piece of cardboard over Seth’s head became a globally recognized combination, which started as a protest against something oh-so-familiar to many. Talking to Drew Barrymore, the Dude With Sign revealed that the very first sign, saying “Stop replying-all to company-wide emails”, was inspired by personal experiences, and only after it received a positive reaction from the passersby on the street did it become a thing.

P.S. We are quite fond of Seth’s signs here at Bored Panda, so if you feel like checking out some more things he’s been protesting, you can find more of our pieces on him here and here.

#27 Helpful Sign

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#28 Just Doing What The Sign Says

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#29 Sign I Made For My Dad On Father’s Day

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#30 A+ Effort There, Didn’t Use Comic Sans

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#31 Brutally Honest Sign

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#32 My Friend Just Returned From A 7 Month Deployment. This Guy Had My Favorite Sign In The Crowd Of Friends And Family

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#33 Til My Soul Mate Is A Highway Sign

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#34 My Sister Got To Decide The CVS Sign Today

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#35 Sign Recently Erected In My Neighborhood

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#36 This Is The Sign My Gym Puts Up When The Janitors Are Cleaning The Women’s Locker Room

Image credits: The_G-Man1984

#37 My GF’s Obsession With Cheesy Cursive Signs Inspired Me To Make My Own Uninspirational Signs

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#38 Wife Asked Me To Change The Sign

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#39 You Just Gestured At All Of Me

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#40 Hacking… With Love

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#41 Just Moved In And Bought This Sign…finally Feels Like Home

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#42 Local Traffic Sign Getting A Little Snappy

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#43 This Corn Maze Sign

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#44 Went To Museum And They Had A Working Piano They Had This Sign

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#45 Been There, Drank There, Fished There… It’s True

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#46 The Sign Outside My Local Coffee Shop

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#47 This Sign At A Local Thrift Shop

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#48 Every Sign Has A Story…

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#49 Sign At A Pizza Buffet

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#50 Sign At My Local Shwarma Restaurant

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#51 This Sign Has Been Stolen Too Many Times I Guess

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#52 My Grandparents Have Had This Wooden Sign Hanging On Their Porch Since The 90s… Today, Grandma Finally Snapped

Image credits: CougarBoozer

#53 Sign Me The F**k Up

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#54 There’s A Story Behind Every Sign Like This

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#55 What A Confusing Sign

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#56 I’ve Never Seen A Hotel Pool Sign So Blunt Before

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#57 This Volunteer Fire Department Sign Near My House

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#58 This Sign Outside An Animal Hospital

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#59 Important Message Seen At The San Francisco Pride Parade Today

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#60 This Sign At A Pizza Restaurant

Image credits: reddit.com

#61 We Were Cleaning Up Our Rental Vacation Home And Found Someone Had Left This Sign In Our Bathroom. Thought You Guys Would Get Kick Out Of It

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#62 The Church In My Town Is Always Posting Fantastic Signs

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#63 No Matter How I Read This Sign, I Still Have Questions

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#64 A Sign In My School Today

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#65 Good Thing The Extra Sign Was There For Clarification

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#66 I Can Get Rejected In 3D, Great

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#67 Sign On My Local Chinese Buffet

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#68 This Sign Posted Outside A Local Bar

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#69 A Helpful Sign

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#70 Best Student Sign I’ve Ever Seen

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#71 I Work From Home, So My Dad Wanted Me To Sign For His Package. Found This Sign Outside Our Door After I Signed. For The Record, I Am Not Disabled

Image credits: Precogvision

#72 Is The Sign Really Needed?

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#73 This Variation Of The “Now Hiring” Sign At My Local Sonic

Image credits: Opheliax420

#74 My Parents Took Advantage Of The Graduation Sign Trend To S**t On Me For Dropping Out

Image credits: mississippimind

#75 This Sign Was Taped To One Of The Men’s Bathroom Where I Work

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Source: boredpanda.com