That 'Elderly Persons' sign: Can you do better?
Andy
I always thought that sign meant "conga line" #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 12:38 GMT

Guess it explains the stick.
The Voice of Reason
Nice #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 12:38 GMT

Nice idea. I just hope that it doesn't soon become compulsory for all "wrinklies" to have to wear the new T shirt!
Anonymous Coward
Goosing #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 12:39 GMT

Always thought the Lady OAP was getting rather intimate with the old Feller!
Paris cos she'd goose you good!
Efros
Nicholas EGF Berry
Kyphotic? #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 12:39 GMT

Huh? The closest the OED has is 'kythe - Illustration of Forms', but that can't be it.
Rob
pickpocketing? #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 12:49 GMT

Surely fisting?
It's the one with the granny porn in the pockets. All the pockets.
Lauri Pajunen
rename it, no problem #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 12:49 GMT

Since it was a matter of time before one sent this: Just name it Elder Sign and add a few tentacles, problem solved.
Mines the one with tentacles.
Steve Jones
Re: Kyphotic #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 13:02 GMT
Ah, but Wiki has this to say:
"Kyphosis (Greek - kyphos, a hump), in general terms, is a common condition of a curvature of the upper spine. It can be either the result of bad posture (slouching) or a structural, muscular abnormalty in the spine.
In the sense of a deformity, it is the pathological curving of the spine, where parts of the spinal column lose some or all of their lordotic profile. This causes a bowing of the back, seen as a slouching posture. Symptoms of kyphosis, that may be present or not, depending on the type and extent of the deformity, include mild back pain, fatigue, appearance of round back and breathing difficulties. Severe cases can cause great discomfort and even lead to death."
So there you have it, OED nil, WiKi one
James
@Nicholas #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 13:02 GMT

A quick Google shows Kyphotic means "a common condition of a curvature of the upper spine". Hell, that's even from Wikipedia. Not hard to track down.
Paris because, well, humps...
Martyn Waddington
No artistic skills #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 13:19 GMT

If someone wants to nick this idea then please do....
Red Triangle with a 'person' sat on a motorised wheelchair inside it.
Andrew Robinson
Artistic Skills - but no time #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 13:35 GMT

I started Illustrating an old guy asleep on a chair with The Guardian on the armrest and some bourbons on t'other. Then I realised it's nigh on 14.30 and there are more important things to do, damn you work!
Failing that, a doctor's waiting room, stamping a Bingo card, or trying to pass motions on a Commode are all viable themes - get to work, unemployed artists!
Paris 'cause, well, she's an unemployed "artiste" isn't she. Bless.
Matt
missing the point #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 13:37 GMT

Surely if the old folks in question *aren't* hunchbacked old cripples then they should be able to cross the road without difficulty - thereby negating the need to warn drivers to be careful of them?
What next, a petition by does to have a gender-neutral 'deer crossing' sign?
It's political correctness gone mentally-challenged!
Mike Crawshaw
Perfect Timing.... #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 13:51 GMT

Our servers are down today, so nothing useful can be accomplished. Cue starting Paint for very bad "artwork".
(though possibly the servers are down BECAUSE of this? Our local BOFHs might be sitting down with felt tips as I type!)
The helicopters don't need no steenking road signs...!
Anonymous Coward
SAS-style ? #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 13:51 GMT

What with a growing number of knife-related crimes being reported, the sign shows one senior "slotting" another, which is nice.
Hells Grannies in Black Helicopters !?!?! Whatever next !
Matt
I've got it! #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 13:52 GMT
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/images/clothes/sixty.jpg
Anonymous Coward
Alternative, equally offensive stereotype #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 14:17 GMT

Depiction of an elderly resident pissing themselves in a nursing home perhaps?
Ross
I give up #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 14:17 GMT
hmmm, trying to depict stale wee and lavender in a simple black and white sign is proving to be more challenging than I first thought.
Grant
Scots #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 14:27 GMT

Reminds me of a sign I saw in Scotland, near Urqhuart Castle - a horse pulling a trailer with a stick figure in a wheelchair drawn above the trailer. Lucky there wasn't any other traffic at the time.
Mark Summers
@ Messrs Berry and Jones #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 15:19 GMT

OED lists the stem kypho-, from the Greek for crooked, as a variant of cypho-. Cyphosis has a main entry all to itself, just after cyphonism, "punishment by the {kappa}{guacu}{phi}{omega}{nu}, a sort of pillory in which slaves or criminals were fastened by the neck... ...by which the neck of the malefactor is bent or weighed downward".
As Wiki doesn't have the variant spelling, it may be fairer to say OED two, Wiki one.
Paris, because her neck has been bent downward (or so I've heard)
Anonymous Coward
hmmm #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 15:46 GMT
I've always wondered, why is the one at the back sticking its fist up the ones infront arse?
Alexis Vallance
Old People #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 15:46 GMT
Here in Eccles there's an old sign from the 70's outside which says 'DANGER: OLD PEOPLE CROSSING"
About two weeks ago, someone scrubbed out the word 'crossing'.
Anonymous Coward
Old People #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 16:25 GMT

You can't beat 'em!
Pity...
Anonymous Coward
As Borat Sagdiyev would say... #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 17:31 GMT

Her vazhïn hang like sleeve of wizard
http://www.oldpeoplearefunny.com/images/old_lady_crashed.jpg
Jason Harvey
sign meaning? #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 19:07 GMT

you mean it's not some warning sign for the yearly physical?
mines the one with the rear guard
chaosvoyager
Kyphotic, or Cryptic? #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 19:08 GMT

What's next, Handicap people complaining about being represented as wheelchair bound?
The other Matt has it right, the current representation is much more accurate for the ACTUAL old people you have to watch out for, and has wider shared cultural significance.
But this old people sign is the least of my symbolic worries (because I'm not old). What I'm far more concerned about is having a good glyph to <del>warn me of</del> represent nude beaches. For some reason they have symbols for everything else you can and cannot do at the beaches here, but not the nude bit. And unlike those mythical Brazilian nude beaches, all we have over here are places where the last guys (and ONLY guys) who should be seen naked are.
Mines the one with the Peril Sensitive Sunglasses and "AARP guide to North American Geriatrics" in the pocket.
Haku
Re: I always thought that sign meant "conga line" #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 19:21 GMT

http://www.haku.co.uk/b3ta/PoliceConga.jpg
Thad
Design team? #
Posted Thursday 21st August 2008 22:33 GMT
"It doesn't have to be world-class artwork, since our in-house department will work its magic on the winning entry."
You mean ...will set up the scene in Lego people
:)
Captain DaFt
Oi! Yer in fer it now! #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 00:20 GMT

Or... Never ask the ham handed for artwork...
(See my submission, with the emphasis on "sub"!)
Lorenz Kahl
NZ Sign #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 00:20 GMT

In Nelson, where I live, there is a seafront suburb called Monaco. On a bend is a sign warning of "Rug-rats and old biddies all over the place". great sense of humour, the Kiwis.
PS you should experience a few of their TV adverts as well....
Martin Usher
If they're fast enough to get out the way then you don't need the sign... #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 08:56 GMT

Says it all. The sign doesn't ask you to be careful because of "elderly people", its asking you to be careful of "older people with impaired mobility, reduced hearing and problems with depth perception".
At least they're walking. Put them in the driver's seat and its fun, fun, fun.....
adnim
@AC:Alternative, equally offensive stereotype #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 08:56 GMT
"Depiction of an elderly resident pissing themselves in a nursing home perhaps?"
Don't forget to include an image of the care home worker leaving said elderly resident sat in their own piss because it's five minutes away from clocking off time.
Anonymous Coward
Kyphosis #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 08:56 GMT

My OED shows it, first quoted example 1882, most recent from 1900 BMJ. Of course, if cheapskates don't have the full version OED, they'd never be able to check.
Amanda
Maybe it's an American stereotype but... #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 08:56 GMT

Simply depict a figure shaking a cane, as if insisting that those damned kids stay off his lawn.
TeeCee
Simple solution. #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 09:48 GMT
1) Remove the offensive signs.
2) Declare Open Season.
That'll teach the old farts to complain.
mittfh
The Drumnadrochit sign... #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 11:57 GMT
http://www.missiondifficult.org.uk/disabled%20drivers.jpg
Tim
I really don't believe.. #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 12:14 GMT

... signs are necessary! Beware old people? Goes without saying, doesn't it?
James
Re: The Drumnadrochit sign... #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 12:34 GMT

I was kinda hoping it was going to be a blue, "horse-drawn wheelchair trailers only" sign.
Anonymous Coward
I'm not worried #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 14:15 GMT
If I hit a Golden Oldie in my car I suspect I'll be OK and the Oldie will be squished.
My biggest worry might be scratched paintwork from flying false teeth, or perhaps scraping a woolly cardie out of my wheel arch.
This is like warning killer whales that there are slow moving injured seals around.
Just a thought... it might be more effective to warn crinklies that cars have been invented and need not have a man walking in front with a red flag anymore.
W
Kyphotic #
Posted Friday 22nd August 2008 16:03 GMT

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=Kyphotic
OED? PAH! WWW.TFD.COM FTW - C-YA
W
Anonymous Coward
140 points #
Posted Saturday 23rd August 2008 00:40 GMT

"death race 2000" reference - best advert I can think of for "crinkly people ahead".
Havin_it
@ W #
Posted Tuesday 26th August 2008 10:47 GMT

W, are you by any chance related to amanfromMars?
Re Drumnadrochit: there's a riding school there that caters to the less-good-at-moving-about-and-that among others. It is near the road but I've never seen them (a) on the road or (b) perched atop a buggy in their wheelchairs.
A "nutters coming the other direction all over the (swervetastic and barely double-track) bloody road" sign wouldn't go amiss on that stretch, too.
Brian
Was going to post a real funny suggestion.... #
Posted Wednesday 27th August 2008 09:13 GMT

but apparently the other cold-hearted bastards in here beat me to it.
BTW Amanda...."as if insisting those damned kids stay off his lawn". Priceless.
Perhaps a warning triangular sign with a lovely sunset on it...possibly a sign with a solid pale, soothing institutional green color....or perhaps a garish floral pattern.
Bah!
Get off my lawn you little bastards!
Dr Patrick J R Harkin
Surely what we need is... #
Posted Wednesday 27th August 2008 10:49 GMT
...a sign which tells us that it isn't anything like as good as the old signs they had before the war.