Japanese symbols that speak without words • Hacker News Board

Re: Japanese symbols that speak without words

#141

Post by callmeal » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 2:09 PM UTC

lexicality wrote: post #5

netsharc wrote: post #3

The logo expressing "Limited Express" is very unspecific, imagine if buses with the Mercedes star cost extra and didn't stop at every stop. Interesting that a lot of US road signs have words on them: https://ygraph.com/graphs/roadsigns-20120316T030941-ekrruua.... , or are obvious, whereas in Europe drivers need to learn what they mean: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh... For example the yi…

It was very surprising for me when I visited the US to see just how much space was wasted writing everything out on every sign and sometimes in giant words on the road. It did also make me a bit worried about the expected level of driver education...

>It did also make me a bit worried about the expected level of driver education...

Not just driver, but of the general population. A few decades ago, the general reading level was at the 6th grade (thanks to the policies of Ronald Regan) and republicans think that is too high and have been working intensely to lower it. Won't be surprised if it's dropped given the "golden" opportunity of covid. I know it's only been a few years (centuries for most Americans) since Betsy DeVos was secretary of education. Remember that era?

Re: Japanese symbols that speak without words

#142

Post by callmeal » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 2:12 PM UTC

xp84 wrote: post #135

simonask wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driving in Europe would be completely impossible without them. I have no idea what the Greek word for "no parking or stopping between 09 and 15" is, or the Croatian word for "left".

I agree - to me, that is the main practical reason Europe is a special case well-suited to symbolic signs. The US doesn't have nearly that issue, since we have tons of symbolic signs, and few languages, which share a ton of close cognates anyway. For instance, most Mexicans I've heard will use the verb "parquear" or "aparcar" to mean "to park" rather than "estacionar" - so as you might expect, they have zero trouble…

And then there's this one which always manages to horrify me:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh...

Re: Japanese symbols that speak without words

#143

Post by stasomatic » Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 3:16 PM UTC

hunter2_ wrote: post #34

freetime2 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However I get the impression that other drivers are less considerate around a car displaying the [L] sign. On a related theme - I have found when driving in the North Eastern US, when people put on their turn signal, other drivers will often speed up and close the gap rather than giving them space to merge.

As a northeasterner, I can explain: In some other places, a turn signal before a lane change is an ask, to which others respond by creating more of a gap than there originally was. Here, it's not an ask but a statement that you've got enough of a gap already so you're going for it. As such, others don't find a need to react at all, which could mean the gap continues shrinking if it was already shrinking prior. The si…

I have not been a northeasterner for 20 years, but I remember cursing at yellow cabs in Manhattan for sudden turns on 5th or 6th, Madison ave, one way aves in Manhattan, going from the right most lane to make a left turn in a matter of 2 seconds.

Now living in Florida, where turn signals are optional, no Bimmer required, I miss those NYC cabbies dearly. The had strategy, defensive/offensive that were somewhat predictable. Here, it's just pure mayhem.