History Main / CantYouReadTheSign

* In the Film/JamesBond movie ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', a mook ignores the "Burglar Protected" sticker on the window of Bond's Lotus Esprit Turbo when trying to break into it. Then again he didn't expect the car to ''explode'' when he broke said window with his gun.

* A common complaint is that some door-to-door salesmen (particularly from MLM companies) have ignored “no-soliciting” signs on neighbors’ houses while knocking on doors. Many households, staunchly uninterested in their questionable offers, are generally not happy about engaging with these strangers.

* A common complaint is that there have been door-to-door salesmen (particularly from MLM companies) who ignore “no-soliciting” signs on neighbors’ houses and knock on doors. Many households, staunchly uninterested in their offers, are not happy about engaging with these people.

** It's also occasionally referenced that an AM citizen/Wizard, upon encountering a sign not to perform an action will immediately perform the action just to see what all the fuss is about. Which is why the sign on the stick holding the [[CoolGate Portal Window]] open in ''Literature/TheLastContinent'' says "Do not remove this wood. Not even to see what happens. IMPORTANT."

* Polish book ''Krzyżacki Poker'' (in English it would be ''Teutonic Poker'', as in Teutonic Knights Order) utilises this on the cover -- we see character smoking right under sign "Rauchen Verboten" ("No Smoking" in German).
* Crops up in the ''Literature/NomesTrilogy'', although in this case the nomes don't understanding the signs (or indeed a lot of other parts of our world).

* In ''Fanfic/AngryHarryAndTheSeven'', a slowly escalating RunningGag on the Hogwarts Express is Harry Potter placing "Please Knock" signs on the door to whichever carriage compartment he claims, people ignoring the signs, trying to barge in without knocking, getting thwarted by spells, and getting indignant about it instead of learning the manners that Harry Potter is trying to teach.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': Jeff takes Beginner Pottery, an "ultimate blow-off class", then sets off Professor Holly's BerserkButton by inadvertently re-enacting the pottery scene in ''Film/{{Ghost}}''. Holly growls "One rule I asked you to follow. One. LOOK!" and points to a poster of Patrick Swayze with an "X" over it.

* Anyone who works in a place with animals as a heavy focus (pet store, zoo, animal shelter, etc.) can tell you that a sign saying "Do Not Tap On Glass" or "Do Not Put Fingers In Cage" is bound to be ignored by children and adults alike, much to the annoyance of employees, the stress of the animals in question, and possibly the pain of the offending fingers.

** Not the only time Snake could invoke this trope: In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidTheTwinSnakes'', some of the armory's rooms have the words "No Smoking" in big letters, and if you equip the cigarettes... well, it speaks for itself.
** May have also been in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''.

** In "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", the Doctor and companions must climb a tall crane to take on the VillainOfTheWeek. There's a sign on the crane showing a falling man and DANGER OF DEATH--DO NOT CLIMB. [[{{Foreshadowing}} Someone does fall to their death]], but it turns out to be the villain.

** In "The Woman Who Fell to Earth", the Doctor and companions must climb a tall crane to take on the VillainOfTheWeek. There's a sign on the crane showing a falling man and DANGER OF DEATH-DO NOT CLIMB. [[{{Foreshadowing}} Someone does fall to their death]], but it turns out to be the villain.

* A commercial for Corn Pops has a sign at a zoo reading "Do Not Mesmerize Lizard With Delicious Corn Pops."

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' never met a sign she didn't [[GenkiGirl promptly]] [[JerkAss ignore]], such as the NO DIVING sign during the pool scene in "Endless Eight", while Kyon has never missed a sign that he didn't suffer for. At least, not yet. R.I.P., Kyon's Bike.

** Early in the anime, Ryōga falls down a hill next to a sign reading "Warning: Landslide area."
** In the manga, Ryōga, thinking of Akane, hugs a pole that has the notice "Do Not Hug Pole." Because he's so strong, he breaks the pole. And right above the former sign there is another, off-panel in the previous panel, which reads "Do Not Break Pole."
** An exhausted Ryōga is so desperate he asks a ''horse'' for directions. Naturally, there's a nearby sign that reads, "Do not talk to horse."

** Pantyhose Taro is dangled from a tree with a sign on it reading: "Please do not hang people from this tree."

** One of the more humorous examples has a one-shot character waiting for Kodachi at a garden while doing a NoblewomansLaugh. Naturally, there is a sign right outside that says "Please do not laugh loudly inside the garden."

* At one point in ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'', Yotsuba leans over the arm of an escalator... [[LaserGuidedKarma and hits her head on a sign warning not to do just that.]]
* One episode of ''Manga/YoureUnderArrest'' has local VigilanteMan Strike Man getting angry at a bunch of cars parked right in front of a "No Parking" sign. [[ParkingPayback He proceeds to deflate their tires as punishment.]]

%%* [[http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=BC+ZC+2316 No Leaning on the Sign]]

* ''[[Film/LaCiteDeLaPeur La Cité de la peur]]'':

** "Choucroute interdite" ("Sauerkraut forbidden")

* In the park in which the Burly Brawl in ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' takes place, [[FreezeFrameBonus there's a sign on the wall that reads "No Brawling"]]. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/adstyr/during_the_burly_brawl_fight_scene_in_the_matrix/ It's visible here.]]

* ''Film/ScaryMovie'' begins with a woman running away from the killer. She reaches a sign which points in two directions, one "Safety", the other "Death". [[TooDumbToLive Guess which one she picks.]]

** A hilarious inversion in ''Just Annoying!'' Andy takes one of his neighbor's garden gnomes on holiday and sets it up for a photograph (for a postcard) on the diving board at the swimming pool. The lifeguard catches him and tells him that garden gnomes are banned from the pool. When Andy correctly points out that this is not on the sign (which he even checked beforehand), the response is "It shouldn't have to be, it should be obvious."

* In the ''[[Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle Kingkiller Chronicle]]'' series, taverns near the [[WizardingSchool Arcanum]] have signs reading "No Sympathy" where "Sympathy" is a form of FunctionalMagic. Kvothe points out that these signs are [[NoSympathy likely confusing]] to [[{{Muggles}} persons unfamiliar with magic.]]

** Similarly, at the end of "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E3AfterLife}} After Life]]" when Buffy confides in Spike, he's standing next to a discarded door with a BEWARE OF DOG sign -- a RunningGag with Spike, but this time hinting at the DestructiveRomance to follow.

** When the ''Tool Time'' crew visited an aircraft carrier, a large sign on the deck was modified to read, "Beware of jet blast, propellers and Tim."

* In ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', when Dewey is first sent to the troubled kids classes, he sits next to a boy with boxing gloves on who asks him if he can scratch his nose. Dewey points out that the boy has a sign on his chest that says "Don't touch. Bites." He tells him to just ignore the sign. Before cutting to commercial, and as Dewey approaches his finger to scratch his nose, we see that he has another sign on his back: "Don't ignore the sign."

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''

* Thanks to the use of tools (As well as a surprisingly wonky [[GoodBadBugs but in the player's favour]] text recognition), the second round of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrWR5DqG4ZI this]] ''Series/FamilyFeud'' game has some... very bizarre signs given in its "Name a sign everyone seems to ignore"
** "No Yodeling allowed" (Accepted as "Yield")
** "No stealing pornography" (Accepted as "Stop")
** "Pardon the walrus tusks" (accepted as 'Don't walk")
* ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' plays with it. "Do not play in or around Dumpster, do not sleep in Dumpster, do not Kick Dumpster, Usage of this container for disposal of human remains in this container may violate health ordinances". Ben observes this after [[TapOnTheHead taking a nap in the dumpster,]] [[DeadMansChest being disposed of in the dumpster,]] [[OpenSaysMe playing around in the dumpster,]] and kicking the dumpster.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKyrandia Book 3: Malcolm's Revenge'', one section involves navigating sheer-faced cliffs and waterfalls, and the only way to go is up or down with the aid of certain items. There are signs posted on each screen that inform what items are not allowed ("No climbing shoes", "No [[ParasolParachute umbrellas]]", etc.) However, it's reverse psychology. The forbidden items are the items that will ''work''. [[FridgeBrilliance You ARE playing as a villain...]]

* Parodied in ''[[VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete]]''. In Meribia, there's a sign on one house that's blocked by a bunch of flowers, making it impossible for anyone in your team to read. After Kyle joins the team, you can bring him to examine the blocked sign. Kyle resolves to find out what the sign says by walking through the flowers and destroying them. So what does the sign say? "Please don't step on the flowers."

* In ''[[Webcomic/MegamanSpriteComic Megaman Sprite Game]]'', early on in the game you see a sign that warns you of the legal repercussions of stepping off the path. In order to get close enough to the sign to read it, you need to step off the path. Rather infamously, [[spoiler: stepping off the path at any point in the game triggers the BadEnding. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27em0SgYYKQ here.]] ]]

** After the TimeSkip, a sign beyond a flowerbed begins to admonish you for stepping on the flowers in order to read it, [[SubvertedTrope before conceding that it's really the fault of whoever put the sign up in the first place.]]

*** Do not open EVER! If you try and open it, [[spoiler: you will be dragged inside by a bunch of clothes]].
** There's also another door that says you'll be sorry if you open it. [[spoiler: You'll get caught by the Neanderthal Man if you do so.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'', Lily doesn’t see the sign stating that only paying guests are allowed to use the hotel swimming pool...because she climbed over the fence to get there.

* An intro skit in ''Machinima/SanityNotIncluded'' [[ParodiedTrope parodies]] the trope.

* One ''Webcomic/CyanideAndHappiness'' animated short features two policemen brutally enforcing a sign labeled "Do Not Read", and another nearby sign, "No babies."

** If they'd looked closer, maybe that invading army would have noticed the sign on the gates to Mechanicsburg: [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071116 "Trade Entrance. Invade in Front."]]
** Also, there is a chewing-gum machine in Castle Heterodyne with a sign saying "Poison -- Illiteracy Reduction"; [[DontExplainTheJoke people who can't read the sign will eat the chewing-gum and die.]]
** And aboard Castle Wulfenbach, a bubbling green [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20031126 laboratory pool]] labelled "DO NOT DRINK." Moloch Von Zinzer evidently ignores this directive with [[ExtremeOmnivore no ill effects]].

* ''Webcomic/PrincessPi'' subverts this in one comic. Bottle Blonde tries to remind patrons of Burger Yellowbellied Sapsucker that they can't break any rules, because "There's a sign that says so!" She then points to a plaque reading simply, "The Sign That Says So."
* During the "Pirates of the Oceans Unmoving" arc of ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', a flashback shows the time when Torg bought [[KillerRabbit Bun-Bun]] from TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday. Finding exactly what he's looking for, for just under what he could afford to pay, he's smart enough to realize where he is, so he then asks the proprietor for a gorgeous, bikini-clad girlfriend for the single dime he had left. The proprietor then silently points to a sign that reads "Attempting to abuse Magical Shop's magicalness will incur a 10 cent penalty."

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BenTen'', Grandpa Max takes Ben and Gwen to see a roadside attraction that is built up as something amazing. They are also told to mind the signs. When they finally go to see it, they pass several warning signs about things not to do to it. It turns out to just be a gigantic ball of rubber bands. Ben ignores the warning signs, and Gwen doesn't stop him because she also found it disappointing. It turns out there actually was a good reason for the signs. The giant ball of rubber bands is also a prison for an electrical monster which is unleashed by Ben playing with it.

** Jay talks to a cab driver. The driver (suitably foreign) says [[YouNoTakeCandle "Look at sign!"]]. It reads "Driver knows only three words of English."
** After Jay imagines the Statue of Liberty undressing for him, a policeman points at a sign reading "No fantasizing about statue."

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}'': In "A Forgotten Yesterday", Fillmore is on a jetski in X's lake, and almost crashes into a buoy mounted with a sign that reads "Watch Out For Floating Signs"

** In "Three Hundred Big Boys", Leela goes swimming with a whale with a swimsuit filled with rotten fish as a part of a ZanyScheme. After she dives in, a banner reading, "PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE WHALE" is seen. Leela's suit is eaten. "The suit was ugly! Whale biologist."

** In the ''Treehouse of Horror XV" segment "Four Beheadings and a Funeral", as Homer flees the opium den [[GrievousHarmWithABody he throws people to slow his pursuers]]. Moe tells him to obey the sign, "No Tossing Addicts".

* Another favorite "Caution: Only bring cheap watches/credit cards you weren't planning on using anymore near magnet."
* At least one lab has a sign in the hallway reading: "CAUTION: Active Robot." Do not stand in its way, or else.

* Back in the day in St. Louis, there was a wonderful greasy spoon that looked like it was a Hollywood set dresser's idea of a Midwestern diner. It was called "Irv's Home Cooking." When (inevitably) a drunk college kid would ask "Where's Irv?", the [[ServiceSectorStereotypes stock character waitress]] would snap her gum, point at the sign out front and say, "Cantcha read the sign? He's home, cooking."
* And finally, who HASN'T seen a "no standing" sign, only to stand next to it? ("Standing", in the first case, meaning the act of leaving your car running in the parking space). Or, for that matter, a "No Loitering" sign.

* Thanks to ValuesDissonance, [[https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4083/5063704941_240a3182b4_b.jpg this "No Durians"]] sign falls under this trope just because people might see it and want to try it out to see what's so bad. The main reason behind these signs are that Durians [[ForeignQueasine smell indescribably foul.]] However; you're very unlikely to find the fruit itself outside of South-eastern Asia.

* An anecdote about the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Battle of Gettysburg]]: On the first day of the battle, part of the Union army's XI corps had taken up a position in the town's cemetery as a reserve position. During the events of the first day's battle, the rest of the Union troops were driven back into the cemetery by the Confederates. On the second day of the battle, a junior officer to Gen. O.O. Howard (the XI corps commander) jokingly pointed out a sign in the cemetery saying "Shooting and Use of Firearms is Prohibited". The officer asked if they would get in trouble for violating the sign. Shortly after, a cannonball struck the sign and destroyed it. Gen. Howard reportedly quipped, "It appears the ordinance has been rescinded, and the shooting may go on."

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Rogue", Bodie and Doyle rush off to the hospital after their boss George Cowley is injured. Afterwards when they get into their car and drive off, it's shown their car was parked in a NO PARKING area.

* ''WesternAnimation/JetsonsTheMovie'' has a sign that says "WARNING! DO NOT STICK YOUR FINGER IN THIS HOLE!". No points for guessing what exactly George does next.

* ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague''. Our introduction to [[Franchise/TheFlash Barry Allen]] starts with a truck heading towards Central City past a sign that says "Reduce Speed". When the truck causes a road accident, Barry uses his SuperSpeed to save the life of InnocentBystander Iris West.

* In ''[[Webcomic/MegamanSpriteComic Megaman Sprite Game]]'', early on in the game you see a sign that warns you of the legal repercussions of stepping off the path. In order to get close enough to the sign to read it, you need to step off the path.
** Rather infamously, [[spoiler: stepping off the path at any point in the game triggers the BadEnding. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27em0SgYYKQ here.]] ]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims 3'', one of the towns features a river that happens to pass by the local cemetery, where there is a "No Fishing" sign posted on the river bank. If a highly skilled angler goes to that specific place between the hours of midnight and 4:00 am, s/he can, with the correct bait, catch the elusive Deathfish. Not only does the Deathfish have a high simoleon value if sold, it's one of the two ingredients used by a highly skilled chef to make Ambrosia, which makes its eater grow somewhat younger.

-->'''Gray SPARTAN:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvTbduIu4Pk&list=ELdSz_h4yp-8s No petting the recycling bin!]]

** Bart is wearing a fancy Batman-style utility belt and the bullies are chasing him. He presses the belt's "Emergency" button, which gives off a siren (telling the bullies his location) and shoots off a flare which parachutes to the ground with the words "Need Help Call Police" on the 'chute. When the bullies run up to him Bart says "Can't you read? Call the police!"

* ''WesternAnimation/JetsonsTheMovie'' has a sign that says "WARNING! DO NOT STICK YOUR FINGER IN THIS HOLE!". No point for guessing what exactly George does next.

** In "The Brave and the Bold", while in a lab, Flash tries offering a banana to a gorilla in a cage (unaware that it's ComicBook/GorillaGrodd, the main villain of the episode), only for the angry scientist to snatch it away and point out the "Don't feed the animals" sign.

[[caption-width-right:350:You can't tell me what to do - because I don't even know what it means!]]

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', during the fox demon exams, Shippo dangles a rope with a sign attached in front of Inuyasha that reads "Do Not Pull." Inuyasha pulls it and Shippo pulls out a sign that reads "Idiots Will Pull" complete with fireworks. Needless to say, Inuyasha was very pissed and used the ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverKill Wind Scar]]'' on ''Shippo''. Needless to say, Creator/RumikoTakahashi loves this gag, and it appears several more times in her works.

--->'''[[AC:Ignore this sign. By order.]]'''

* ''Series/CowboyBebop2021''

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', Squidward is closing up shop at the Krusty Krab and puts up the CLOSED sign just as a customer walks up. He asks if they're open, to which Squidward replies, "Read the sign." The customer then immediately makes an order.

** In "The Brave and the Bold", while in a lab, Flash tries offering a banana to a gorilla in a cage (unaware that it's [[Characters/TheFlashGorillaGrodd Gorilla Grodd]], the main villain of the episode), only for the angry scientist to snatch it away and point out the "Don't feed the animals" sign.

* ''Series/CowboyBebop2021''. In "Binary Two-Step", the ''[=BeBop=]'' is ComingInHot on top of an abandoned military base, and crashes through a sign saying DO NOT ENTER.

** The treasure chest and fishing minigames in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' are hinted to have banned items; these items can be acquired and used to your advantage. (However, in the case of the sinking fishing lure, you do get a notice on your catch saying it was caught with an illegal lure.) But in that case, you ''can'' make it legal.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney: Justice for All'': when Phoenix and Maya investigate a really dirty and greasy cafeteria, Maya notices that apparently no-one cares about the "Keep our cafeteria clean" sign. Her suggestion is a bit more threatening: