Department of Redundancy Department

That's duplicate. I know of triple redundancy: there is a river called Ula-he in Russian Far East. Ula is 'river' in local (Nanai) dialect and He is 'river' in Chinese. So the sign 'River Ulahe' means River River River and does not really tell you much.

I guess Quebec has got it right. None of that bilingualism BS for them!!

Is that ND or Saskabush Kate?

Looks more like a dugout or holding pond to me.

Well, I live in Vermont, the Green Mountain State, talk about saying things twice, saying things twice.

My favourite was when one of the American networks cut away to a commercial from the parade of athletes at the Montreal Olympics opening ceremony because they had only gotten to the letter E and the United States starts with a U. The American athletes arrived under the sign of États-Unis and the live moment was lost.

Kate, I actually maintain a collection of dumb signs. You want to have a contest to find the dumbest sign in Canada?

C'mon Kate, it's a clever photoshop, right?

Ha ha. That's like "Lake Loch Leven" in Cypress Hills park (SK). At least that's what the locals call it. Officially, it's just Loch Leven.

Des Lacs Lake is in North Dakota. If you doubt me google it or by looking at the sign you can see the neatly spaced bullet holes along the top and bottom of the sign. Of course we Canadians could never own an automatic weapon capable of placing the holes so evenly along the edges.

Oh you mean that those aren't plugs covering bullet holes?

In Montreal there's the well known Pont Viau Bridge.

By the way, trying to get to Minot can be embarassing for the French speaking tourist who automatically pronounces it as "Me no," with the accent on the second syllable rather than "My not" with the stress on the first!

Me know that from bitter experience.

I'm not much of a French speaker, but I have to say that the oft heard phrase "with au jus" really grates.

Ah the "Me Know" trick. Always a favorite.

Well, you must admit it does sound better than "Mouse, North Dakota"...

As the famous philosopher P.J. O'Rourke once said about Oregon's Malheur State Park, "don't think of why they would give a park such a name, think of it simply as 'fancy-sounding-foreign-name state park.'"

All across the Southwest of the U.S. you will find signs directing you to "Table Mesa". In Spanish 'mesa' means 'table'.

I think the city of Saskatoon has the best sign ever. You'll find it at the corner of Rusholme Road and Avenue P, affectionately known to the locals as "Rush Home and Pee".

des lacs is more like a river. 70 miles long and a half mile wide. A relative of mine lives there. A doctor.....didn't think much of Health Canada or Revenue Canada, so he left. Hey I wonder if Obamacare comes in and we Canadian when to private healthcare if all of our doctors would come back????????

We drove by that sign last month (long road trip)...and had the same reaction to it.

What used to amuse me driving north from Minot was how the Mouse River becomes the Souris (Sue Ris) in Saskabush....

And Kate, you surely know how name of the town of Bienfait, is pronounced by the locals ... nothing like the French version ....

I used to live in Los Altos Hills, CA, right above Los Altos, which is dead flat. Ahh, California.

Jeux Canada Games.

Best mangling of a name has to go to Gruene, pronounced "Green", Texas. Home of Texas' oldest continually running dance/beer hall, it is as much a mecca of country music as Luckenbach, Texas. Just don't ask the locals where it is by trying to pronounce the name like it is written. Ask for directions to "Green" and they can tell you will be tending bar when you get there.

btw, Ask for a Shiner.

@Louise "Rusholme and P"

Speaking of S'toon signs...a few years ago someone in New York sent me as a joke a photo of the pork producers billboard that was up near the Rumley Building without knowing where it came from. Remember it? It had a woman barbecuing and her husband embracing her from behind with the caption...PORK the one you love. heh

You'll find it at the corner of Rusholme Road and Avenue P, affectionately known to the locals as "Rush Home and Pee". -- Louise

Louise, you've made my day! Hilarious.

I always go out of my when visiting family in Saskatoon (and who in Alberta doesn't have ties to Saskatchewan?) to seek out a landmark made famous (by coincidence) by Tony Bennett in a classic Simpsons episode:

It's against the law to frown in... Capital City. You'll caper like a stupid clown when you chance to see Fourth Street and 'D'! Yeah!

I'll now also keep an eye out for "Rush home and pee"!

How about Mille Lacs Lake? Translates to thousand lakes lake.

http://millelacs.com/

whenever i'm in K.C. for business i make a point of prouncing it KanSAW....which invariably leads to my mentioning the great state of Arkansass..

the locals get a kick out of my feigned ignorance..

and back in our dear old Dominion i am pleased to see on ATMs the helpful advice that this here slot is for envelopes and for the french speakers "envelopes'.......

translated the sign reads Des lakeS lake....

is there a missing lake...or lakes ?

john begley
In Edmonton the ATM's don't even have English. The written instructions are directly Chinese. No change possible for language included.
You go by intuition if your not Asian.

Mississauga Matt:

There was an entire thread at "Chowhound.Com" discussing "with au jus".

The worst examples were "with au jus sauce" and "with au jus gravy".

You can read it all it all "chowhound.chow.com/topics/658294"

You can read as a guest, but to post, you have to register (it's free). Lots of good info about GTA restaurants in the "Ontario" board.

Oh come on now. There had to be one lake in this country called "lake". Like calling your dog "dog". Planned,simplistic and refreshing.
That's their story and their sticking to it.

On Canadian military ration packs the main course, in english, is called the 'entre', but in french is 'plat du resistance'.

(I probably have the spelling wrong)

Peter; you beat me to it; talk about stating the obvious. Serious lac of imagination...:)

On the highway between Banff and Radium (In Kooteney National Park, I believe):
Dog Lake.... Bi-lingual sign: Lac Dog!
For crying out loud! you doofusses don't have a clue- It's either Dog Lake or Lac (du?)Chien! But Lac Dog??

Slow night, huh, Kate. Why not go on and paint yourself a truck.

'tong' in Cantonese has about 4 meanings i can think of...

'dog' may be athapaskan for lili marlene for all we know...

Actually, Kate - I have a cotage at "Lac Pelletier" in southern SK. You might want to come and "av a lok at it somtime, if u wish" you noooo?.

WTF is yur point??

"WTF is yur point??

Posted by: a different bob at November 12, 2009 11:24 PM "

Well boob....I can't speak for Kate,but my point would be to look at the f*(king HUGE amount of taxpayer monies blown on bilingualism. Brought to you,of course,by leftards and their dear leader, Turdeau. Now why don't you foff to unilingual Queerbec?

My fluency is not really Parisian French but rather Provinciale---Legion ya know...
However what I have encountered most in Quebec is not "ua jus" but "avec sauce"....for gravy on the frits(frys).
One of the benefits of my linguistic experience is that regardless the dialect...I can do a superb job of chewing out a Quebecois with an attitude....
Actually I have encountered more anglos in Quebec with attitudes but "there ya go".....

Re: "Department of Redundancy Department"

First thing I thought of. Firesign Theatre, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers. 1969-ish.

what I can't stand is TV broadcasts where French is being spoken and the translator translates simple phrases like "Bon jour" to English.

It's pronounced "Beanfate"....I grew up in Estevan and shot at the pistol club in an old church basement there.

Lac La Hache Lake

Reminds me of a sign seen locally that says:

OLD HORSE MANURE

Is that manure from an old horse? Or, aging manure? Or,?

Just thinkin - You didn't finish your rant. You forgot to on about the Corn Flakes box being set up on the grocery shelf with the french side showing.

You forgot to mention the metric system.

I was born in BC - vote Conservative federally, Sask Party provincially and will be staying uniligual Saskatchewan. Thank you very much.

With all going on in the world the topic truly is shallow. Brings out the best in people like you.

Hey - how about the isle of De Lisle!!!

As a former SK resident living in ND now, I have passed that sign many times and laughed.

If anyone makes the trip pas Des Lacs Lake, keep an eye out for Smokey. Its a very popular stretch of highway for speed traps. Either side of the valley on the side of the road, fyi.

I know it's not the same,but I always laugh when I see St.Louis De Ha Ha,New Brunswick.During my military recruitment process it was required to list any military relative's station.I was met with guffaws when I asked how to spell Chibougamau and was told someone was pulling my leg.

I always got a bit of a charge from the "Crick Creek" sign in the BC interioir. It seemed redundant, as "crick" is local vernacular for a creek, but I subsequently learned it was named after James Crick.

Sorta like Ricky's "zesty mordant" chips, eh?

DaninVan, Nov. 12 11:04: just so you know, I lay on the ground moaning in pain for a good ten minutes after reading your remark.

"Minot" doesn't mean "mouse", although the city is on the Mouse River. "Minot" ain't even French. The river is called the Souris River on the Canadian side; "souris" is French for "mouse", although we don't pronounce it French.

And as trans-lingual redundancies go, you needn't go farther afield than Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

ebt; the devil made me do it...;)

A couple of signs between North Bay and New Liskeard:

"Slow children ahead."

"Museum of the history of the past."

So if Lac Dog and Lac la Biche get together do we get a litter of lacs?

political junkie

"Slow children ahead"
Are you sure you didn't see the sign at Stornoway?

Dieppe is a town adjacent to Moncton NB. It just passed a bylaw that will insist on Bilingual signs or French only signs. Unilingual English will be forbidden. The Quebecers are having an influence.

ebt - sorry but you're wrong about "Minot" not being a french word. It is. The direct translations is "bushel". Look it up.