Naughty Bilingual Sign In Tallinn Airport, Estonia

by Sean McLachlan on


I think I’m going to like Estonia …

This country of 1.3 million people only has a little more than 900,000 people who speak Estonian as their native language yet they’re confident enough with their national tongue to make a bilingual joke right as you enter the airport in the capital city of Tallinn.

Language was politics in the old Soviet republics, and for the long decades during which Estonia was part of the Soviet Union the people had to learn Russian. Many also learned Finnish through TV stations broadcast from Helsinki that were never jammed (more on that story later in the series) while English was something few people ever learned. Now all the younger generation is learning English and it’s easy to get by without knowing any Estonian.

A lack of Estonian, of course, doesn’t lessen the impact of this sign!

Check out this new series: “Exploring Estonia: The Northern Baltics In Wintertime.”

Coming up next: Tallinn’s Medieval Old Town!

[Photo by Sean McLachlan]

Funny signs in “Signspotting III: Lost and Loster in Translation”

by Scott Carmichael on

Here on Gadling, we are suckers for weird signs. Especially when you travel, you come across signs that are just too damn funny. Writer Doug Lansky apparently feels the same way, because he just released the third episode of his “Signspotting” line of books.

We got a sneek peek at some of the signs included in “Lost and Loster in Translation”, and they really are absolutely hilarious. Though I do have to admit I’m a tad jealous that I didn’t think of collecting funny signs and writing my own book. I’m guessing that is the price I pay for being so lazy.

You’ll find Signspotting III: Lost and Loster in Translation on the book shelves of Amazon for just $7.99. Order quickly, because this would make a great stocking stuffer (hint, hint!).