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Hey, yah Masshole, the state has a message for you
By adamg on Fri, 05/09/2014 - 8:32am
![Highway sign telling drivahs to use theyah blinkahs](https://www.universalhub.com/files/styles/main_image/public/images/2023/blinkahs.jpg?itok=QGA7jNVL)
When I saw this photo by BU Police this morning, my first thought was something like, "Hah, if only - nice Photoshop job". But no, the state Department of Transportation really has programmed signboards on Boston-area highways to urge people to use theyah blinkahs when changing lanes - or risk a fine.
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Spell check needed.
Spell check needed.
Wicked awesome
Wicked awesome
One might even go so far as to say...
"Pissah!"
Signs
I love it. People need a sense of humor.
Great job by MassDOT
Use yah blinkah
Then use yah cell phone to try to take a pictah while youah drivin' past at 70 miles per houah...
So you can post it to Twittah.
495 Mansfield
Spotted the same message today on 495S. Yes, this does appear to be MassDOT.
If they said "turn indicator", perhaps that would have confused people more?
I was just kidding actually
...in reality, bad job by MassDOT. The twittersphere is swimming with these pictures today. Most of the photos are quite obviously taken from the driver's side. The NHTSA prevented WGBH from using its 10-billion-dollar video board in Allston for anything other than still images, because it was a distraction. So is this. And it's probably going to cause an accident.
But it's so cute! Not.
Right, it's MassDOT's fault
Right, it's MassDOT's fault for encouraging people to take pics while driving.
Looking at the traffic in the photo
I believe that anybody attempting to do 70 at this location at that time would have much more to worry about than a pair of citations for using a cameraphone while driving and failure to signal lane changes.
Click on the picture linked to the word "signboard"
How about the guy behind the wheel in the fast lane on 495 South, any estimates on his speed?
I was going to post about the variable message signs...
but as per usual, Adam has beat us to it. I saw one near Grove St. on 128 (ok, Roadman! I-95!) north this morning, but it was near some construction equipment so I thought it might just be the contractor having a bit of fun with only one sign. Apparently not.
In any event, I also appreciate the humor/lightheartedness - particularly on a Friday.
I have to say, however, that while I don't mind the play on the local accent (i.e. in "blinkah"), the "ya" and "yah" thing drives me nuts. It's probably because people use it when they are not playing, because it is so prevalent in the Herald comment section, and because it has (distressingly) found it's way on to UHub of late as well.
ya, yah
Right, the correct pronunciation-spelling would be "yaw blinkah".
No, it would be "yo-ah."
No, it would be "yo-ah." Your is one of those words that becomes two syllables in Boston.
Wheyah Yah From?
I have found that the Boston Accent is really several accents.
That distinction is one of the variable pieces: Yo-ah is more a South Sho-ah thing to my ears, with Yah more of a Nahth Shah thing.
The difference in accent...
... between northern Boston area accents and sourhtern ones seemed much more pronounced back in the early 70s. Returning after 20+ years (in the 90s), I was surprised by how muted accents (and differences in accents) had become.
I agree that an East Boston
I agree that an East Boston accent sounds more "squished" than the brooooooad vowels of someone from Dot, but the only way I could hear it was when a colleague who was born and raised in Eastie was at a meeting with my Dorchester colleague and they both got talking.
A couple of years ago I spent a weekend as a tourist with friends who were visiting the city. You take the accent for granted when you live in Boston, but these days, in the tourist areas, I was surprised to realize that you don't hear it. I can't say that I'm helping the problem. I'm from the part of Massachusetts where we speak properly.
Very true, even within the
Very true, even within the city itself. Marty Walsh, for example, grew up in Dorchester with a very think accent but I can definitely tell the difference between his and my relatives who grew up in Roslindale during the same time period roughly.
Fo-wah Fo-wah Fo-wah
The extension number of the Head of Accounting at the Engineering firm I worked for in Wakefield (mid 80's). Though I think she was from Lynnfield or Reveeeeea
Saw this on Route 2 this
Saw this on Route 2 this morning, though a better sign for that location would have read "When there's a long line of people who have patiently waited to exit onto 128 south, don't think you can breeze past all of them and get into the exit lane at the last second--it's WICKED inconsiderate."
Made it hahd to sit in the cah
After I laughed my ass off.
An old one outside the Dedham mall - NSFW
I took this one maybe 10 years ago on the VFW Parkway heading North by the Dedham Mall. (I swear it's not Photoshopped.)
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k211/nhsgary/0707220018crop.jpg
I think the DPWs are better
I think the DPWs are better about locking the controls on those things, but for a while there was a tutorial on the internet (I'm sure it's still there) about how to get into the controls and alter the signs.
From the WBZ article about
From the WBZ article about this:
Actual number of violations this year so far: 5,676,546,418,643,864,164,573,542,749,846,945,276,273,645,745,275,275,732,452,764,576,575,476,427,866,786,364,386
directionals
didn't say BLINKAH growing up -- rather, Directionals -- but every family could be different.
Made the AP Radio news heard
Made the AP Radio news heard across the world
Which explains why Boston.com
reported on it.
AP explains us to the world
From the AP story:
Not just the Boston area. It
Not just the Boston area. It was on every sign from Eastie to Rhode Island and back. Although, in a bigger state, that might still be considered part of the metro area. =)
All the way out West
I drove the Pike out West to Deerfield and back today for a job site meeting ... the signs the length I drove had this message.
Got old fast.
Blinkah
it's: Use theyah Blinkas when "Changin" lanes "aww" risk a fine. ;)