That shows you which side to pump from, and it's been around for at least a decade.

kingoomieiii: This whole article is ridiculous.

"What does the cryptic internet slang "BRB" stand for? The acronym popped up on twitter a few months ago. A few multi-paragraph guesses:"

Ooooh my god. Nobody tell Slate what their bellybuttons are for. They'd probably short out.

If you're too stupid to know what it is for, you should be riding the goddamned bus instead of driving a car.

ZAZ: The choice between (b) and (c) makes this a bad design.

In the 2000s the federal government wanted to standardize a supplemental sign for three way stop signs showing drivers that traffic from the fourth direction did not stop. The sign had an arrow. Engineers thought the arrow obviously meant "look in that direction for non-stopping traffic." Normal people thought the arrow meant "traffic moving in that direction does not stop." The rule was withdrawn.

I don't think I've ever seen an intersection like that in my life. Are they common some places, enough to warrant a sign?

It's made renting easier. I've done the "Fark! Wrong side!" thing a few times.

unyon: the_rev: I was getting ready to fill up a rental on Monday to return it to DFW. As I pulled into a gas station I realized I had no idea which side of the pump to go to.

I was really happy with myself when I remembered I could look at the fuel guage for that little arrow. It saved my ass BIG TIME.

You and I define 'Big Time' quite differently.

I know a Bulgarian girl who says "Big Time" as an adjective for everything in her thick accent. "So we's are going to these club tonight... big time."

SurfaceTension: ricewater_stool: Romney drives has his driver drive him to New Jersey whenever he needs gas because he doesn't know how to work the pump.

FTFY

Boy, is his face going to be red when he finds out that his driver knew how to pump all along.

I've never seen one with the arrow before but my first guess was that it showed which side the filler was on. Seems kind of obvious.

Speaking of which, why has that never been standardized? I think most cars do have it on the driver's side now. Remember back in the 80s when a lot of cars would hide it behind the licence plate?

The arrow indicates which side of the car the gas tank is on. This arrow points left, so the car's filler cap is on the left. (And, contrary to possibility (b), the car, if this is the case, should be parked to the right of the pump.)


This has to be satire. I refuse to believe there is anyone stupid enough to NOT know that the arrow points to the side of the car with the filler cap.

/have known since I was 16 and drove my first car

Splish: ZAZ: The choice between (b) and (c) makes this a bad design.

In the 2000s the federal government wanted to standardize a supplemental sign for three way stop signs showing drivers that traffic from the fourth direction did not stop. The sign had an arrow. Engineers thought the arrow obviously meant "look in that direction for non-stopping traffic." Normal people thought the arrow meant "traffic moving in that direction does not stop." The rule was withdrawn.

I don't think I've ever seen an intersection like that in my life. Are they common some places, enough to warrant a sign?

I go through an intersection like this on my way into work everyday (and obviously on my way home). Heck, I also go through traffic circles.

if you drive more than 2 rental cars a year, you know and look for this

ZAZ: The choice between (b) and (c) makes this a bad design.

In the 2000s the federal government wanted to standardize a supplemental sign for three way stop signs showing drivers that traffic from the fourth direction did not stop. The sign had an arrow. Engineers thought the arrow obviously meant "look in that direction for non-stopping traffic." Normal people thought the arrow meant "traffic moving in that direction does not stop." The rule was withdrawn.

A nearby town just adopted a flashing left turn signal. Apparently, they thought people were too stupid to realize that they could turn left on a green light (no arrow) after yielding, so they added a flashing yellow arrow to let people know they could turn, but only after yielding. It's caused quite a bit of confusion, I'm curious to see how many accidents occur as a result.

kingoomieiii: This whole article is ridiculous.

"What does the cryptic internet slang "BRB" stand for? The acronym popped up on twitter a few months ago. A few multi-paragraph guesses:"

Hey now, acronyms can be tricky depending on the demographic. Take my MIL (please). She'd be IM'ing with my wife and the wife would type "LOL" and the MIL would say "Ok, bye!"

/My MIL thought "LOL" meant "Lots Of Love."
//CSB
///Stupid article is stupid

downstairs: Wow, really Slate?

This is the kind of writing that happens when the author spent all night at a bar, and just regurgitated the drunken ramblings of the guy on the next stool onto paper in order to meet his deadline.