I’m slightly fuzzy on the exact details — it’s been about 40 years — but there was an episode of Mr. Wizard's World which featured ambigrams in one of the segments. He had a thin, glass rod that he’d put over top of a line of text (with some letters black and others red) and show how all the letters appeared vertically flipped…all except the red letters! What on earth was going on with that?!? The trick was that all the ambigrammatic letters were red, and the rest black. :-)
Well now I want to break out the label-maker and create really tiny “upside-down hospital ahead” stickers to apply to all the incorrectly installed H signs I find. A fun, inconspicuous Easter egg for sharp-eyed passersby to consume ;-)
I wonder why "well over" half of the signs are upside down. If road crews were totally oblivious, it would probably be around 50-50. Assuming a small set of road crews may realize there is a correct placement, then the percent incorrect should be a bit less than 50.
OG Anunoby on the Knicks always seems to have an upside down 8. The cutout on the upper part should be the smaller one.
Good point. But your use of an apostrophe in your first paragraph ("One of my most annoying typographical errors is the incorrect use of apostrophe's in plurals") is incorrect since, if I'm right, you're jntending for the word ("apostrophes") to be plural...rather than possessive. (Plural -- apostrophe not need; possessive--apostrophe required.)
You know who will never have this issue? New York City. NYCDOT uses its own unique [Hospital signs](https://maps.app.goo.gl/bsKQrhGkcc4QYgsm6) that have the big white H and then "ospital" in smaller letters with an arrow in one blue rectangular sign. They also do put the "Department of Transportation" lettering at the bottom of every sign they issue so it would also ensure no upside down installs, but you don't need to worry about it at all when there is no ambiguity in which side is up on such a sign.
After reading this I was thinking about your post some time ago about the differences between using primes and apostrophes and how they're actually misused. Now when I see an image of a distance or time using ” and ’ I can't unsee it now and I think a large part of it is because people think they're used interchangably (I definitely used to).
sorta of related - The letter H also resembles two pull-through parking spaces. It was not initially apparent that perhaps it was a helipad Dad parked the station wagon on until after we climbed the 217 steps of Barnegat Lighthouse and saw the helicopter circling around.
Totally get the whole “spare you the torment” thing. I’ve lived in my apartment for over 15 years and only recently noticed that a few of the bathroom tiles are upside down. Now, whenever I'm dumping out it's all I can think about...
One of my favorite things about Paul is the way he just casually drops the names of his famous friends. “I posted on Facebook about typography and my friend commented”, leaving out the fact that the friend in question is probably the world’s foremost living typographer. See also: Ira from Yo La Tengo. This is the kind of thing that probably ought to be a little annoying, but the way Paul does it, it’s actually endearing. If only everybody name-dropped as tactfully as Paul!
No joke, I’ve been stressed about the missing red bowl for weeks. I’m glad that balance has been restored in the mixing bowl universe. And best of all, it came from a reader. Congrats to all involved!
For the ambigram nerds out there, Douglas Hofstadter has a new book coming out soon:
Ambigrammia: Between Creation and Discovery
https://a.co/d/1Yxpedj
I’m slightly fuzzy on the exact details — it’s been about 40 years — but there was an episode of Mr. Wizard's World which featured ambigrams in one of the segments. He had a thin, glass rod that he’d put over top of a line of text (with some letters black and others red) and show how all the letters appeared vertically flipped…all except the red letters! What on earth was going on with that?!? The trick was that all the ambigrammatic letters were red, and the rest black. :-)
Ooo! Found it! https://youtu.be/dojVkmzSY-4?t=256
Don Herbert was a national treasure ♥️
Well now I want to break out the label-maker and create really tiny “upside-down hospital ahead” stickers to apply to all the incorrectly installed H signs I find. A fun, inconspicuous Easter egg for sharp-eyed passersby to consume ;-)
I wonder why "well over" half of the signs are upside down. If road crews were totally oblivious, it would probably be around 50-50. Assuming a small set of road crews may realize there is a correct placement, then the percent incorrect should be a bit less than 50.
OG Anunoby on the Knicks always seems to have an upside down 8. The cutout on the upper part should be the smaller one.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcSTvqNkewjzod-yUhWPaU4GgEqjIQEkjmTFJg4-1KZWw6DTTOBieftXtP6f_HlrE0flxU1Ie0yo1Vl3eD8
How have we all managed to get to the hospital in the face of this widespread blunder?
A friend of mine always says, "kerning CAN hurt you"...this is proof of his commitment to spacing.
The world needs more ambigramic letters and numbers!
Roman numerals -- very ambigramic!
One of my most annoying typographical errors is the incorrect use of apostrophe's in plurals.
My favorite is the inconsistencies, like when a sign will sometimes use them and sometimes not.
Such as "Free chips and soda's with purchase of sandwich." Why did they think "soda's" needed an apostrophe but not "chips"?
Good point. But your use of an apostrophe in your first paragraph ("One of my most annoying typographical errors is the incorrect use of apostrophe's in plurals") is incorrect since, if I'm right, you're jntending for the word ("apostrophes") to be plural...rather than possessive. (Plural -- apostrophe not need; possessive--apostrophe required.)
??
Maybe I'm misunderstanding.
It was an intentional error as an example.
Okay. That was clear to me. But glad to hear it!
You know who will never have this issue? New York City. NYCDOT uses its own unique [Hospital signs](https://maps.app.goo.gl/bsKQrhGkcc4QYgsm6) that have the big white H and then "ospital" in smaller letters with an arrow in one blue rectangular sign. They also do put the "Department of Transportation" lettering at the bottom of every sign they issue so it would also ensure no upside down installs, but you don't need to worry about it at all when there is no ambiguity in which side is up on such a sign.
Ooooh, what a great bit of info!! Thanks, Michael.
After reading this I was thinking about your post some time ago about the differences between using primes and apostrophes and how they're actually misused. Now when I see an image of a distance or time using ” and ’ I can't unsee it now and I think a large part of it is because people think they're used interchangably (I definitely used to).
sorta of related - The letter H also resembles two pull-through parking spaces. It was not initially apparent that perhaps it was a helipad Dad parked the station wagon on until after we climbed the 217 steps of Barnegat Lighthouse and saw the helicopter circling around.
Totally get the whole “spare you the torment” thing. I’ve lived in my apartment for over 15 years and only recently noticed that a few of the bathroom tiles are upside down. Now, whenever I'm dumping out it's all I can think about...
Just casually mentioning that Jonathan Hoefler is a friend... that is a Paul Lukas all-timer!
Young man, are you aware of Bomp Records?
Yes, that was covered early in the BOMP saga!
One of my favorite things about Paul is the way he just casually drops the names of his famous friends. “I posted on Facebook about typography and my friend commented”, leaving out the fact that the friend in question is probably the world’s foremost living typographer. See also: Ira from Yo La Tengo. This is the kind of thing that probably ought to be a little annoying, but the way Paul does it, it’s actually endearing. If only everybody name-dropped as tactfully as Paul!
No joke, I’ve been stressed about the missing red bowl for weeks. I’m glad that balance has been restored in the mixing bowl universe. And best of all, it came from a reader. Congrats to all involved!