Promoting plain language in public toilets
When engineers and technical writers tackle instructions for public toilets, someone may have to step up and provide some plain-language, every-man translations!
Up for pee, down for poop. Simple! Spotted in a highway rest stop, kudos to the anonymous, water-aware doo-gooder that added the simplified Sharpie version to the dual flush toilet instructions provided.
Note to technical types: if your toilet how-to needs a schematic drawing, the instructions likely need editing!
Note to everyone else: An easy mnemonic for these devices: remember to PUSH for number 2! And the handle as well!
I’ve seen the same sign annotated in the same way – at Monash University’s Clayton campus here in Melbourne, Australia.
Oh, and I had the same thoughts about silly language on signs.
HAHA! It IS the same sign that we have at work!
Many toilets in homes in Europe have this option – a half flush for pee and a full flush for poop. While I was living in Switzerland, I saw a commercial on TV in French that showed me that these instructions translate across languages. In the commercial, a real-estate agent was showing a couple a house. When he showed them the toilet, he pointed to the two buttons and said, “La pee-pee. La poo-poo.”
HAHA! It IS the same sign that we have at work!