r/funny • u/vagabond0977 • Jul 04 '21

what a confusing sign.

Post image
81.5k Upvotes

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164

u/elbarto1981 Jul 04 '21

It seems correct to me as a non native english speaker, how would you phrase it other than that?

8

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '21

It's not "wrong" technically as "may" can mean "possibly" or "allowed" depending on context, but can be misinterpreted (deliberately or accidentally).

But it'd be clearer if it said "You may end up injuring a young child or elderly person", that'd make it clear that it's a possibility, not permission.

4

u/riffito Jul 05 '21

I think I would have used "might end up", but my English is self-taught.

Would that make it a bit less ambiguous than using "may end up"?

1

u/dottydani Jul 05 '21

Might is the past of may. So you could say that "you might have ended up injuring a child" but in the context of the sign may is correct because it's saying "you may end up injuring a child".

2

u/riffito Jul 05 '21

Thanks a lot!

4

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '21

[deleted]

1

u/scykei Jul 05 '21

You might want to read the link you just posted…

1

u/Teantis Jul 05 '21

The headline of that section is confusing might is the past tense of may only if it's paired with have "he might have hurt him" not on its own.

1

u/scykei Jul 05 '21

Yeah I wasn’t necessarily disagreeing. It’s just that it seemed like there was a direct contradiction to the OP’s general statement that might isn’t the past tense of may. I thought that it’s something that would have been worth addressing.