NationStates Jolt Archive

A blogger I like, Doghouse Riley, recently posted a delightful linguistic take-down of a particular bumper sticker which just happens to be very popular in my old home town.

I was on my fourth or fifth Lowe's trip of the weekend, headed back to my truck when I noticed the bumper sticker on the SUV parked next to me.

"If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read This In English, Thank A Soldier."

I was losing the light (even in Indiana, Land of the Midnight Sun Since 2006™), and had more painting to do, so I quickly passed on the urge to stick around and engage the owner in some linguistic fencing.

"You admire soldiers? Thank the French; it's their word. Marine, too. Maybe you should be thanking the Celts, for the poor soldiering that made way for the Angles and the Saxons and the Jutes, the much-less cultured invaders whose language proved flexible enough to evolve into modern English...(Read more at http://doghouseriley.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-macho.html)

Back in my old heartland home town, I used to have a 45 minute commute each morning. This gave me plenty of time to stare hatefully at the bumper of the person in front of me. I compiled a long mental list of annoying bumper stickers, and the one in Doghouse's story was right up there on that list.

Now, for the interactive portion of the thread:

Share a bumper sticker that really bugs you. How would you (verbally) tear into it or the person who stuck it to their car?

It's not really a bumber "sticker" per se, but I loathe the Jesus Fish metallic things people put on their cars. It's almost driven my on several occasions to buy the equivalent Darwin Fish, but I doubt people who put Jesus Fish on their cars are intelligent enough to tell the difference.

whats with bumper stickers there ?

I've never really seen a bumper sticker, maybe from a radio station or something but nothing with something like that on it except maybe some people who stick the Flemish flag in front of the Belgian one next to their "thing with numbers and letters on it to identify the vehicle" although those might be standard too.
are they an America-only thing?

I hate NASCAR bumper stickers, because I hate NASCAR. I would just ask them why they enjoy watching cars go around an oval 500 times.
Thats really all I really hate specifically. But, for the '08 election year, I will be putting a Cthulhu '08 campaign sticker on my car!

Kerry stickers.

Anything that compares Liberals to Commies.

whats with bumper stickers there ?
I don't know, honestly. Since moving to the East Coast I have noticed that far fewer people appear to put bumper stickers on their cars. I cannot, for the life of me, come up with a plausible theory about why this might be.

The only bumper stickers I ever see are environmental ones, and I never see the same one twice so they're not particularly annoying.

Most people around here don't have bumper stickers. I don't think I've ever seen one, actually.

In all my years, I've only seen two bumper stickers, and one wasn't on the bumper. Perhaps it's an American-only thing. (Quick, let it die before Fass sees!)

I think this must be an American thing: the most we get in the UK is the occasional "If you can read this I've lost my caravan".

I think this must be an American thing: the most we get in the UK is the occasional "If you can read this I've lost my caravan".
I've never seen that. The best I've seen is "Helicopter pilots get it up faster."

Okay, maybe no one can understand this apart from where I used to live, but these dark green bumper stickers with '1000 Jahre Flittard' and below that '989 - 1989' Hey, smarties, first of all 989 was NOT the founding date, secondly, it's well past 1989, thirdly: STOP BEING PATRIOTIC TO THAT SPECK OF DIRT!'

I used to get annoyed at still seeing W04 stickers, but now I use them as a way of picking out which drivers are the most likely to be assholes.

On the lighter side, my girlfriend had a handful of bumperstickers made up which say "I've got Prius envy," written in green, of course. ;)

Best place to look for bad bumper stickers. Find a truck that is 20 years old. They are often driven by old rednecks and have plenty of racist bumper stickers about Mexicans and Muslims.

Fortunately you rarely see any bumper stickers here in Poland.

Share a bumper sticker that really bugs you. How would you (verbally) tear into it or the person who stuck it to their car?

I don't like any and will not put any bumper stickers on my car or truck. What you put on your car or truck is your business, not mine. :rolleyes:

I don't know, honestly. Since moving to the East Coast I have noticed that far fewer people appear to put bumper stickers on their cars. I cannot, for the life of me, come up with a plausible theory about why this might be.

only seen one in RL, all others i have seen were on TV or movies

I used to get annoyed at still seeing W04 stickers, but now I use them as a way of picking out which drivers are the most likely to be assholes.

:p

Anything that compares Liberals to Commies.

I'm going to cry because you hate my Hillary tshirt. :D

Best place to look for bad bumper stickers. Find a truck that is 20 years old. They are often driven by old rednecks and have plenty of racist bumper stickers about Mexicans and Muslims.
True story. A very nice friend of mine from high school was unlucky enough to have just such a redneck for a step-dad. His crusty green pickup proudly bore a sticker:

“If we’d known you’d be so much trouble, we’d have picked our own damn cotton.”

It was actually pretty awkward because I read that sticker off his truck when it was parked in their drive way, on my way in to eat dinner with their family. To this day her parents think I'm painfully shy because I had nothing to say to them during the meal.

I used to get annoyed at still seeing W04 stickers, but now I use them as a way of picking out which drivers are the most likely to be assholes.

I don't know, I usually feel sorry for them...

I don't know, honestly. Since moving to the East Coast I have noticed that far fewer people appear to put bumper stickers on their cars. I cannot, for the life of me, come up with a plausible theory about why this might be.

Umm coz you're closer to Britain where we spit on people for having bumper stickers?

It's not really a bumber "sticker" per se, but I loathe the Jesus Fish metallic things people put on their cars. It's almost driven my on several occasions to buy the equivalent Darwin Fish, but I doubt people who put Jesus Fish on their cars are intelligent enough to tell the difference.

Whats wrong with the fish sign?

True story. A very nice friend of mine from high school was unlucky enough to have just such a redneck for a step-dad. His crusty green pickup proudly bore a sticker:

“If we’d known you’d be so much trouble, we’d have picked our own damn cotton.”

It was actually pretty awkward because I read that sticker off his truck when it was parked in their drive way, on my way in to eat dinner with their family. To this day her parents think I'm painfully shy because I had nothing to say to them during the meal.

I've seen worse.

Umm coz you're closer to Britain where we spit on people for having bumper stickers?
Why is this?

I don't feel strongly either way about bumper stickers in general. I don't even own a car, so decorating my fender is not exactly a top concern. I mostly just get annoyed when people go out of their way to put something annoying in a spot where other people would be forced to stare at it while trapped in traffic.

I don't know, I usually feel sorry for them...

The ones I'm more likely to feel sorry for are the ones who tried to get it off, having realized their mistake, and it didn't come off, so it's been scraped and hacked at, but you can still make out what it said. It's a way of them wearing their shame in public.

The ones that annoy me the most are "My child is an honor roll student at (insert school)". Almost all the stickers are for elementary school, which really doesn't matter. I rarely ever see racist or bigoted bumper stickers, but it's funny when has about 20 or so on the back of their car.

The only bumper stickers I've ever seen were in an online catalog. One that I didn't hate, but rather really liked, was the one that said:
"Vote Republican. It's easier than thinking."

Whats wrong with the fish sign?

Every-one hates religious fundies....

I've seen worse.
Oh, I've seen worse ones, too, but I've never actually had to sit through a meal with one of the people who had a worse bumper sticker. :P

Why is this?

I don't feel strongly either way about bumper stickers in general. I don't even own a car, so decorating my fender is not exactly a top concern. I mostly just get annoyed when people go out of their way to put something annoying in a spot where other people would be forced to stare at it while trapped in traffic.

*Shrug* I dunno, lets put it down to our famous Brit repression huh! You know we don't like to talk about our feelings!

I had one in my former car. It said "Yes, but not with you". It was supposed to be funny, a friend of mine gave it to me as a joke towards my attitude to men.

Every-one hates religious fundies....

Whats the connection with the fish and fundamentalism?

Btw do you hate smunkee? Because she is a fundamentalist.

The ones I'm more likely to feel sorry for are the ones who tried to get it off, having realized their mistake, and it didn't come off, so it's been scraped and hacked at, but you can still make out what it said. It's a way of them wearing their shame in public.

Those damn things just don't come off...

Whats wrong with the fish sign?

I prefer religious beliefs to be kept as a private matter. I never understood the need to declare it to the world

Every-one hates religious fundies....
How does having a Jesus Fish on your car make you a religious fundamental?

Anyway, I'm slightly annoyed by Kerry-Edwards 04 on cars. What annoys me even more are the customized license plates that make no sense. "GROPL" Gropl?? What the hell is Gropl??:confused::confused::confused:

I don't know, honestly. Since moving to the East Coast I have noticed that far fewer people appear to put bumper stickers on their cars. I cannot, for the life of me, come up with a plausible theory about why this might be.

It's because we're smarter/more awesome on the east coast. Well, the west coast is pretty awesome/smart too. Hmm...

The ocean makes you smart/awesome.

Whats the connection with the fish and fundamentalism?


The Ichthus is "a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, said to have been used by early Christians as a secret symbol and now known colloquially as the 'Jesus fish.'"

"The use of the Ichthys symbol appears to date from towards the end of the 1st century AD. Ichthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ, Greek for fish) is an acronym, which is a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name. It compiles to "Jesus Christ God's Son is Saviour" or "Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour", in ancient Greek "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ"

* Iota (I) is the first letter of Iesous (Ιησους), Greek for Jesus.
* Chi (CH) is the first letter of Christos (Χριστóς), Greek for Christ = anointed.
* Theta (TH) is the first letter of Theou (Θεοῦ), genitive case of Θεóς, Greek for God.
* Upsilon (U or Y) is the first letter of Huios (Υἱός), Greek for Son.
* Sigma (S) is the first letter of Soter (Σωτήρ), Greek for Savior."

I prefer religious beliefs to be kept as a private matter. I never understood the need to declare it to the world

So all bumper stickers that exist, that declare your beliefs, whether religious or political, are at least just as bad right?

Because I want to know whats so exclusively annoying about the fish that means it gets hated more then other bumper stickers?

The car that my parents are giving me has bumper stickers on it. Can't remember what they say.

The Ichthus is "a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, said to have been used by early Christians as a secret symbol and now known colloquially as the 'Jesus fish.'"

"The use of the Ichthys symbol appears to date from towards the end of the 1st century AD. Ichthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ, Greek for fish) is an acronym, which is a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name. It compiles to "Jesus Christ God's Son is Saviour" or "Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour", in ancient Greek "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ"

* Iota (I) is the first letter of Iesous (Ιησους), Greek for Jesus.
* Chi (CH) is the first letter of Christos (Χριστóς), Greek for Christ = anointed.
* Theta (TH) is the first letter of Theou (Θεοῦ), genitive case of Θεóς, Greek for God.
* Upsilon (U or Y) is the first letter of Huios (Υἱός), Greek for Son.
* Sigma (S) is the first letter of Soter (Σωτήρ), Greek for Savior."

Still not seeing what that has to do with fundamentalism.

It's not really a bumber "sticker" per se, but I loathe the Jesus Fish metallic things people put on their cars. It's almost driven my on several occasions to buy the equivalent Darwin Fish, but I doubt people who put Jesus Fish on their cars are intelligent enough to tell the difference.
I guess you haven't seen the Jesus fist eating the Darwin fish. Those fish wars pissed me off. I hate everyone that has those stupid things, which ever version.

So all bumper stickers that exist, that declare your beliefs, whether religious or political, are at least just as bad right?

Because I want to know whats so exclusively annoying about the fish that means it gets hated more then other bumper stickers?

Yup I find all bumper stickers pretty annoying in the same way I would find it annoying if any stranger came up to me in the street and decided to declare their political leanings, etc to me,

Still not seeing what that has to do with fundamentalism.
That's just how it has been revived in the modern day. It is an icon used to publicly advertise that the owner is a Christian.

Putting a Jesus Fish on your car is basically the same as putting a cross on your car, except (for some reason) some Christians seem to feel that putting a cross on your car would be sacrilegious while putting the fish on your car is not.

In America, fundies and religious-right types are far and away the most likely to put such adverts about their personal faith on their cars, clothing, or property. This had lead to the popular association of such symbols with fundamentalism and evangelical Christianity.

I get annoyed by the ones that say "I'm a _____ and I vote!"

Which makes me wish I had one that said: "So what?"

I hate bumper stickers from past elections. After the election is over, take it off. How hard is that?

I'd ask the "vote Bush" people if they'd vote for him again in '08. I'd as the "vote Kerry" people if Frankenstein was still alive. I'd ask the "voteNader" people if they were going to cost another president an election in '08.

I hate bumper stickers from past elections. After the election is over, take it off. How hard is that?

I generally agree, with one exception. A lot of people in my old home town (Minneapolis) still keep their Wellstone stickers on their cars. Though I didn't always agree with the man, he was such a nice fellow and so well loved that I can't bring myself to fault anybody who wants to keep one of those bright green Wellstone tags as a tribute.

I hate bumper stickers from past elections. After the election is over, take it off. How hard is that?

I'd ask the "vote Bush" people if they'd vote for him again in '08. I'd as the "vote Kerry" people if Frankenstein was still alive. I'd ask the "voteNader" people if they were going to cost another president an election in '08.
I will never take Cthulhu '08 off my car!

I guess you haven't seen the Jesus fist eating the Darwin fish. Those fish wars pissed me off. I hate everyone that has those stupid things, which ever version.

I rather think that one is funny, considering the Darwin fish is obviously a specific taunt aginst people with the Jesus fish. Turnabout = fair play, no?

Why is this?

I don't feel strongly either way about bumper stickers in general. I don't even own a car, so decorating my fender is not exactly a top concern. I mostly just get annoyed when people go out of their way to put something annoying in a spot where other people would be forced to stare at it while trapped in traffic.

I can't speak for East Coast USA, but in the UK it's considered quite weird to advertise your political or religious views (especially religious views) around people you don't know well. It's rather like putting a sticker on your car saying "I have kidney stones"; nobody will look down on you for having them, but we don't want to know about your personal health.

Ah... glorious apathy...

EDIT: One or two people put coloured stickers on their house windows when a general election comes around, but that's about it.

I can't speak for East Coast USA, but in the UK it's considered quite weird to advertise your political or religious views (especially religious views) around people you don't know well. It's rather like putting a sticker on your car saying "I have kidney stones"; nobody will look down on you for having them, but we don't want to know about your personal health.

Ah... glorious apathy...

EDIT: One or two people put coloured stickers on their house windows when a general election comes around, but that's about it.

Northern Ireland being the exception to the rule

I can't speak for East Coast USA, but in the UK it's considered quite weird to advertise your political or religious views (especially religious views) around people you don't know well. It's rather like putting a sticker on your car saying "I have kidney stones"; nobody will look down on you for having them, but we don't want to know about your personal health.

Ah... glorious apathy...
I can totally understand that. I think that's actually a great way to express my own feelings on the subject.

How does having a Jesus Fish on your car make you a religious fundamental?

It doesn't automatically mark one down as a fundie, but lots of fundies do it.

I will never take Cthulhu '08 off my car!

If not 2008 then 3008.

I rather think that one is funny, considering the Darwin fish is obviously a specific taunt aginst people with the Jesus fish. Turnabout = fair play, no?

I much prefer this one:

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/E-Procreate.gif

Other than those ones people use to show what country they're from, I've only ever seen a bumper sticker on TV.

I hate bumper stickers from past elections. After the election is over, take it off. How hard is that?

My Dad used to have one that read, "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kodos." Only 'political' sticker that never gets old for me.


I'd ask the "vote Bush" people if they'd vote for him again in '08. I'd as the "vote Kerry" people if Frankenstein was still alive. I'd ask the "voteNader" people if they were going to cost another president an election in '08.
Thank you for answering the second part of my OP question!

The best part of my rush-hour meditations on my hatred of the fender in front of me was how I constructed elaborate fantasies about how I would verbally demolish the jackass with my oh-so-impeccable wit.

The ones that annoy me the most are "My child is an honor roll student at (insert school)". Almost all the stickers are for elementary school, which really doesn't matter. I rarely ever see racist or bigoted bumper stickers, but it's funny when has about 20 or so on the back of their car.

http://www.threepanelsoul.com/view.php?date=2007-03-16


Only ones that really annoy me are the Jesus loves you things. Jesus loves everyone. In other news "The sun is slightly bright!".

http://www.threepanelsoul.com/view.php?date=2007-03-16

LOLZ
That's another bumper sticker I would like to get.

http://www.threepanelsoul.com/view.php?date=2007-03-16


Only ones that really annoy me are the Jesus loves you things. Jesus loves everyone. In other news "The sun is slightly bright!".

I like the "Jesus loves you. Everyone else thinks you're an asshole" ones myself.

I have these two

http://www.idiot-ink.com/discinbreed.jpg
http://www.iloveroadhead.com/store/images/GENE_POOL_80023.jpg

http://images.cafepress.com/product/23810950_240x240_Front.jpg

Yeah I know. It's just terrible how US government representatives have fostered and continue to support dictatorships around the world. This list of Autocratic Generalissimo's and Totalitiarian politicians includes:

Abacha, General Sani of Nigeria
Amin, Idi of Uganda
Banzer, Colonel Hugo of Bolivia
Batista, Fulgencio of Cuba
Bolkiah, Sir Hassanal of Brunei
Botha, P.W. of South Africa
Branco, General Humberto of Brazil
Cedras, Raoul of Haiti
Cerezo, Vinicio of Guatemala
Chiang Kai-Shek of Taiwan
Cordova, Roberto Suazo of Hondras
Christiani, Alfredo of El Salvador
Diem, Ngo Dihn of Vietnam
Doe, General Samuel of Liberia
Duvalier, Francois of Haiti
Duvalier, Jean Claude of Haiti
Fahd bin'Abdul-'Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia
Franco, General Francisco of Spain
Hitler, Adolf of Germany
Hassan II of Morocco
Marcos, Ferdinand of the Philippines
Martinez, General Maximiliano Hernandez of El Salvador
Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire
Montt, General Efrain Rios of Guatamala
Noriega, General Manuel of Panam
Ozal, Turgut of Turkey
Pahlevi, Shah Mohammed Reza of Iran
Papadopoulos, George of Greece
Park Chung Hee of South Korea
Pinochet, General Augusto of Chile
Pol Pot of Cambodia
Rabuka, General Sitiveni of Fiji
Montt, General Efrain Rios of Guatemala
Salassie, Halie of Ethiopia
Salazar, Antonio de Oliveira of Portugal
Somoza, Anastasio Jr. of Nicaragua
Somoza, Anastasio, Sr. of Nicaragua
Smith, Ian of Rhodesia
Stroessner, Alfredo of Paraguay
Suharto, General of Indonesia
Trujillo, Rafael Leonidas of the Dominican Republic
Videla, General Jorge Rafael of Argentina
and
Zia Ul-Haq, Mohammed of Pakistan


I'm so glad conservatives who use this bumper sticker can see sense! The UN emblem of course must also represent thier support for the UN's actions against dangerous dictators who threaten thier neighbours and populace through sanctions and the deployment of peacekeeping forces and nation-building resources.

Oh by the way, if you actually read through the entire list, yes. Even Hitler.

Whats the connection with the fish and fundamentalism?

Btw do you hate smunkee? Because she is a fundamentalist.

No, Smunkee is an Evangelical Christian. Fundies are a different breed all together. She has the decency to not force her beliefs down other people's throats.

You know those stickers the dealer puts on cars that display the dealer's name?

Well, my current favourite bumper sticker is made of clear plastic with elegant white lettering that reads:

"Don't buy your car from" and is placed right above the aforementioned dealer sticker.

So some dumb blogger (imagine that :rolleyes:) either missed the point of a bumper sticker or wanted to sound cute bitching about it but tried too hard?

How do I hate thee, blogs, let me count the ways.

No, Smunkee is an Evangelical Christian. Fundies are a different breed all together. She has the decency to not force her beliefs down other people's throats.

You have the terms mixed up.
fun·da·men·tal·ism
n.
1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

e·van·gel·ism
n.
1. Zealous preaching and dissemination of the gospel, as through missionary work.
2. Militant zeal for a cause.

You have the terms mixed up.
fun·da·men·tal·ism
n.
1. A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.

e·van·gel·ism
n.
1. Zealous preaching and dissemination of the gospel, as through missionary work.
2. Militant zeal for a cause.

I would actually be both....except for the intolerance, opposition to secularism and militant zeal, but, you never really know yourself either....

also, yes, people hate me. They say they don't "oh, but you are different" and then they go on "I hate all Fundies"

as far as the Jesus fish, I don't have one, I have a sticker of a fish but inside it says Jonah because I thought it was funny.

Also, I hate the sex bumper stickers because they are always on ugly people's cars. "You are a bad boy, go to my room!" and this woman(is it a woman?!) in a Mu-mu with a mustache smoking a cigar and talking on her cell phone driving the clunker? yuck. nobody wants to go to her room.

I don't know, honestly. Since moving to the East Coast I have noticed that far fewer people appear to put bumper stickers on their cars. I cannot, for the life of me, come up with a plausible theory about why this might be.

You see more of them in rural areas for some reason. Go to the South or Midwest.

I see more "liberal" bumper stickers in urban areas, or the Northeast.

Most suburbanites of any economic health don't want to mar their vehicle with anything except stickers promoting their child's Honor Roll status, or their child's school sports team.

If I had to pick a bumper sticker I hate, it's the Honor Roll bumper stickers, and the opposite, the "My Kid Can Beat Up Your Honor Student" stickers.

Northern Ireland being the exception to the rule

In NI, they don't bother with bumper stickers, they just paint the side of the house.

I hate every single motherfucking bumpersticker ever made!

REAL MEN LOVE JESUS!


What the hell does your gender have anythign to do with your love of Jesus?

Most suburbanites of any economic health don't want to mar their vehicle with anything except stickers promoting their child's Honor Roll status, or their child's school sports team.

I have a sticker on a magnet that I can take on and off.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/tuebor/CIMG0609.jpg

The ones that really annoy me are the people who have the yellow ribbons on their car. It's as if they think they're more patriotic than you for having one. Of course, some people take this "logic" even further and I've seen a car (a pickup truck, actually) with no less than 12 yellow ribbons.

I have a sticker on a magnet that I can take on and off.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/tuebor/CIMG0609.jpg

The ones that really annoy me are the people who have the yellow ribbons on their car. It's as if they think they're more patriotic than you for having one. Of course, some people take this "logic" even further and I've seen a car (a pickup truck, actually) with no less than 12 yellow ribbons.

You have an illegal license plate. :P

I'm calling the cops!

EDIT: To keep in line with the OP, I hate the bumper stickers that say "Vote <name here>!" Honestly. Bumper stickers shouldn't be the cause of how one votes. If it is, step the hell away from the voting machine and save us of the idiocracy of your actions.

as far as the Jesus fish, I don't have one, I have a sticker of a fish but inside it says Jonah because I thought it was funny.

Nice. :p

I'm tempted by the Freud Fish and the Laywer Fish, but I don't think many people where I live would get the joke.

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/E-Freud.gif

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/E-LawyerShark.gif

Nice. :p

I'm tempted by the Freud Fish and the Laywer Fish, but I don't think many people where I live would get the joke.

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/E-Freud.gif

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/E-LawyerShark.gif

I would think those would be obvious.

I would think those would be obvious.

If you really want to mess with them, get a fish that says Jung and have a bowl of plum pudding in place of the mouth.

Now that would be obscure.

I would think those would be obvious.

I meant they probably wouldn't get the Ichthus reference; they're not very common in the UK.

I would think those would be obvious.

I have one that says alien. No picture though.

1. Anything religious - Christian, Pagan, whatever. Whenever I get behind a car wearing one, the driver invariably shows a remarkable display of complete ineptitude, rudeness, stupidity etc. I keep thinking "maybe you should let Jesus or Allah or the Goddess drive, he/she couldn't do any worse."

2. My son/daughter was student of the month at ________. Who cares?

3. All of the simplistic political statements. The driver thinks it's a pithy statement of his/her feelings. I think it's a pithy statement of his/her lack of ability to think.

all these cornish flags with kernow on them on cars of folk who arent not cornish and the like

I would think those would be obvious.

I've met people who don't know who Freud is.

Pro-life stickers. You never just see one, it's always on a car with at least 20 others, and at least one of those fish magnets, and a ribbon magnet or two...or 10.

Pro-life stickers. You never just see one, it's always on a car with at least 20 others, and at least one of those fish magnets, and a ribbon magnet or two...or 10.

It's so true it's almost funny. But really it's sad.

I have a sticker on a magnet that I can take on and off.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/tuebor/CIMG0609.jpg

The ones that really annoy me are the people who have the yellow ribbons on their car. It's as if they think they're more patriotic than you for having one. Of course, some people take this "logic" even further and I've seen a car (a pickup truck, actually) with no less than 12 yellow ribbons.

Wish I had a picture to show you, but there's a guy down here in one of those trucks with the oversized tires, built for mudding, who has three flagpoles mounted against the cab, extending at least 2 feet above the cab, with what look like 4 to 5 foot long flags attached to them--one US flag, one Confederate flag, and one POW-MIA flag. The tailgate is covered in "Support the Troops" ribbons interspersed with those "9-11 Terrorist Hunting Permit" stickers. It is, in short, the most re-goddamn-diculous vehicle I have ever seen, and I lived in San Francisco for two years.

I don't have any bumper stickers, I tend to see them as obnoxious.

I have not seen any that annoy me.


then the only one i can remember seeing is "Frodo failed! Bush has the ring!"








I want to get those letter stickers and put Nosey fucker aren't you? on my car.

Northern Ireland being the exception to the rule

Someone remind me why Northern Ireland cars in foreign lands have to have 'GB' stickers on them...

i hate bumperstickers that when u read u have to go really close to the other car so u can read it. ugh it pisses me off

I don't like any and will not put any bumper stickers on my car or truck. What you put on your car or truck is your business, not mine.

And you bothered to post here beacuse...? :rolleyes:

The ones that annoy me the most are "My child is an honor roll student at (insert school)". Almost all the stickers are for elementary school, which really doesn't matter. I rarely ever see racist or bigoted bumper stickers, but it's funny when has about 20 or so on the back of their car.

George Carllin has the solution for that (from the CD Complaints and Grievances).

"Our child has sufficient self-esteem that we don't need to promote his minor scholastic achievements on our car."

"We have a girl in public school who hasn't been knocked up yet."

"Our child refuses to be bent to the will of his corporate masters at the _____________ School."

"We're the disappointed parents of a cross-eyed little nitwit who, at age 13, still wets the bed. But he sells drugs to your honor student."

The Ichthus is "a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, said to have been used by early Christians as a secret symbol and now known colloquially as the 'Jesus fish.'"

"The use of the Ichthys symbol appears to date from towards the end of the 1st century AD. Ichthus (?????, Greek for fish) is an acronym, which is a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name. It compiles to "Jesus Christ God's Son is Saviour" or "Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour", in ancient Greek "?????? ???????, ???? ????, ?????"

* Iota (I) is the first letter of Iesous (??????), Greek for Jesus.
* Chi (CH) is the first letter of Christos (?????ó?), Greek for Christ = anointed.
* Theta (TH) is the first letter of Theou (????), genitive case of ??ó?, Greek for God.
* Upsilon (U or Y) is the first letter of Huios (????), Greek for Son.
* Sigma (S) is the first letter of Soter (?????), Greek for Savior."

I'd give odds that less than 5% of people with those fish on their cars do not even come CLOSE to knowing that. I did, but only because I had a Greek lover for three years. Efharistó!

I rather think that one is funny, considering the Darwin fish is obviously a specific taunt aginst people with the Jesus fish. Turnabout = fair play, no?

Not really. Most of those usually come with the caption "survival of the fittest", which is a Darwinian coinage. I see those and think, "they just don't get it."

So some dumb blogger (imagine that :rolleyes:) either missed the point of a bumper sticker or wanted to sound cute bitching about it but tried too hard?

How do I hate thee, blogs, let me count the ways.

I know, I know. It's okay. Those nasty blogs, filled with all those...big words. How do I hate deliberate ignorance? The ways are uncountable.


Also, I hate the sex bumper stickers because they are always on ugly people's cars. "You are a bad boy, go to my room!" and this woman(is it a woman?!) in a Mu-mu with a mustache smoking a cigar and talking on her cell phone driving the clunker? yuck. nobody wants to go to her room.

That reminds me of the whole "Guess" jeans debacle. I'd be behind someone wearing these pants with an ass-ledge large enough to function as a cocktail party serving tray without spilling a drop. And there'd be this triangle on the back pocket, staring me in the face and saying "GUESS?"

I would have to fight the urge to utter: "Hell, I dunno, three? Three-fifteen?"

To answer the OP, I've seen a lot of these lately:

On a black sticker, white lettering says "MARRIAGE = [the restroom symbols for MAN] + [the restroom symbol for WOMAN]"

I honestly can't think of things to say to someone who would so willingly and publicly show off how insecure they are in insisting that all the world believe as they do. Well, aside from claiming that my accelerator mysteriously got "stuck" once the recovery team pulls their car up through the hole in the guardrail.

To answer the OP, I've seen a lot of these lately:

On a black sticker, white lettering says "MARRIAGE = [the restroom symbols for MAN] + [the restroom symbol for WOMAN]"

Now THAT cracks me up. If I saw that, I would think, "Marriage = men's bathrooms + women's bathrooms? Marriage is a bunch of toilets?"


I honestly can't think of things to say to someone who would so willingly and publicly show off how insecure they are in insisting that all the world believe as they do.
Yeah, seeing stuff like that just makes me reflexively assume that the owner has been divorced at least once already, and probably hates their current OH SO HETEROSEXUAL spouse.

I prefer religious beliefs to be kept as a private matter. I never understood the need to declare it to the world

Yet you quote your beliefs in a public forum.

You make me laugh.

Yet you quote your beliefs in a public forum.

You make me laugh.

A debating forum specifically made for this purpose where everyone accepts the fact that they will have ideas , etc put forward. So much similar to public life is it?

You make me laugh

except maybe some people who stick the Flemish flag in front of the Belgian one next to their "thing with numbers and letters on it to identify the vehicle" although those might be standard too.


They're just patriotism, my dad has one of those. no, they mean stickers like (example from Belgium)
"Trop is te veel"
which talks about speedlimits. but maybe we have less of the funny stuff.

Any political statement small enough to fit on a bumper is probably going to be stupid enough to piss me off.

Any political statement small enough to fit on a bumper is probably going to be stupid enough to piss me off.

</government>

:cool:

The only way I'll have a bumper sticker on my truck (or any vehicle I own), is if I'm trying to hide a gaping, rusty hole in my bumper. And the bumper sticker will be humorous (at least, to someone that has a similar sense of humor to me).

</government>

:cool:
Hehe.

I'm going to cry because you hate my Hillary tshirt. :D

I hate the Hillary shirt because I didn't know we defeated her once already. :p

Any political statement small enough to fit on a bumper is probably going to be stupid enough to piss me off.

I can't stand custom license plates that are smugly cute, either. It doesn't have to be a political statement to be stupid.

Yet you quote your beliefs in a public forum.

You make me laugh.

Once your religious beliefs stop being just your personal beliefs and you think everyone should have them, spiritual content is replaced with political ideology, everyone should learn to define between the two.

I love seeing a rusty, on-its-last-legs pick-up truck with a "Proud to be Union" sticker on it.

fortunately bumper stickers aren't that prevalent round here. i did see one today that made me smirk though. it's not a particularly original one but it made me wonder if the guy had bought it himself or if it was a present from someone. it said "Jesus Loves You! Every One Else Thinks You're A ****!".

The ones I'm more likely to feel sorry for are the ones who tried to get it off, having realized their mistake, and it didn't come off, so it's been scraped and hacked at, but you can still make out what it said. It's a way of them wearing their shame in public.
You are assuming that the present driver put it there? Perhaps he/she bought the vehicle with the sticker on it?

Originally Posted by Doghouse Riley
I was on my fourth or fifth Lowe's trip of the weekend, headed back to my truck when I noticed the bumper sticker on the SUV parked next to me.

"If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read This In English, Thank A Soldier."
(...)
"You admire soldiers? Thank the French; it's their word. Marine, too. Maybe you should be thanking the Celts, for the poor soldiering that made way for the Angles and the Saxons and the Jutes, the much-less cultured invaders whose language proved flexible enough to evolve into modern English...


Maybe he should thank the Romans, since soldier is the person who is paid a "solidus", a Roman coin (cfr, italian "soldo", meaning the soldier's wage).
Or he should thank the Romans (again) because "marine" comes from latin "mar (maris)" meaning sea.
Or he should thank the Romans (again!!!), because he can read English, and English is written in a slightly modified form of the Latin alphabet (there were no W or J in classical latin).
Or he should thank the Etruscans, because the Latin alphabet is a modified form of their alphabet.
Or he should thank the Phoenicians, because they invented the alphabet - or at least gave it to most mediterranean and european civilizations.
Or he should thank the Germans, because they invented the car and the transportable IC-motor, so he could stick a bumper-sticker onto his SUV's bumper.

Or he should learn some history and accept the fact that Western civilisation has received a lot of inputs from the whole world.

I saw one that said "Jesus Hates You".

I like that one.

Hehe.

I used to have that one on my Jeep, nobody understood it, 'cept for the dorky programming people and then they were like "ANARCHIST!!" and I was like "nuh-uh" and they were like "are too!" and then everyone else was like :confused:

Nice. :p

I'm tempted by the Freud Fish and the Laywer Fish, but I don't think many people where I live would get the joke.

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/E-Freud.gif

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/media/E-LawyerShark.gif

I always liked this one.

http://www.rof.com/photos/2290-PQ-2.jpg

Generally in Britain, no one announces their beliefs even to people they're close with. Those that do meet little opposition, as no one publicly expresses their belief that others shouldn't express their beliefs in public.

As a result of this very few people here have bumper stickers, and very few people mind them.

The ones i have seen are normally political, and i don't see anyone being persuaded to vote differently by a sticker, so i always saw them as pointless.

However having watched much of Derren Brown, i would not be shocked if they did make a difference.

As for verbally explaining why their stickers are crap, if i had to (as i never would), i would just say "so your conservative eh?" in a public place, they would then be very embarassed that i announced their beliefs, but if they were a worthy opponent they could just lie and say "but your a nazi" (or another come back) and make it more akward for me, so still not worth it, and if they don't then i just picked on someone who doesn't know how or doesn't want to fight back:(.

I'd like to get a 'Don't bother voting' sticker since that would never go out of style.

Also I saw that FSM thing on a car and I became very happy.

Maybe he should thank the Romans, since soldier is the person who is paid a "solidus", a Roman coin (cfr, italian "soldo", meaning the soldier's wage).
Or he should thank the Romans (again) because "marine" comes from latin "mar (maris)" meaning sea.
Or he should thank the Romans (again!!!), because he can read English, and English is written in a slightly modified form of the Latin alphabet (there were no W or J in classical latin).
Or he should thank the Etruscans, because the Latin alphabet is a modified form of their alphabet.
Or he should thank the Phoenicians, because they invented the alphabet - or at least gave it to most mediterranean and european civilizations.
Or he should thank the Germans, because they invented the car and the transportable IC-motor, so he could stick a bumper-sticker onto his SUV's bumper.

Or he should learn some history and accept the fact that Western civilisation has received a lot of inputs from the whole world.

True.
I hate that bumper sticker too, but the blogger's take on it isn't particularly persuasive.

I mostly enjoy liberal bumper stickers, but the "Get you rosaries out of my ovaries" annoys me to no end.

Yet you quote your beliefs in a public forum.

You make me laugh.

A public forum that she can choose to ignore if she reads something she doesn't like. It's harder to avoid the tool in front of you as the usual rush-hour crawl is in progress.

I mostly enjoy liberal bumper stickers, but the "Get you rosaries out of my ovaries" annoys me to no end.

What's wrong with that one? The Catholic Church's stance on abortion is pretty clear. They're not the only anti-abortion groups out there, but they're certainly a significant portion. Hell, they tried to swing the 2004 election by arguing that any Catholic who voted for John Kerry should be excommunicated and denied communion.