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There are some phrases that just don’t make sense. They get printed on shirts, billboards, and street signs, and if you encounter one, you’ll know it. Looking thrice and turning your head upside down won’t help. Asking for a friend’s help in deciphering the message won’t do much either.

You may call these phrases cursed and you wouldn’t be wrong. But there is an online group that’s not only entirely dedicated to these nonsensical phrases, but has also defined them as a phenomenon worthy of our attention on its own. Powered by 603k members, the Don't Dead Open Inside subreddit is a place for “signs and media that read as nonsense if read normally: from left to right.”

It may sound tricky, but bear with me. Below are some of the funniest signs that require 0% common sense and to throw everything you know about sentence structure out the window. Who knew that there could be so much sense in such nonsense?!

#1

This Is Actually Pretty Clever

This Is Actually Pretty Clever

Praninggerzi Report

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eduard_korhonen avatar
Eduard Korhonen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The confusion is literally the point of this one. It's supposed to be jumbled to get the message home.

sophiagraubart avatar
Sophia Graubart
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well yeah, but usn't it dangerous if people are trying to read the sign instead of looking at the road

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el_dee_1 avatar
El Dee
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Very clever, but also very stupid. Probably the most distracting road signage I've ever seen..

terileebruyere avatar
Terilee Bruyere
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're also pretty likely to have an accident trying to read this sign.

edelvecchio969 avatar
Elaine Delvecchio
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Where is this sign? I hope it's not at a location where a driver can see it because it can cause an accident!

chittychitty1946 avatar
Candy Chitty
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No such thing as a car "accident." The word implies blameless and there is ALWAYS someone to blame. Always.

zacharyharrod avatar
ZACHARY HARROD
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one is just high iq it proves that it is hard to look at two things at once

tracy-baparam avatar
Tracy Baparam
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually this one does a pretty good job of getting the message across.

kay_yuill avatar
Kristie Yuill
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe they thought this one through just fine. It's meant to be confusing

clairebauling avatar
Crouching hippo hidden panda
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This doesn’t belong in this list. It actually demonstrates its point and I think is effective

landaulitewski avatar
Jonathan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This one doesn't belong here- this isn't a fail it was part of UK safer driving campaign.

olivestirk avatar
Olive Stirk
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yeah, your four times it's harder to more likely to have concentrate on a road accident two things when you're on at the same time a mobile phone. perfect sense.

icyboba-yt avatar
IcyBoba
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're four times its hard to more likely to have concentrate on a road accident two things when youre on at the same time a mobile phone. Yes, this makes perfect sense.

fresh-index avatar
Zbenguet
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How many people got or almost got in an accident trying to read this sign? smh...

don503765 avatar
Donald Holder
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're ten times more likely to have a car crash while trying to read this sign and calling your mom to help you figure it out.

flaviaslag avatar
Flavia Slag
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some woman ran a stop sign and T boned me a few days before Christmas because her phone texting was much more important then her stopping at a stop sign.

samtgodfrey3 avatar
Sam T Godfrey
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yesssss!! I want to see those signs everywhere on every road in every state in the US. And real big, colorful, and blinky!!

lynnnoyes avatar
elfin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So they placed this distracting sign next to a road?

joereaves avatar
Joe Reaves
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder how many road accidents are caused by trying to read that though!

ionuttautan avatar
Ionut Tautan
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

painintheass41 avatar
Patricia Holt
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well it certainly makes one look twice and sends the message home loud and clear if you survive.

dbradley avatar
d bradley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

so they are concerned about safety and hope you'll read this sign and therefore get distracted and smash into the car in front of you

katie-trondsen avatar
KT
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

more likely to get in an accident trying to understand that sign while driving lol

xcomputernautx avatar
Computernaut
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Godzilla had a stroke trying to read that and f**king died".

remy_rope avatar
Remy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But is it a road sign? People are going to try and figure it out while driving?

jeffrequier_1 avatar
Requiem
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this one is like this on purpose, youll still have an accident reading it

kaitlynm21 avatar
Kissarrah
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder how many people crashed, trying to read this sign.

ellamarie993 avatar
Emi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

only downvoting because this doesn't really belong here

douglasturner avatar
Douglas Turner
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And five times more likely when a confusing sign appears at the side of the road...

cip-iesan-67 avatar
Cip IESAN
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're a billion time more likely to have a road accident while reading this...

jonathan_vadala avatar
jonnotheGOAT
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those who cannot understand this here is the translation: You're four times It's hard to more likely to have concentrate on a road accident two things when you're on at the same time. a mobile phone.

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#3

Will There Be Blood Or Not!?

Will There Be Blood Or Not!?

manby Report

Just like most things on the internet, the subreddit Don't Dead Open Inside wasn’t created out of nowhere. The trope first came to internet users' attention when its name was used in a promotional poster for the TV series The Walking Dead. To this day, the Don't Dead Open Inside poster, revealed on July 2nd, 2010, stands as one of the most recognized examples of the trope in popular culture that caused the cult following on Reddit.

According to Know Your Meme, the infamous poster featured a photograph of a double door with the words "Don't Open" written on the left side and "Dead Inside" written on the right, which should be interpreted "Don't open, dead inside" if read in the correct order. The whole fun of the trope is revealed when the reader reads the phrase line by line instead, which sounds like "Don't dead open inside."

#5

Choose Abortion Life Kills

Choose Abortion Life Kills

StrongbowPowers Report

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Knowing the speed things surf around social media, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a couple of users on Twitter shared their reactions to the unusual poster on social media. In the following years, “the memes based on the joke were made, with Know Your Meme user irish_swede archiving one such example on March 12, 2013,” reported Know Your Meme.

On May 17th, 2014, the subreddit r/dontdeadopeninside was created, where the community collected cases of the trope found in popular culture, design, advertising, etc. Today, it’s home to 603k members that follow a strict set of rules for submissions.

#7

Doesn’t Sound Like Fun

Doesn’t Sound Like Fun

Reddituser4678213 Report

#8

Don’t Save A Life Be Afraid To Give Blood

Don’t Save A Life Be Afraid To Give Blood

dontdeadopeninside Report

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The first and most important rule is that all posts have to comply to DDOI format. “Signs must be read correctly top to bottom, and incorrectly left to right, like any text, usually. Though it does not matter how easily you can read them, it is highly encouraged to only post images with little separation or spacing between the columns of words.”

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The community doesn’t allow both reposts and memes, and encourages users to “put the 'correctly read' way in the title, like 'DONT DEAD OPEN INSIDE.'”

#10

Guaranteed Reduced Quality

Guaranteed Reduced Quality

Maqwheel Report

#11

7 Surprising Black Ways To Use Beans

7 Surprising Black Ways To Use Beans

maximum_chungus Report

#12

Aliectass

Aliectass

_awwsmm , DrJessicaLanger Report

#15

Stand Hong With Kong

Stand Hong With Kong

pedrojalapa Report

#17

If You Were In A Car, Would You Know What Accident To Do?

If You Were In A Car, Would You Know What Accident To Do?

MrGrampton Report

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k8espresso avatar
Ekate
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I usually go with spilling hot coffee on myself when the lid's not on properly.

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#21

Stop Earth The Denying Is Dying!

Stop Earth The Denying Is Dying!

SoddingOpossum Report

#23

Saw This At Work Today And Immediately Thought Of This Sub

Saw This At Work Today And Immediately Thought Of This Sub

rdeddit Report

#24

Always Forgotten - Missed Never

Always Forgotten - Missed Never

cdsackett Report

#26

Was There Even An Intended Order To Begin With?

Was There Even An Intended Order To Begin With?

plsiwanttosleep , starrthepj Report

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#29

Vote Dump Early Trump

Vote Dump Early Trump

JGolden32 Report

#30

Friend Of A Friend Got A New Tattoo

Friend Of A Friend Got A New Tattoo

drewwhis Report

#31

This Is A F**king Massacre. Thing Made Me Want To Dead

This Is A F**king Massacre. Thing Made Me Want To Dead

reddit.com Report

#35

You Think Some Tattooist Hate Their Own Work?

You Think Some Tattooist Hate Their Own Work?

Pyrox888 Report

#36

This Giant Poster In My University Dorm

This Giant Poster In My University Dorm

colonelpanic762 Report

#37

Drugs May Kill You, But Never Your They’ll Hurt Feelings

Drugs May Kill You, But Never Your They’ll Hurt Feelings

acookie2 Report

#38

Teachers Who Love Teach Children Teaching To Love Learning

Teachers Who Love Teach Children Teaching To Love Learning

tanooki_hardaway Report

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#39

Hear That Noise? We Are Growing. We Can Fix It Again. Apply Inside

Hear That Noise? We Are Growing. We Can Fix It Again. Apply Inside

armchairnixon Report

#40

My Girlfriends Kitchen Tiles. Forffee Coyou

My Girlfriends Kitchen Tiles. Forffee Coyou

Laveys_Fvcktoy Report

#45

Call Me Don’t

Call Me Don’t

RoyLifestyle Report

Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.