“SIGN NOT IN USE” is a traffic sign that has been used in the United Kingdom. The sign is usually in a construction area and is usually temporary.
Sign Not In Use” was printed in The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland) on December 14, 2000. “Sign not in use” was printed in the New Scientist (London, UK) on September 30, 2005.
TheoryTest.org.uk
SIGN NOT
IN USE
This sign indicates that a sign ahead which is usually offering a variable message is not currently in use or is being testing.
Category: Road works and temporary
14 December 2000, The Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland) “The Scotsman Diary” by Pia Simon, pg. 14:
SPOTTED recently on the A9 near Inverness, our mysterious motorway message is creeping south and has now reached the M90, just before the Road Bridge, where it’s still flashing away merrily: “Sign Not In Use”.
Google Groups: borland.public.off-topic
This weeks most pointless & insulting warning notice.
Loren Pechtel
Sep 14, 2003, 10:59:35 AM
On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 18:47:53 +0100, Owen Green
wrote:
>I saw one on the motorway the other day that said ‘sign not in use’, or
>something similarly moronic.
Actually, there is a reason for that. You’re driving along, you see a blank warning sign. You’re going to be wondering what it was supposed to tell you. On the other hand, you see a warning sign that says “Sign not in use” and you know it’s nothing.
30 September 2005, New Scientist (London, UK), “Feedback,” pg. 80:
A bit further south, Brand spotted a sign reading “Sign not in use”.
Does this mean, he asks, that he shouldn’t have read it? And surely once it had informed him that it was not in use, it was.
28 December 2005, The Times (London, UK), pg. 16:
GIVE US A SIGN
New signs erected on the M4 stated: “This sign not in use”.
I didn’t know whether to ignore it or not.
Steve Kershaw, Swindon
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Lesley Gunn
@lesleygunn
why do signs which are not in use have signs which say ‘sign not in use’? surely they are being used to display that sign?
7:31 AM · Feb 25, 2009·Twitter Web Client
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John Metcalf
@john_metcalf
funny: sign not in use http://tr.im/gQlT
10:24 AM · Feb 27, 2009·Twitter Web Client
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Gemma Peter
@hexdoll
Am I the only one that gets confused when looking at the “Sign not in use” sign on the A38 near Exeter.
4:56 PM · Jan 29, 2010·Twitter Web Client
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Bekah
@BekahW15
HAHAHAHA… JUST PASSED A SIGN SAYING ” SIGN NOT IN USE” . Wtf is the point in that?
10:08 AM · Feb 7, 2010·Twitter SMS
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Rebecca
@randomrebicon
Just went past a couple of highway maintainance signs saying ‘sign not in use’ ... *slow clap*
4:51 AM · Dec 14, 2013·Twitter for Android
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FAILED SIGN
@FailSign
Sign not in use
7:30 AM · May 3, 2014·Buffer
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Vodka B
@VodkaB_RS
I just saw a sign on the motorway saying… sign not in use. #okaythen
9:18 AM · Oct 17, 2014 from South East, England·Twitter for Android
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Aimée T
@Aimee2e
Just saw a sign that read, “sign not in use”. Erm, I hate to break it to you, but yes you are.
1:29 PM · Jun 18, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
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Imperfectly Victoria
@Imperfecting_It
Just passed a sign that said ‘sign not in use’ and now my mind is in a philosophical battle with itself
9:44 AM · Jul 23, 2021·Twitter for iPhone