sometimes in life, you just have to play by the rules. not that interesting… but what is interesting, is the way that rules are communicated.

this fantastic sign at the peter and paul fortress in st. petersburg makes good use of a grammatical construction that emphasizes infinitive verb forms.

On the territory of the fortress, it is not allowed to:

-conduct meetings and demonstrations

-walk on roofs or cupolas

-walk about in a bathing suit

-drink spirits

-ski or rollerskate

… among other prohibitions.  Most excellent perhaps is that the directions are translated into English, but the forbidden activities themselves are described only in Russian and by charming (universally recognizable?) illustrations.

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