Staggered Pelican… ?
Several weeks ago, Dad emailed us with an anecdote from his ongoing adventures in England. Reading the driving directions to a location he would be travelling to, he read the following: “…pass a Pelican crossing and turn RIGHT…”
A PELICAN crossing? We have all heard of or seen duck or cow crossing signs. State and national park visitors are familiar with hiker, bicyclist and even equestrian (horse) crossing signs. But who knew PELICANS needed crossings, too?
Inspired by the Brits’ obvious need for a suitable sign for such crossings, I Photoshopped one (using one of our pelican photos as the inspiration) and sent it to Dad:
** Pelican Crossing
That’s when he replied that, actually, Pelican Crossings in the United Kingdom are a “pedestrian crosswalk with traffic signals.” He mentioned there are also Zebra Crossings, as well — again, a type of pedestrian crosswalk.
The British and American penchant for being different from one another, even if it means both nations look completely ridiculous in the process, is well known. Thus, my Google-itch to research the nature and origins of said crossings began.
Did pelican crossings somehow resemble pelicans, as zebra crossing’s diagonal stripes called to mind a zebra’s coat, or was it just one of those “Well, that’s something…” British-isms?
My research turned up stranger still terms — do you realize as you innocently walk around the UK streets, you may have to negotiate the following:
a Puffin Crossing, Toucan Crossing, or my absolute favorite — a Staggered Pelican Crossing?
Don’t believe me?
…A Staggered Pelican? I guess that’s after it’s been at the pub too long?!
My funny bone now thoroughly tingling, I finally happened upon some reasonable explanations for all these twisted British names.
The Pelican Crossing is apparently what started it all… “it” being the whole embarassing bird-themed street crossing nomenclature. You see, the Pelican in Pelican crossing is actually an acronym —
PEdestrian LIght CONtrolled crossing
Oooh, clever. 
So, that was several weeks ago. Today, I was taking a break from editing photos for our website launch (Memorial Day), and I found still more unintentional(?) British comedy gold:
“LOOK, honey, it’s a Humped Zebra Crossing up ahead! Should we slow down?”
(The link is Safe-For-Work (SFW); it’s a photo of an actual British “humped zebra crossing” sign.)
