IRL: why do they use the word 'YIELD' instead of 'GIVE WAY'??

[Berk]

Fair question, I guess there's little tangible difference. But why is it so?? And more importantly, do procedures differ??

[wrinkly]

Was the sign introduced at a time when the nearest UK equivalent was "Slow - major road ahead"?

So they'd follow the US practice.

[exiled]

US practice, and differentiation. The best bilingual version is as used in the rest of Europe. A blank inverted triangle.

No words = no translation issues.

Which would be better for Wales? Inverted triangle with nowt in it, or GIVE WAY or ILDWCH GIVE WAY.

The Give Way is probably the road sign most multi lingual when there is no words on it.

[Johnathan404]

I saw a Gaelscoil which used what I assume was the Irish translation of 'Give Way'. Naturally I can't remember the spelling but it contained 'sli' which makes it unlikely to be a translation of 'yield'.

I have seen 'Give Way' in Dublin but can't for the life of me remember where, as well as a few 'Yield: right of way's which are probably just old signs.

[Berk]

I believe it's 'Geill sli', but I only know that from SABRE. Most of the signs I saw last year just said Yield.

[exiled]

Spain has used 'CEDA EL PASO' 'give way' in these signs, and dropped the. As Belgium has found out, the inverted triangle with no words is better. IMHO this would be better in Wales or in Gaelic Scotland. No words = no translation.

Canada uses the sign without words for this reason, and also the NO ENTRY as we know it for the same reason. No words means it can be read in both languages.

[Bryn666]

The French on the other hand use a blank triangle with a supplementary plate stating 'cédez le passage'... but prior to 1982 they didn't bother.

[Chris Bertram]

The only issue is that we sometimes use the blank triangle as an advance warning, with a supplementary plate giving the distance.

[Viator]

I believe it's 'Geill sli', but I only know that from SABRE. Most of the signs I saw last year just said Yield.

Yes, it's GÉILL SLÍ -- which literally means ...give (up) (right of) way. The reason that you'll see far less of the Irish-language sign is that it's used only in the Gaeltacht.

In earlier days the English-language version said YIELD RIGHT OF WAY -- as did the US sign in the 1950s, which confirms the impression that Ireland imported the wording directly from America.

Another use of slí, by the way, is in the expression slí amach (way out, exit).

[Viator]

The only issue is that we sometimes use the blank triangle as an advance warning, with a supplementary plate giving the distance.

But then, so does every other European country.

[Viator]

The French on the other hand use a blank triangle with a supplementary plate stating 'cédez le passage'... but prior to 1982 they didn't bother.

The date I have for the change of regulation is 1974 (Arrêté du 26 juillet 1974) -- but perhaps 1982 is the year by which all old-pattern signs (which had a much thinner red border) had to have been replaced.

[Bryn666]

Yes, that would make more sense, as the old style signs were phased out in 1982, including the original autoroute direction signs.

The original Yield / Geill Sli signs used a different typeface too.

[fras]

I used to go to the RoI for holidays. I soon got used to the Irish way with roadsigns, particularly the way the local little neds turn the signs around. Nobody's mentioned the sign that we called the "Wiggly Worm" for bends ahead.

[WHBM]

In the 1960s the Irish signs were much more based on USA practice than they are now. Geill Sli (which I interpreted as "Go Slow") was all across the country, not just in the Gaelic areas. The US AASHO Yield sign had just been brought over directly, sign shape, colour, everything. However they were used pretty universally, like the UK, instead of the US approach of using a Stop sign at every crossroads junction and the Yield just for merges etc.

Same for the "wriggly worm". That'sa US standard as well.

[Chris Bertram]

I can't help but feel that it's no disadvantage that it helps make Ireland look a little bit different from the UK, along with the New World style signage. Change over to "GIVE WAY", and have the triangles instead of the yellow diamonds, and in many places it would be hard to tell an Irish village from a British one in a photo.

[exiled]

The Irish diamonds etc also serve as a reminder that you've crossed the border, signing an unsigned line.

[Viator]

In the 1960s the Irish signs were much more based on USA practice than they are now. Geill Sli (which I interpreted as "Go Slow") was all across the country, not just in the Gaelic areas. The US AASHO Yield sign had just been brought over directly, sign shape, colour, everything.

Not quite.

*The first Irish Yield/Give Way sign (1956) was a blank red-bordered inverted triangle (as in most of the rest of Europe).
*Wording (Yield Right of Way or Géill Slí) was added in 1962.
*YRoW was shortened to Yield in 1997.

Ireland has never had Yield signs like those in the US. The latter were black-on-yellow Yield Right of Way (until 1961) and black-on-yellow Yield (until 1971). The US Yield sign was altered in 1971 to become more like the European one (red-bordered white triangle, but with a much wider border and the word Yield in red).

P.S. I never saw Géill Slí outside the Gaeltacht. Perhaps you are thinking of Go Mall (= Slow).

[WHBM]

P.S. I never saw Géill Slí outside the Gaeltacht. Perhaps you are thinking of Go Mall (= Slow).

First one we saw was about 1 mile from the Dun Laoghaire ferry terminal.

[Was92now625]

I don't consider 'Give Way' to be a particularly natural word form. When I first started looking at road-signs (probably about the same time as road numbers), I could not interpret the words. Then for a long time (before I started driving) I though 'Give Way' and 'STOP' were effectively the same instruction. Perhaps 'Yield' could be more self-explanatory than 'Give Way'.

[Viator]

P.S. I never saw Géill Slí outside the Gaeltacht. Perhaps you are thinking of Go Mall (= Slow).

First one we saw was about 1 mile from the Dun Laoghaire ferry terminal.

Interesting: seems that Dún Laoghaire may have a bit of a "thing" about Géill Slí signs! See here:
http://ecouncil.dlrcoco.ie:9071/documen ... Report.pdf