Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2010 October 10

= October 10 =

"Signs"
Someone recently asked a question here about having observed a certain behavior around signs like this. Apparently, some people avoid walking under them for some reason (which may have something to do with the phrase "batty-man legs"). The question was: why? I don't really know anything about it, but I understand from the talk page that the question got some interesting and reasonable answers before getting deleted, so if anyone would like to re-post their answer (or post new ones) here that would be great! Thanks, Wiki Dao  &#9775;  (talk)  01:17, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * WikiDao.. 'batty-man' (or batty-boy, bottie-boy, etc) is really disgustingly homophobic Jamaican slang for homosexual. Perhaps, since consensus was originally for this question to be removed (it was also originally offensive in other ways), we could keep it removed? That would be great. → ROUX   ₪  01:36, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the info, Roux! See, I didn't know that.  I asked this question (different from the original in several ways, you'll agree) because I did not see any consensus for having removed it on the talk page.  The talk page discussion was what prompted me to ask it again in this way (there was a complaint about GF edits and interesting info being deleted, Cuddly behaving rather trigger-happily if you ask me, and Bugs' seemingly hesitant acquiescence). If I got this wrong, or if you find this thread offensive, I am not too invested in keeping.  It is just my preference, generally, to keep first and ask questions later... sorry. :S  Wiki Dao  &#9775;  (talk)  01:48, 10 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Interestingly, while "batty-boy" is a sexually prejudiced pejorative, the "batty-man legs" superstition appears to be truly homophobic in all senses of the word, as it deals with the fear that certain behavior may make one become (or indicate that one is) a homosexual. This no reason not to explain the phenomenon or attempt to determine its origin and prevalence. -- 124.157.234.91 (talk) 02:19, 10 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Thanks WikiDao. The references to "batty-man legs" I've found are:
 * Facebook: i never walk under the batty man's legs, which mentions, "for all those who are so insecure about their sexuality that they believe walking under the two posts with a sign bridging the gap, will change it..".
 * Facebook: Beware of the Batty Man's Legs: which explains increasing battyness of society since Victorian times by claiming, "the batty government has been planting these BATTY MANS LEGS in YOUR previously non-batty town. ... The BATTY MAN'S LEGS are signs on pavements."
 * Urban Dictionary: batty man: "(noun) 1. A jamaican term for one who is a male homosexual. A concatenation of the jamaican words for the human posterior (batty) and man.". ( The Urban Dictionary doesn't seem to know about BML yet. )
 * The phrase "batty man's legs" appears to refer to the two posts used to hold up a large traffic sign, and the superstition appears to be related to the concern that a man walking under such a sign (which may be posted high over a sidewalk) risks becoming (or indicates that he might be) a homosexual. I would assume that the allusion is related to the sexually suggestive nature of walking (crawling?) between a man's legs, and thus being in proximity to his crotch.  Some confusion was introduced by the photo provided by the OP which is of a sign for a traffic circle on a left-side-driving road, which along with the Jamaican origin of "batty man" contrasts with the Yonkers, NY geolocation of the OP.  It was pointed out that the photo is watermarked "2008 Google" and was likely just a random image of such a sign.  Will the OP please let us know where he has run across this phrase and superstition? -- 124.157.234.91 (talk) 02:09, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Jesus, for a so-called reference desk, you people really don't have a clue, do you? The sign is not in Jamaica (do you really think Jamaica looks like this?), it is in Britain. That's not a sign for a "traffic circle", it's a sign for a roundabout . Perhaps it would be better for all concerned if people didn't attempt to answer questions they know nothing about. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.115.231.201 (talk) 11:14, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Traffic circle is American English for roundabout. Just FYI. --Trovatore (talk) 07:42, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
 * There's nobody here called Jesus as far as I know. --   Jack of Oz    ... speak! ...   11:44, 10 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Jamaica also looks like this. In any case, the ref desk only knows as much as its participants -- participants like you.  Thanks for straightening me out on traffic circles vs. roundabouts.  (After reading the articles I now know that they are distinguished by the fact that in roundabouts the entering traffic always yields, while in traffic circles it has the right of way in some countries but must yield in many others. ?)  Apparently Jamaica has "Road Abouts" and uses yellow signs.  Also note that all that I had suggested was that the photo didn't appear to have been taken anywhere near Yonkers. -- 124.157.234.91 (talk) 12:35, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Gosh. I think that 83 has misspelled "Thank you for completely answering my question, which was about why the black people I've met are superstitious about walking under signs, and I'm impressed that you did that even despite the understandable confusing resulting in my posting a picture from Britain while asking about what turns out to be a Jamaican superstition, despite the fact that I'm in Yonkers.  You are very wise, and I'd like to buy all of you pie." -FisherQueen (talk · contribs) 12:41, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Who's 83? The OP of the original question was 96.232.187.242 109.87.135.128 (talk) 13:38, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Quite. I didn't post the picture, I just pointed out that it was obviously not taken in Jamaica. But well done for leaping to further inaccurate conclusions, Fisher Queen.
 * FWIW, there are people in Britain who use Jamaican slang. See British African-Caribbean community. 87.115.231.201 (talk) 15:19, 10 October 2010 (UTC)
 * The phenomenon is caused by speakers of Multicultural London English and associated lects in the comprehensive schools, further education colleges and post-1992 universities of the UK being given insufficient homework. A message to you. "Stop your messin' around. Better think of your future. Time you straightened right out. Creatin problems in town." Etc. Itsmejudith (talk) 20:05, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

Since it doesn't appear as if the OP is returning to inform us of where he ran across this comment, I want to point out that, despite the Jamaican origin of the phrase "batty man", we've no evidence to suggest that this phenomenon is of Jamaican origin or practice. Also, Karenjc pointed out on the talk page that it may not be so much a true superstition as a kneejerk public demonstration of conformation to a social norm: "Hey, look everyone, I walked round the sign, I'm not gay!" -- 119.31.121.88 (talk) 01:07, 15 October 2010 (UTC)