signage - Meaning of "Be Mr Late Better Than Late Mr"


Not long ago I found on the Internet a lot of different road signs from India. Here is one of them:


Be Mr Late Better Than Late Mr


It says: "Be Mr Late Better Than Late Mr". I can't understand the meaning of this phrase. I understand that it's some word play but can't catch the idea.


Can you explain this to me?



Answer



It is a road sign that is meant to implore drivers to slow down.


In this case, being "Mr. Late" means that you are habitually late. In other words, you are late so often that it may as well be your name.


Being "late Mr." means that you are dead. For example, someone might refer to "the late Mr. Smith" if they were talking about someone named Smith who died recently. (see definition 2a here: living comparatively recently : now deceased)


So, all together, the phrase is advising you that it is better to be late, even if it means you are known as that guy who is always late, than it is to speed and risk getting killed in an accident.


So that you can see it in context, here is a photo of another road sign with a similar expression:


road sign


(from the flikcr of henrikj, CC by attribution)


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