If the spanish word "alto" means tall, then why is it on stop signs?
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daishotachi
ANSWERS: 12
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Alto (or alta) means high or tall. This why on Spanish stop signs it says STOP. If it says 'Alto' on Stop signs in other Spanish-speaking countries it is because another meaning of alto is halt.
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1) "While the Spanish "PARE" or "ALTO" are used on stop signs in Spanish-speaking countries once colonized by Spain, "STOP" is used in the mother country of Spain (the result of European Union rules specifying English as the language of road signs in order to standardize road travel across EU countries)." Source: http://www.geog.okstate.edu/users/lightfoot/stop/stopset.html?pages/spain.html You can change the country in the list in the left margin: - for Spain: "STOP" - for Dominican Repub.: "PARE" - for Mexico: "ALTO" 2) In spanish, "alto" means not only tall (as an adjective or an adverb) but also stop: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=alto For instance, "alto al margen" means "margin stop" Source: http://www.wordreference.com/es/translation.asp?tranword=stop%20sign
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Usually in stop signs we use (mexican people) red letters, that means STOP.
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Halt! (alto)
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I am not sure.
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I need to know what your answer is please.
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Because it also means 'halt' or 'stop' and, actually, the signs shouldn't say 'alto' but 'pare'
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Notice how ALTO seems alot like HALT. I think one has it's origins in the other. As far as height.... You've heard of an altimeter and altitude. In english we have words with double meanings also.
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It's just a double meaning. Alto can mean both tall and stop. There's no problem. As long as the word "alto" is connected with the car stopping, then it works, and this is exactly what goes on in Mexico where ALTO is used.
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in mexico it means stop and tall...its like some words in english mean two things...
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It also means high, as in an alto voice. Or altitude.
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It also means "halt". In Puerto Rico, the stop signs say "Pare".
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