A question about the "word of the day" and stop signs
When noticing the word of the day "alto", I was reminded of a question that has bothered me for awhile.
Why do some countries choose to use the word "Pare" on their stop signs while others like Mexico use "Alto".
I know it seems like a basic question, but as far as I know all English speaking countries use the word "stop". So I wondered why Spanish speaking countries varied on this. I'd be thrilled if someone could let me put that question behind me. 
13 Answers
That doesn't even make sense.... hmmm using "alto" (which means tall)
No it doesn't mean tall. The Spanish word "alto" to make people stop comes from German "halt", from "halten" (to stop), from where English took "halt" too. It makes perfect sense to use either "pare" or "alto", because both are short and mean "stop". Notice that "alto" (=tall) and "alto" (=stop) look the same, but they are not related.
A similar example that I use a lot is "ball" (=sphere), from Germanic origin, and "ball" (=dance), from Latin to dance.
Probably for the same reason that laws vary from state to state in the U.S. There will only be uniformity when there is one body authorized to set a standard.
As for the Word of the Day question...the definition for Alto as a command to stop was not included in the Word of the Day because it only concerned alto as an adjective . The Word of the Day frequently limits its use of a word to its meaning as a noun, verb, adjective, etc.
During my trip to Panamá last summer, I noticed that Alto was the only word I saw on stop signs. I don't think I saw even one normal "Stop" sign, even where prior USA influence had been the greatest.
"alto" or "pare"
We would probably use alto (maybe for a car) or para (doing something)....also, deténgase, detente.
The street sign in Spain is Stop though.
I didn't want to edit Quentin's post (didn't want to give unwanted help) but this is an interesting image, and I enlarged it. It's a little bit more legible now. 
I found this international list as well... 
This should help:
alto2.
(Del al. Halt, parada, der. del verbo halten, detener).
- m. Detención o parada en la marcha o cualquier otra actividad. Un alto en el camino o en el trabajo.
Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados
As a side note, I'm also curious to know if when giving the verbal command for someone to stop (not the road sign), do countries vary on their preference? Does the choice of words such as "alto" or "pare" indicate the verbal command that is preferably used in each country or are these topics unrelated?
Feliz said:
We have Stop! signs at road junctions but in America you may use the word Halt!.
No, as DJ said, in all fifty states there is one standard "stop" sign on our roads. In fact all major highway signs are standardized on highways. Can you imagine the chaos going from state to state if this weren't true? I actually read a book written in Spanish created to teach English which explained this in detail.
What I also find interesting is that most countries seem to used a red octagon outlined in white for their "stop signs" as well.
I can't even think of a time in recent years where I have heard the word "halt" used. I don't think it is common in the US at all.
But your thoughts are making me wonder if any other word other than "stop" is used for these signs in any other English speaking countries. It's one of those things that really isn't that important (unless you drive through one without stopping ). It is just something that had me curious.
Maybe this will help. Alto = tall and Alto = stop are homonyms. Laz gave the example of ball in English, but here are some more.
fluke - A fish, and a flatworm. The end parts of an anchor. The fins on a whale's tail.A stroke of luck.
bow - A long wooden stick with horse hair that is used to play certain string instruments such as the violin. To bend forward at the waist in respect (e.g. "bow down"). tThe front of the ship (e.g. "bow and stern"). The weapon which shoots arrows (e.g. "bow and arrow"). A kind of tied ribbon (e.g. bow on a present, a bowtie). To bend outward at the sides (e.g. a "bow-legged" cowboy).
Nicole I suspect that England and USA would vary in their use of English vocabulary too to express similar concepts We have Stop! signs at road junctions but in America you may use the word Halt!. I agree with Quentin that until there is one body/organisation regulating such things there is unlikely to be uniformity but would people really want everything the same, anyway?
I guess it would make learning some vocabulary much easier but I know in Britain, UK and probabaly other countries there would be great resistence to the EU imposing such regulations
That doesn't even make sense.... 
using "alto" (which means tall) in place of "stop"... lol. This is a very good question Nicole... hopefully Agora stops by, I think she is a lawyer or something, maybe she will know. Please keep me posted.
Heidi said:
The street sign in Spain is Stop though.
I am just reading this now, but this makes me even more confused! 
Are you saying that the "stop" signs in Spain, or at least in Madrid are written in English, or did I misunderstand you?
That would be even stranger to me than my original question. I hope you or another Spanish citizen sees this because I am really curious about this!!
