Enoum Brange, It's what all the cool kids are into.

April 9, 2010 1:59 PM

What the heck is "Enoum Brange" and why am I not allowed to place it on my fire escape?!

I recently moved into an apartment in Brooklyn NY around Flatbush/Ditmas Park. It's a very old building with lots of classic molding, columns in the living room, etc. However I can't get the exact year/decade it was built. There is a very strange sign on the fire escape that proudly dictates "Anyone Placing any Enoum Brange on This Balcony Will be Fined Ten Dollars"


I've never heard of such a thing and google provides no help. Does anyone have any idea what this could be referring to?

I've includedtwo pictures and they are the best quality I can muster up with my cell phone.

posted by saxamo to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

Best answer: Encumbrance?
posted by LucretiusJones at 2:01 PM on April 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Encumbrage? I cannot see in the pics at all, but..."encumbrage" makes sense.
posted by bunnycup at 2:02 PM on April 9, 2010

Best answer: Yup, it's encumbrance.
posted by neroli at 2:04 PM on April 9, 2010

Response by poster: Well would you look at that. I couldn't make out an O from a G from a C anywhere! Another mind is put to rest, thanks!
posted by saxamo at 2:07 PM on April 9, 2010

I've got the same kind of plaque on my fire escape too. Washington Heights. Building built around 1918 if that helps at all.
posted by JaredSeth at 2:14 PM on April 9, 2010

encumberance, like attribute, is one of those words that is obscure unless you have ever played an RPG
posted by idiopath at 2:34 PM on April 9, 2010 [6 favorites]

I can't express how disappointed I am in the outcome of this askme, through no fault of either asker or answerers. I was just hoping enoum brange was some kind of invasive exotic flowering vegetable that, well, you know, did something.
posted by toodleydoodley at 5:10 PM on April 9, 2010 [7 favorites]

This is the #1 Enoum Brange thread on the whole Internet.
posted by lukemeister at 6:05 PM on April 9, 2010 [11 favorites]

Isn't that a Led Zeppelin song?
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:05 PM on April 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Was this by law? does the law still exist? Is the fine still only $10??

Enoum Brange-thusiasts MUST KNOW!
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 6:59 AM on April 10, 2010

I just took a closer look at the one on my fire escape and, from the looks of the pictures, saxamo's is far more legible than mine. Hell, the one in neroli's link is still clearer than ours.
posted by JaredSeth at 3:13 PM on April 10, 2010

Best answer: Enoum Brange noun: Any particular item which is of little use or relevance to a situation which, when placed on a balcony, exit, access-way &c. blocks access in such a manner that any persons tripping or falling over it would tumble in a most comical, amusing manner, causing all passersby to exclaim "I say!", "What Sport!" and other ejaculations of merth.

Broken umbrellas, hat racks, old ironing boards, random parts of furniture from Ikea, world globes and non-functional pedestal fans form the most common types of Enoum Brange.

Usage: "So then Mr Darcy roared 'WHY IS THERE ALL MANNER OF ENOUM BRANGE LITTERING THE PARLOUR?!', it DID so set my bodice aflutter!"
posted by Quadlex at 4:40 PM on April 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

"Enoum Brange" better be among the selections in the next series of MeFi T-shirts.
posted by coolgeek at 1:55 PM on April 12, 2010 [2 favorites]