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Let's say you had a nice pool table. And some people were ruining it by putting their small children on top of it and letting them walk around and bang on it.

In American English, you might put a sign on it like, "No children on the pool table" or "No children on the table". In American English, we're usually less formal, but maybe we could write, "Children are not permitted on the pool table."

• What would be idiomatic Russian for this?


• What about for a different kind of gaming table, like Shuffleboard? Would there be one idiomatic Russian sentence that'd be appropriate for both?

I tried Google translate, but I don't know how idiomatic or natural this is:

дети не допускаются на бильярдный стол

Specifically, the crazy problem we have is an adult who puts their toddler on the pool table and lets them slam around on it. Same with the shuffleboard table. So I'm trying to express a prohibition, not on playing pool, but placing your child on it (and letting them walk on it.)

Another option which is less entreating and more assertive is "Просьба не сажать детей etc." or even stronger "Запрещается сажать детей etc.".

Пожалуйста is generally not employed in formal signage in Russian and in prohibitive texts perceived as too soft in a society with law-is-for-wimps mentality.

You may as well institute some sort of punitive measures and mention them in the verbiage because in all likelihood the sign will be ignored. And also to make the sign look less generic and more deliberate a signature Администрация after the verbiage may also be appropriate, as if hinting whom the infractors will have to deal with.

The above is valid, in my opinion, provided the establishment is located in the former USSR or caters for tourists from here.

As a rule, we do not place sign with the word "дети". Usually we say/write: "Только для взрослых" ("For adults only") or "Для лиц старше 16/18 лет" ("For persons over 16/18 y.o."), etc.

I.e. we specify for whom it is allowed, but not for whom it is forbidden.

Much less often we write or say "Дети до 12/16/18 лет не допускаются" ("Children under 12/16/18 years are not allowed") or "Дети до 12/16/18 лет допускаются только в сопровождении взрослых" ("Children under 12/16/18 years are allowed only accompanied by adults").

If there were a problem with people placing their small children on the pool table, I would write: "Пожалуйста, не сажайте детей на бильярдный стол!" ("Please do not put children on the pool table!")

And if there were several different types of playing tables (pool, shuffleboard, etc.), the most comprehensive version would be: "Пожалуйста, не сажайте детей на игральные столы!" ("Please don't put children on the playing tables!")