Amscray is pig Latin for scram.
Pig Latin works by taking the first consonant sound off a word, moving it to the end, and tacking on "ay." Scram loses its "scr," which goes to the back, and picks up "ay": scram becomes amscray. Same trick as ixnay for nix or amscray's cousin, ammerbay, for beat it. It's schoolyard code, older than most of the internet, and it still works exactly the way it did when you first heard it.
The word carries more attitude than "scram" does on its own. Pig Latin has a wink built into it: it's rude, but it's rude in a language you had to learn to be in on. That's the whole appeal of putting it on a doormat instead of just printing "GO AWAY" in block letters. One says get lost. The other says get lost, and I had fun telling you.
If someone can read an amscray doormat and get the joke, they're the kind of guest worth having twice. If they can't, well, now they know where they stand before they even ring the bell.
Be well & enjoy wiping your feet!
Spoon, Werner Hertzdog & Tammy Sandwiches
