Is there a distinction between 禁止 (jìnzhǐ) and 严禁 (yánjìn), which both mean "forbid"? I see both 禁止 (jìnzhǐ) and 严禁 (yánjìn) being used to mean "forbid", and I don't really understand what the difference is between them.

Question: Is there a distinction between 禁止 (jìnzhǐ) and 严禁 (yánjìn)?

Online definitions give: (a) 禁止 = ban; forbid; prohibit (Bing dictionary) and (b) 严禁 = strictly forbid [prohibit] (Bing dictionary).  So it maybe that's all there is to it (严禁 is stricter than 禁止), in which case this question is asking for confirmation.

(Or maybe that's what it says in dictionaries, but in everyday use there's almost no distinction.  Or maybe there's some distinction in usage.)



Here are some examples I've come across. This is from some elevator instructions:



This Contains both:


严禁撞击 = yánjìn zhuàngjī = no fighting
禁止吸烟 = jìnzhǐ xīyān = no smoking


Another example:



contains 


严禁挪动石墩 = yánjìn nuódòng shídūn = no moving the stone bollard
严禁 is short for 严格禁止，which means strictly forbid.
禁止 is kinda suggestive，严禁 indicates something is obliged not to do by the rules or law.
Actually in everyday use, there is no obvious distinction between them.