So what? Japanese English!

I wrote about Pocari Sweat and Calpis before. This is a famous site  that collects such Japanese stuff having strange English names. Then today I have found another good site too. Hmm Collon is very delicious snack. Something wrong with it? Creap is a good creamer for coffee, Crunky is very delicious chocolate. Hmm what is strange about this?

The site introduces Japanese-English too, this site has a good comparison between Japanese and English. Okay those made me confused though, "Cost down" is Japanese English? It can make sense! no?? So we should not think they are English. I will tell Japanese-English is Japanese (Ha! arrogant Mari!).

However, althought I wrote like this before, I think we should correct strange English panel at any rate! It makes me laugh but it's embrassing actually. "If you fall in the pond, you will be boiled"?! It might true but...

Comments

[robert]

oh those. usually if you look sideways it spells out something in English.... j/k yeah. I know there are some..in fact I have a couple..one is a restaurant ad..the other talks about teflon cookware..I think...maybe. heh heh..though I think I want a "get a piece of asse!" shirt now. and to those poor souls who got reversed or inane Kanji..I'm sorry, you can come back and get a cover up for half off the regular price....I've often wondered if things like that are intentional, maybe someone with a warped sense of humor...because when I did tats..I always used a transfer...of course maybe the artist had it sdrawkcab when they applied it. hmmm. this could be troublesome for the sleeved Basho lover.

[Scott]

Although maybe not like a "spread beaver" shirt, I have seen a number of shirts with chinese characters on them. I'd be interested to know what they say. ^_^

[Claire （クレア）]

I brought back some chocolate, but I it was not for omiyage. It might have been kind of embarrassing, maybe someone would have taken it as harassment. This chocolate comes in a box of 18 pieces, and is called "asse". I didn't think I wanted to ask any of my (mostly) male colleagues if they wanted a piece of "asse"!

Japanese English is interesting because there are a lot of unexpected juxtapositions of words and phrases in places you would not expect to see them. I once bought a t-shirt that had Chanel-style perfume bottles with words like "anarchy", "destroy", etc. I am not sure if the designer intended it to be Dadaist art, but that is how I interpreted it (it was a guy's t-shirt, too). I like it; it's fun. Other people don't know what to make of it.

[teejay]

how about all the strange katakana and kanji used in western clothing designs. now that is pretty funny. i just feel bad for the ones who used wrong kanji as their tattoos .... hahahahahhaha

[robert]

hmmm. I actually LOVE the Japanese English. I think it is poetic. I like the visual usage. Think about it. Nihongo is a visual language with its mix of forms, some of which originated hundreds of years ago. The character representations are like modern hieroglyphs. Using a non-native language with the same visual finesse is pretty amazing. It may not be accurate grammar but who the hell cares1 :) I think it's neat to see words creatively used. "I feel Coke" is a valid statement. the lack of linking words might make it hard to understand, but only for a lack of regular usage. Certain patterns of speech become acquired in time, and I think there is an efficiency to this pigeon english.. Oh I know. Some English purists will be jumping down my throat talking about the "erosion of proper English language usage, spelling, syntax..etc" but really, lighten the fuck up already! English is a bastard language anyway, with a mix base of Latin and germanic and anything else we pick up as slang..but once Webster catalogues it, why then it's proper. PFFFt! A language is only as effective as its ability to communicate. Part of what gives a language life is its evolution. slang and creative usage keep the language evolving. In a world society nothing remains as it was, outside influences change traditions, views, languages. It is a sign of mankind embracing itself. Sad fact is..American usage of Japanese doesn't get much play. We can talk about secular societies all day long, but how insulated are we..we dont even have a "spread beaver" t-shirt equivalent...okay. I'm going to jump into that boiling lake now. this was a fun post Mari. Makes me want to buy a buttload of T-shirts in Japan! :)