When I tried downloading the other photos from graduation, there was a problem with my card, so, here are some more good "Engrish" bits from my business trip to Yokohama this week. Hope they make you smile, too.
L and YOU
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Sorry, I have no idea what/who"L" is.
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This cracks me up - I just wonder who the target audience is for this (what appears to be) underwear.
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One of the things we discussed at the conference yesterday was the concept of International English. When I was living in the US, I never really thought about "other" Englishes, except for the occasional cool Brit or Aussie accent I heard in movies. However, since I've been here, I've been learning about this concept of there being an "inner circle" (UK, USA, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand), an "outer circle" (countries that are/were under the influence of UK/US control), and "expanding circle" (English has no official status in these countries, but is often used in business, academia, etc.). Think about all the dialects within the US and UK alone. A moment ago, one of the teachers asked me about the "correctness" of a particular expression that a student had used to answer a test question. While the grammar wasn't incorrect, I understood the meaning, and therefore answered that it wasn't a standard American English expression. I've always been intrigued by the study of languages, and this new concept of International English, along with all of its implications, is interesting to me.
Hope you're enjoying all the random acts of Engrish
from around here. :)
2 comments:
Wow, I never knew about the concept International English! You're entries are very interesting, keep up the good work!
Examples are funny, thanks. And where exactly did you find the Cherry Boy? Did you wander into a part of town that celebrates alternative lifestyles? How open is that where you are anyway?
And what business were you doing in Yokohama? Since your kids graduated, I figured your business was complete and you were on vacation until August, ha ha ha
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