2011/06/14

変な英語の使い方


This person's jacket says "Person's". I thought that was funny. It's a good thing that it didn't say "Dog's" or something like that. At least the English grammar is basically correct though.

You know, I always wonder what some clothing makers are thinking. If you see a jacket that says "Person's", what do you think? Does that word really make you want to buy it? Would you feel cooler if you had "Person's" written large across your back?

Personally, I'd never choose a jacket that said 人間の on the back. One student told me that sometimes I'm more like a robot, so maybe I should have a jacket that says "Robot's". Another student told me "you're like a strange animal!" Does it mean I need one that says "Strange Animal's"? Would that be a cool jacket?

Sometimes fashion is mysterious.

mysterious 【形】神秘{しんぴ}の、はっきりしない、神秘的{しんぴてき}な、秘密{ひみつ}の、不可解{ふかかい}な、いわくのある、えたいの知れない、謎めいた (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

2011/06/08

この会社は英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。


Everybody should be careful about spelling. In this modern world, with spell-checking provided for free on the web, there really aren't excuses for spelling mistakes.

Take this one for example:

× Our confectionary is famous for turts with pure natural ingredient, Camembert.
◯ Our confectionery is famous for tarts with pure natural Camembert.

The funny thing is that "turts" looks and sounds very close to "turds".

turd 【名】〈卑〉(一塊の)糞、くそ、くそ野郎、げす (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Some might ask "why can't we say 'a pure natural ingredient, Camembert'?"

The reason is that if you say that, it sounds a bit like the only pure natural ingredient is the Camembert. That means the other ingredients are artificial and impure. That's no good for a food product.

If you are purely and naturally bad at spelling, use a spell checker! It's easy!

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