Bad English Used In Advertising

[sassienie]

I am always amazed here in Thailand at the continual bad English that is used in advertising, printed on instruction guides and goods.

Like the apartment buildings in Chiang Mai, big sign outside saying: Apratments for rent.

Give us your examples, can do with a laugh.

Please no personal phone numbers, emails or addresses of private individuals, keep the thread going.

Below is a classic example from an ad I discovered on line 3 years ago:

Edited September 19, 2008 by sassienie

[phitsanulokjon]

At a hotel on sukhumvit soi 4 in bkk

"Guests are told to look all valuables - they reminded the hotel will be irresponsible" !!!

[dave111223]

"Beer Chang 60 Bath"

Seems to be a common one; kind of sad when you can't even spell your own currency.

[sgunn65]

There are so many!!

In front of me is a very beautifully and expensively produced catalogue for hotel uniforms. Great graphics and well presented. The first page has 28 mistakes from glaringly obvious to punctuation.

I was once at a print shop in MBK. Whilst my wife was chatting to the salesman I happened to glance over and saw a thai guy with his menu. The translation was appalling. I mentioned this quietly to my wife and suggested that I offer to proof it for him. She told me that it would be rude to offer as he would lose face. I suppose losing customers is not so important.

That said I look forward to my next visit to our favourite local (upmarket) eatery where I enjy the fragile pigs leg!!

[grtaylor]

There are so many!!

In front of me is a very beautifully and expensively produced catalogue for hotel uniforms. Great graphics and well presented. The first page has 28 mistakes from glaringly obvious to punctuation.

I was once at a print shop in MBK. Whilst my wife was chatting to the salesman I happened to glance over and saw a thai guy with his menu. The translation was appalling. I mentioned this quietly to my wife and suggested that I offer to proof it for him. She told me that it would be rude to offer as he would lose face. I suppose losing customers is not so important.

That said I look forward to my next visit to our favourite local (upmarket) eatery where I enjy the fragile pigs leg!!

Years ago, at Dunkin' Donuts, there used to be a sign which said "Please pay when serviced". . . . .

[Geroc]

I am always amazed here in Thailand at the continual bad English that is used in advertising, printed on instruction guides and goods.

Like the apartment buildings in Chiang Mai, big sign outside saying: Apratments for rent.

Give us your examples, can do with a laugh.

Please no personal phone numbers, emails or addresses of private individuals, keep the thread going.

Below is a classic example from an ad I discovered on line 3 years ago:

Hi,

Maybe you forget that Chiang Mai is in Thailand ?

Can you speak and write Thai ?

Thai and English are very different languages : letters, conjugation, expression of thought. Many phonemes can't be pronounced by thai people.

It's not easy to write what you can't hear.

When you hear "khao" in Thai, do you understand white, or nine, or mountain, or rice... And kai is chicken or an egg ?

[rixalex]

I am always amazed here in Thailand at the continual bad English that is used in advertising, printed on instruction guides and goods.

Like the apartment buildings in Chiang Mai, big sign outside saying: Apratments for rent.

Give us your examples, can do with a laugh.

Please no personal phone numbers, emails or addresses of private individuals, keep the thread going.

Below is a classic example from an ad I discovered on line 3 years ago:

Hi,

Maybe you forget that Chiang Mai is in Thailand ?

Can you speak and write Thai ?

Thai and English are very different languages : letters, conjugation, expression of thought. Many phonemes can't be pronounced by thai people.

It's not easy to write what you can't hear.

When you hear "khao" in Thai, do you understand white, or nine, or mountain, or rice... And kai is chicken or an egg ?

Lighten up why don't you?

[myauq]

this site's a classic ....

http://www.engrish.com/

[Boater]

I am always amazed here in Thailand at the continual bad English that is used in advertising, printed on instruction guides and goods.

Like the apartment buildings in Chiang Mai, big sign outside saying: Apratments for rent.

Give us your examples, can do with a laugh.

Please no personal phone numbers, emails or addresses of private individuals, keep the thread going.

Below is a classic example from an ad I discovered on line 3 years ago:

Hi,

Maybe you forget that Chiang Mai is in Thailand ?

Can you speak and write Thai ?

Thai and English are very different languages : letters, conjugation, expression of thought. Many phonemes can't be pronounced by thai people.

It's not easy to write what you can't hear.

When you hear "khao" in Thai, do you understand white, or nine, or mountain, or rice... And kai is chicken or an egg ?

Lighten up why don't you?

Agree.... chill out

[lambretta]

It's not just Thailand it's the world over, here's one from Turkey.

[angiud]

Boring... Why are english so careful about their language and the mistakes? Actually not everybody can fluently speak english.

And sorry for my poor english!

[simon43]

Of course many Thai people are fluent in English... and many are not.

When you are creating a public [and probably expensive] sign in English - it's only common-sense to get a mother-tongue speaker to proof-read it.

When I write my restaurant menus in Thai, I get my Thai staff to check that I've written everything correctly.

Logical, isn't it??

Oops, I forgot that common-sense and logic don't exist in Thailand..

Simon

[dumball]

Boring... Why are english so careful about their language and the mistakes? Actually not everybody can fluently speak english.

And sorry for my poor english!

You made a good , ligitimate point , but without accepting a little guidance at times , how do you expect some things to change for the better ? Surely , just for their image , a spot of proof reading would be to their advantage and definately save them some 'FACE'

Oh , please guys , let us not forget that the government is rather inept in this area also .

[Nongwahyay]

At a hotel on sukhumvit soi 4 in bkk

"Guests are told to look all valuables - they reminded the hotel will be irresponsible" !!!

You find these howlers, of course, worldwide. Here´s an example from the window of a baker´s shop in Berlin. They also sell "snack´s" there............. but the misuse of apostrophes, as we know, is a very common phenomenon......even on TV !!!!

[Nongwahyay]

Boring... Why are english so careful about their language and the mistakes? Actually not everybody can fluently speak english.

And sorry for my poor english!

No-one is critisising your average non-native speaker of english for making mistakes...................... but if it´s on a business or professional level, you have to get it right!!!!!

[IMA_FARANG]

There are so many!!

In front of me is a very beautifully and expensively produced catalogue for hotel uniforms. Great graphics and well presented. The first page has 28 mistakes from glaringly obvious to punctuation.

I was once at a print shop in MBK. Whilst my wife was chatting to the salesman I happened to glance over and saw a thai guy with his menu. The translation was appalling. I mentioned this quietly to my wife and suggested that I offer to proof it for him. She told me that it would be rude to offer as he would lose face. I suppose losing customers is not so important.

That said I look forward to my next visit to our favourite local (upmarket) eatery where I enjy the fragile pigs leg!!

There used to be a magazine sold in Thailand called "Asian Economic Review" that had a page called "Traveller's Tales" which had examples of bad and inappropriate English throughout Asia. One example from Indonesia I recall was the following notice published in a hotel.

Customers at the hotel are asked not to entertain single young women in their rooms. For those who wish to entertain women in their rooms, the hotel provides a place in the lobby for that purpose.

Perfect English but they missed the higher meaning.

And another notice about a popular songstress who was to appear in a local nightclub.

Miss ______ will appear in _______ club tomorrow evening for the oral satisfaction of all customers.

I once saw job wanted offer in the Bangkok post looking for a translator for a Japanese company that was opening a branch in Bangkok. The English notice said:

Translator wanted. Must be able to speak from Japan to Thai and back again.

I assume they had an obvious need for that person.

But my favorite was in Pattaya some years ago. It was a no-smoking sign that had a cigarette with a circle around it and a diagonal line through the cigarette. It was posted next to the bed in a hotel room. The caption said:

Hey you, be safety life in bed.

Took me a while to figure that one out.

And you must not forget the question that one traveler was supposedly asked on arriving at customs in the then Bombay (now called Mumbai) in India.

Excuse me, sir, but from what destination where you previously embarking?

[MMR]

I used to love the massage shops down south.

neck pain back knee sore

hehe

[Heng]

Paragon Properties

"n model of excellence."

Farang owners, but even they couldn't be arsed to change it. Mai pen rai.

[frodo]

Not really an advertisement, but I saw these posted in a local museum.

Edited September 19, 2008 by frodo

[myauq]

this is a stupid threat. there are hundreds of websites on the internet with this kind of thing, all with countless examples.

in fact there is a whole subject dedicated to this phenomena called engrish.

i also get the feeling it's a bit of an intellectual masturbation session for some native english speakers here. that means it's ok in private, but in public some people might find it a bit offensive.

[taxexile]

here are two of my favourite signs , both in perfect english .

the temple sign is from penang in malaysia , the other one is from a public toilet in hua hin.

[JetsetBkk]

this is a stupid threat....

He didn't threaten anyone.

Oh, the irony.

Meanwhile... here's a pic I took recently:

Edited September 19, 2008 by JetsetBkk

[Jingthing]

That engrish site is great but I would very much appreciate seeing many more funny English signs from Thailand specifically. They are always good fun and entertaining. Where is the harm?

[Goshawk]

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[TheWalkingMan]

There is a beer ad on a train in Tokyo which shows a young lady sitting in jeans and a t-shirt... In big bold letters it says.... "I am shaved"

It did make me pause and visualize how beer and being shaved could be combined.

Next time I see the ad, I will snap a pick and post it.

[katana]

Here's what can happen if you use a translation website and don't get it checked by a native speaker:

[From a Chinese Restaurant called TRANSLATE SERVER ERROR].

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/07/15/chine...staurant-c.html

[LooseCannon]

Lighten up why don't you?

Unfortunately with these types of topics it does long take for the d*ckheads to come out of the woodwork & start slagging off the Thais.

By post #12 with had this moronic comment - "Oops, I forgot that common-sense and logic don't exist in Thailand."

This notice was in the room of a small Chinese shophouse hotel in Malaysia - "Loggers must chuck out before noon"

[Richb2004v2]

Lighten up why don't you?

Unfortunately with these types of topics it does long take for the d*ckheads to come out of the woodwork & start slagging off the Thais.

By post #12 with had this moronic comment - "Oops, I forgot that common-sense and logic don't exist in Thailand."

Come on, be fair. I think that in a court of law he would have a good chance of winning his case.

[Heng]

From the business point of view, the upside and downside of considering hiring a native speaker to proof read an ad is easy to calculate. Risk of language error in ad with meaning of said ad still communicated (and which can be measured as inconsequential for ads that aren't targeted towards an *insignificant* minority) vs. no errors in ad + added cost of said ad, not to mention the richer cultural significance of keeping another "native speaker" from realizing some financial revenue (however minor). It's perhaps easier to compare the feelings involved to how much you care that the signs in Spanish and Vietnamese are grammatically correct at your local driver license office in the US for example.

Edited September 20, 2008 by Heng

[rixalex]

Lighten up why don't you?

Unfortunately with these types of topics it does long take for the d*ckheads to come out of the woodwork & start slagging off the Thais.

I'd say the biggest insult to Thais that rears its ugly head with these topics is those who assume that Thais need protecting from some light-hearted ribbing.