IKEA products make Thai shoppers blush

Source: The Wall Street Journal

BANGKOK: -- Is Redalen a: a town in Norway, b: a bed sold by Swedish furniture chain IKEA or c) something that sounds uncomfortably close to getting to third base in Thailand?

The answer, it turns out, is all three. IKEA is famous for using tongue-twisting Scandinavian names to help identify its sofas and beds. But as the big-box retailer expands into fast-growing new markets, it is discovering that those hard-to-pronounce names can also have other meanings, and that spells trouble in other languages.

Take Thailand, for example. IKEA launched a new superstore late last year, its fifth-largest in the world. It is packed with shoppers seeking bargains among the flat-pack, assemble-it-yourself furniture or wolfing down Swedish meatballs in the IKEA restaurant.

Reading a standard IKEA catalog aloud, though, can draw strange looks, or worse. Besides the Redalen bed, there is the very nice Jattebra plant pot, which can sound in part like a crude Thai term for sex, and a host of other problematic words.

Full story: http://www.myfoxdfw....-shoppers-blush

-- myFOXdfw 2012-06-05

They don't do too bad themselves

.

.

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

Mist is not exactly shit......But definitely not something good for marketing.

Maybe Junk would be a possible translation???

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

Mist is not exactly shit......But definitely not something good for marketing.

Maybe Junk would be a possible translation???

I suppose the correct translation is "dung" or "muck"

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

Sound like the Mazda Laputa, which I believe means 'whore' in Spanish

I like the "nova" car name which in Spanish "no va" means "not going"... Not a good name for a car. "Not Going"!

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

Sound like the Mazda Laputa, which I believe means 'whore' in Spanish

You won't find many Mitsubishi Pajeros in Spanish speaking parts of the world as Pajero means.....<deleted>!

!

"But as the big-box retailer"

Double entendres can be found in many places

As long as it applies to products nevermind. A fairly popular surname in Germany is 'Kant' as in the philosopher Immanuel Kant. No fun to introduce yourself with: Good afternoon. My name is c u n t as this is how it is pronounced.

Best one though has to be the Mitsubishi Starion which should have been the Stallion, allegedly!! Hope it's true.

As long as it applies to products nevermind. A fairly popular surname in Germany is 'Kant' as in the philosopher Immanuel Kant. No fun to introduce yourself with: Good afternoon. My name is c u n t as this is how it is pronounced.

I worked in the US with a great guy who rejoiced in the name of Randy Baumgardner and he could never understand why the Brits would giggle when he was introduced.

So what does redalen mean exactly in Thai? I have no idea what "getting to third base" means. Is that a euphemism for anal sex? Anyone got the spelling in Thai? Could come in useful.

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

Or the Nova car, the name of which was not changed when it was introduced into the Spanish market; unfortunately, "nova" in Spanish means "won't go"!

Mazda LaPuta (in spanish: "the whore")

Nissan Moco (in spanish: "booger")

Buick LaCrosse (in French: "masturbating teenagers")

Opel Ascona (in Spain and Portugal: "female genitalia")

Honda Fitta (in swedish and norwegian: "c u n t")

Dodge Swinger

Edited June 5, 201214 yr by thequietman

So what does redalen mean exactly in Thai? I have no idea what "getting to third base" means. Is that a euphemism for anal sex? Anyone got the spelling in Thai? Could come in useful.

I wanna know too. Dont know any words in Thai that sound like that word.

How about this manufacturer of electrical appliances in Turkey:

Can't imagine what the smile on the lass' face is all about.

Btw how do Thais pronounce IKEA? Would sound like "I shit" in Thai. Why not have a competitor named IHIA? Lol.

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

Mist is not exactly shit......But definitely not something good for marketing.

Maybe Junk would be a possible translation???

"Mist" is shit mixed with straw, i.e. what is cleaned out of cattle stables AFTER the cattle shat on the straw.

thesaurus for "Misthaufen" (heap of mist)

Misthaufen {m}

dunghill

midden

muckheap

dung hill

dung heap

manure heap

manure pile

http://www.dict.cc/german-english/Misthaufen.html

You sure know your shit!

I worked in the US with a great guy who rejoiced in the name of Randy Baumgardner and he could never understand why the Brits would giggle when he was introduced.

I get the Randy (how to Brits shorten Randall?) but is the Baumgardner relevant somehow?

I have no idea what "getting to third base" means. Is that a euphemism for anal sex?

I guess you're a public schoolboy eh?

American school kids, boy bragging "I got all the way to Nth base with Cindy last night"

1st base = kissing

2nd base = fondling breasts

3rd base = manual stimulation of genitals (in recent decades oral included)

home = all the way, full intercourse

I remember staying in the Porn King hotel in CM (I think).

But as I was with the misses you can imagine my dismay when there wasn't any to be had.

False advertising.

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

Mist is not exactly shit......But definitely not something good for marketing.

Maybe Junk would be a possible translation???

"Mist" is shit mixed with straw, i.e. what is cleaned out of cattle stables AFTER the cattle shat on the straw.

thesaurus for "Misthaufen" (heap of mist)

Misthaufen {m}

dunghill

midden

muckheap

dung hill

dung heap

manure heap

manure pile

http://www.dict.cc/g...Misthaufen.html

Brings a whole new meaning to Gorillas in the Mist.

Another unfortunate name is the kitchen equipment manufacturer called Smeg.

It happens to the best of companies. Rolls Royce almost called one of their cars Silver Mist. Mist apparently translates in German as sh_t.

Sound like the Mazda Laputa, which I believe means 'whore' in Spanish

La puta - The Whore. Yep

Check out this gem in Pondicherry, India.

Groundsman at lords cricket ground was always michael (not mike) hunt when introduced on the tv coverage

Lots of unfortunate names, but this one would sell like hot cakes in pubs and bars worldwide.

The potential for innuendos at the expense of barmaids is limitless.

These Thai shoppers need to get over themselves!

These shoppers can't have walked along Sukhumvit recently.

Maybe one other posted has noted the fact that there are a half-dozen, at least, everyday Thai words that translate horribly into English, even if they are being mispronounced according to Thailand's rules of transliteration:

Phuket (I have overhead Indians, Australians, Europeans, and members of my own family get this one, hilariously, wrong)

Poon

Cum

Porn

Fuk

...

A well-rounded, thoughtful article would have included that for relative consideration and analysis. But this is Thailand and this article in from The Nation.