South Korea used to have a Prime Minister named Lee Bum Suk

Kettle ..... pot ..... black

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

The Vauxhall 'Corsa' failed in, I think, Argentina as it was slang for gayboy.

Don't market a product named in Bambi in Brazil.

Edited June 6, 201214 yr by Jingthing

and it is not easy to sell the famous German bock wurst under its original name in Istanbul: BOCK translates into SHIT in Turkey language

Nova in Latin based language means STAR........too much BS for our age.....

Actually, it means new in Latin. It was used for stars that had gone nova as they thought they were new stars.

Nova Scotia - New Scotland.

I have a German friend here who has told his sister that if she ever comes to visit him, she should use her middle given name, her first name is Dagmar.

...

Buick LaCrosse (in French: "masturbating teenagers")

...

I am a French national and even in slang,"Buick LaCrosse" does not mean "masturbating teenagers" (unless it is an idiom with a specific meaning that I don't know in another French-speaking country or province, such as Quebec, for instance, but it does not mean such a thing in France). "La crosse" is the part of the gun that you hold when you aim at something. It's also a sport stick (usually similar to a hockey stick).

...

Buick LaCrosse (in French: "masturbating teenagers")

...

I am a French national and even in slang,"Buick LaCrosse" does not mean "masturbating teenagers" (unless it is an idiom with a specific meaning that I don't know in another French-speaking country or province, such as Quebec, for instance, but it does not mean such a thing in France). "La crosse" is the part of the gun that you hold when you aim at something. It's also a sport stick (usually similar to a hockey stick).

Hence the game of the same name.

But be fair, as you were, to TQM, there is a slim chance that it is a colloquialism in some French quarters but not all. There are many different was of expressing that action that are not universal throughout the English speaking world..... I don't think the Mazda Monkey Spank would make it though.

...

Buick LaCrosse (in French: "masturbating teenagers")

...

I am a French national and even in slang,"Buick LaCrosse" does not mean "masturbating teenagers" (unless it is an idiom with a specific meaning that I don't know in another French-speaking country or province, such as Quebec, for instance, but it does not mean such a thing in France). "La crosse" is the part of the gun that you hold when you aim at something. It's also a sport stick (usually similar to a hockey stick).

Hence the game of the same name.

But be fair, as you were, to TQM, there is a slim chance that it is a colloquialism in some French quarters but not all. There are many different was of expressing that action that are not universal throughout the English speaking world..... I don't think the Mazda Monkey Spank would make it though.

Apparently, "la crosse" means "self-love" in Quebec French slang, according to Wikipedia: "It was originally sold as Buick Allure in Canada because "la crosse" means 'self love' (or 'swindle') in Quebec French slang."

That's why, as a French-speaking person from France, I did not know this meaning. Quebec French slang includes many colloquialisms that are not used elsewhere. I know, for instance, that a French word ("gosse") means "testicle" in Quebec, while it means 'kid" in France!

By the way, "crosse" may also mean "swindle" in France (depending on the context), but I have never heard anybody so far using this word in France for saying "self-love" (or masturbation),

Edited June 6, 201214 yr by GuyL

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.

That's actually true, but the proper translation for Mist is manure and not shit.

So how about the word "Porn" that I see everywhere in Thailand?

I have a German friend here who has told his sister that if she ever comes to visit him, she should use her middle given name, her first name is Dagmar.

Sorry, don't understand this one...Please explain.

I have a German friend here who has told his sister that if she ever comes to visit him, she should use her middle given name, her first name is Dagmar.

Sorry, don't understand this one...Please explain.

Ok, here goes.

Dag with a soft g can sound like dar, so when a Thai girl of questionable employment (nothing wrong with that) calls you darling, sometimes it is dagling, and very difficult for the western ear to spot, and it means monkey arse.

Therefore, depending on the pronunciation of mar, length of the vowel and tone could mean horse or dog, so Dagmar could be dogs arse or horse's arse, neither of which you want to be telling a Thai your name is.

Hope that helped.

Check out this gem in Pondicherry, India.

I'll skip the shower this morning, thank you. Hygiene is overrated, I think.

" 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?

This was a bullshit story.

Redalen is not a town in Norway, it's a name of a small place but not a town. They don't even have a gas station or shops there.

So what thai word can this name Redalen sounds like. My thai wife could not figure out the word????

My favourite is still when the Swedish weather-woman Ulrika Johnson, on UK breakfast-TV said ;

“Snow continues to fall across the country. I had a good eight inches last night,"

More funny because she kept reading the weather for a while until she noticed everyone else in the studio rolling around on the floor.

I always buy local furniture made by local craftsmen, its usually better than Ikea imo and supports family businesses.

That reminds me of this gem.

Check out this gem in Pondicherry, India.

The golden shower is the name of a flower, so reading that as a bit oooh aaahh missus is down to the individual. The one next door with the logo of an ejaculating penis however, crosses all linguistic barriers.

I'd never spotted that. Too focussed on the Golden Shower Guesthouse.

The problem with the word "Ikea" sounding like an indecent word in Thai is down to pronounciation. I'm sure one of our Swedish contributors can correct me if I am wrong, but I dated a Swedish girl for a while in London and she told me that we all say it wrong. It is not:

Eye- Kea

but

Ic-kea

I'm not sure of the Thai word that it is an approximation of, but maybe knowing this pronounciation would help the Thais deal with this affront to their language? I'm sure somebody will let me know.

So how about the word "Porn" that I see everywhere in Thailand?

i think porn means something like blessed by Buddha

i heard that pinto (as in chevy pinto) means small dick in mexico

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 heard americans talk about 'bases' before, but I had no idea what exactly each base means.

its not used in england - we play cricket (not baseball) !!

i guess we could say: "i got to 2nd stump! or i was at 2nd stump but then I had a knee before my wicket !!"

The problem with the word "Ikea" sounding like an indecent word in Thai is down to pronounciation. I'm sure one of our Swedish contributors can correct me if I am wrong, but I dated a Swedish girl for a while in London and she told me that we all say it wrong. It is not:

Eye- Kea

but

Ic-kea

I'm not sure of the Thai word that it is an approximation of, but maybe knowing this pronounciation would help the Thais deal with this affront to their language? I'm sure somebody will let me know.

IKEA in Thailand uses/ promotes the original Swedish pronunciation (Ic-kea) as their name, rather than the British adaptation (Eye- Kea). However, some Thai people felt that “Ic-kea” just sounds too rude and suggested it should be called “Kuhn-kea” to be more polite...

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 heard americans talk about 'bases' before, but I had no idea what exactly each base means.

its not used in england - we play cricket (not baseball) !!

i guess we could say: "i got to 2nd stump! or i was at 2nd stump but then I had a knee before my wicket !!"

"Bowled a maiden over", "Stroked middle stump"

"Bowled a maiden over", "Stroked middle stump"

In the crease.

My Thai girlfriend's 6 year old son's Thai name sounds exactly like fuc_k, rather unfortunate I'm sure he gets away with it because we live in the backwoods of Issen but if he ever goes south he'll have to change it I think...

I heard of someone with the name Kerr who insisted on calling their son Wayne.

My Thai gf often says porn when she means prawn ........or is it the other way round? Not really sure now.

.... a bit late to respond, but I used to teach a kid called Ewan Kerr...... Try shouting that down a crowded school corridor......

My Thai girlfriend's 6 year old son's Thai name sounds exactly like fuc_k, rather unfortunate I'm sure he gets away with it because we live in the backwoods of Issen but if he ever goes south he'll have to change it I think...

That's a rather common name (ฟัก) or nickname for young boys here, and in Thai, it means squash (pumpkin).

Thad., Middle peg-in the gulley if that stumped you bail out.

A bit off topic but it gave me a good chuckle today.

Coffee shop downstairs at the office has now some card to collect stamps for every coffee you buy. Ten stamps earn you a free coffee.

Coffee shop girl ask me... how you say sa-t䤤mp in English....

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Thad., Middle peg-in the gulley if that stumped you bail out.

Nah, found out she was wearing pads, the absorbent type

I heard of someone with the name Kerr who insisted on calling their son Wayne.

My Thai gf often says porn when she means prawn ........or is it the other way round? Not really sure now.

.... a bit late to respond, but I used to teach a kid called Ewan Kerr...... Try shouting that down a crowded school corridor......

I went to school with a lad whose surname was Sprout, not common, but not that unusual, his parents were either as bright as a one watt bulb or had a very well honed sense of humour, they named him Russell.

Yeh, you're right, it was the first option.