On my very first visit to Japan I stayed at a small hotel in central Tokyo with a sign on the door warning: Swindlers dangling with our guests around our hotel at night have no relations with us. Beware and do not be cheated by their skillful enticement. This made me quite nervous when I ventured outside into the night. Especially when a group of noisy drunken men started shouting and waving.I woke the next morning with a terrible hangover after spending half the night drinking with these guys. Perhaps Japan was not such a dangerous place after all. That warning sign now seemed funny rather frightening, giving advice about grime prevention rather than crime prevention. I wasn't worried in the least about the batter toast with harm that the breakfast menu offered me. I realised I had entered a world of Engrish – language that kind of looks like English but somehow is not.
Over the years I've often wondered if it is acceptable to make fun of the strange English I see all over Asia, from Burmese signs warning me against umbrellaring to Malaysian foodstalls selling bugger. After all, many English speakers don't even try to use another language. And should I tell my female student the meaning of the Boyaholic shirt that she wears? Before the Olympics, Beijing launched a campaign to correct mistakes on English signs. Several foreigners volunteered to help so that tourists wouldn't make fun of China's English. But some foreign residents of the city resented these attempts to spoil their amusement at advertisements for immorality pills or signs in restaurants warning of landslide areas.
Whether or not we think it is OK to laugh at Engrish, it can be instructive to work out how it occurs. Sometimes it is the result of a spelling error, such as fruits shoot ('fruit short cake', which is quite popular in Japan, though very different from what the Americans and British call 'shortcake').
Some Engrish needs a little more time to work out. The cream pain I see at my local bakery is not an instrument of torture but a kind of bread ('pain' in French, which sounds similar to the Japanese word pan).
One tyre-shop in Beijing invites customers to use a pick foetus machine. This seems completely bizarre until we realise that the Chinese character above "foetus" is 胎, which is used in combination with some characters to mean 'foetus' but with others to mean 'tyre'.
One tyre-shop in Beijing invites customers to use a pick foetus machine. This seems completely bizarre until we realise that the Chinese character above "foetus" is 胎, which is used in combination with some characters to mean 'foetus' but with others to mean 'tyre'.
I was also puzzled by the sign on the side of a shuttle bus run by Ritsumeikan, a prestigious university in Kyoto, which said Univemeikan Ritsurisity. Until I realised that the sign-painter, who presumably did not speak any English, must have had four strips of print – Ritsu, meikan, Unive and rsity – and managed to paste them in the wrong order. 
Sometimes a simple error is all the more striking for being surrounded by overly formal or poetical language, such
as a label on a box at Tabei Airport that says Unforceful discard box for dangerous items ('unforceful' usually means 'weak' or 'feeble', not 'voluntary') or a Tokyo boutique sign that raises our expectations about gifts that transcend man and woman only to let us down with basic grammatical errors.Some people actually make money out of Engrish. The website www.engrish.com, for example, not only collects pictures of Engrish from around Asia, but sells T-shirts with it printed on them. But Asians may be starting to get their own back now that so many English-speakers get themselves tattooed with 'Chinese' or 'Japanese' words that turn out to mean things like Girl Vegetable. Meanwhyile the fashion company Ichikoo (www.ichikoo.com) has started selling shirts asking お電気ですか。 (Are you electricity?) and declaring自由の洗濯! (Freedom of washing!).
I read your blog.At AKIHABARA I saw a foreign person who wear T-shirts with it printed 殺人鬼｛it mean A murderous fiend}.I think he does not understand that mean. But evryone did not point out.The Japanese does not want to talk with the person whom I do not know.And there is embarrassment for a foreigner because we are not endowed at an opportunity to commnicate
ReplyDeleteto foreign people.School education does not regad as important Conversation.Ｎｏｗ we live time we meet foreign pepole When I walk the way. We need change conscious and education system.
I check on "Engrish" site. I surprised about many Engrish words!! For example "rock on",this mean "to aim at a mark". I thought "rock on" is English. I think that is Japanese. For example, when I walked at akihabara, I saw a print T-shits. That was painted "萌". That Japanese mean "fascination". I thought he didn't know the words mean. So I think engrish is a kind of culture. And I want to seek other Engrish words.
ReplyDeleteWe discussed this blog today and then I asked everyone to talk about their opinion.
ReplyDeleteShiori said if Japanese people use the Engrish in other countries,they might be embarrassed.
Joe said I think Engrish is so funny.
Ryoichi said Engrish sometimes entertain Engrish people so I think it is not so had.
Takumi said I think we should not wear Engrish T-shirts or use Engrish stuff which have contemptible words (bad words)in other countries .
Saki said missed Engrish is OK.So we can understand that words.
Finally, we think Engrish is cool superficially for Japanese people. So, to be used Engrish, it is okay for us.(because we dont care about the meaning or what words are written)
But If we wear a Engrish T-shirt or use some stuff in other countries, we need have more attention in common sense(like dont use bad words) for foreigners. Because they have different religious thinking(issue) and so on.
We discussed this blog today and then I asked everyone to talk about their opinion.
ReplyDeleteShiori said if Japanese people use the Engrish in other countries,they might be embarrassed.
Joe said I think Engrish is so funny.
Ryoichi said Engrish sometimes entertain English people so I think it is not so had.
Takumi said I think we should not wear Engrish T-shirts or use Engrish stuff which have contemptible words (bad words)in other countries .
Saki said missed Engrish is OK.So we can understand that words.
Finally, we think Engrish is cool superficially for Japanese people. So, to be used Engrish, it is okay for us.(because we dont care about the meaning or what words are written). But If we wear an Engrish T-shirt or use some stuff in other countries, we need to have more attention in common sense (like dont use bad words) for foreigners. Because they have different religious thinking and so on.
Dear Zemisei,
ReplyDeleteThank you for discussing the topic and leaving some great comments. A topic like this shows us that language is not just about communication: it is also about cultural and symbolic meaning. I think it is good that we now have speakers of English and many other languages interested in having Japanese and Chinese on their clothing or in tattoos, but maybe not so good that many of them don't know what it all means!