A little mischievous and nerdy hobby of mine is to spot grammatical errors and typos (am somehow blind when it comes to my own sometimes, forgive me!) and I was quite overwhelmed when I came to Japan and Korea. Of course there can’t be perfect English at every corner but some phrasing is just very precious and I made sure to capture the ones that particularly caught me smiling and share them with you. If you have something you want to add, a photo or line you saw, let me know and share in the comments.
Did you know that in German ‘Hagel’ means hail? Is this a hail nut, possibly?
Not sure what this ‘German’ word for a bread bun from an ‘authentic German bakery’ in Tokyo is supposed to mean. What is this letter anyway?
This doesn’t sound very inviting. How long has the beef been in there?
Is it ‘Newest Technology Milk’, ‘Milk from Farmers’ (instead of cows) or the fact that croquets were made ‘from Hokkaido sweets’ that puts me off?
Ok, he’s surprised because he got caught off guard. But by what? He seems pretty chill.
Am I looking at google translate for poems?
The other day at the metro: “Did you hear? Yuki is dancing in a circle! I have to go!”
No, they are not selling underwear.
Leaving aside the irregularity in the contracted forms, why are hats no fun? Or is it not fun when it’s not a hat? Lewis Carroll would love this.
Urgent. So urgent!
Stephen Garone says
Very amusing. I’m an editor, so things like this always make me chuckle.
Travel on the Brain says
Hi Stephen, I am sure you see some funny mistakes in your editing work as well. But I just love Asian translations. They are just so quirky. What is the funniest thing you’ve ever seen?