Sign Language （間違っている英語の看板） Archives - Page 7 of 44

A mistake? Or a pun?

Voice box

X Voice box

Tim says:

This is actually kind of a clever pun （駄じゃれ） — except I’m not so sure the hospital displaying this box knows that it’s a pun!

In Japanese, you often refer to opinions expressed by various people as their 「声」. (We don’t so often use “voices” this way in English, but it’s understandable.) So the intended meaning of this sign is that people can put their opinions in this box. But in English, “voice box” means 「喉頭」!

Fortunately, we’re already at a hospital, so if there’s something wrong with your voice box, you can have it checked right away.

In America, this kind of box is usually called:

O Suggestion box

周囲にある英語を見て、果たしてそれが正しい英語なのだろうかと感じる英語はありますか？「あの英語は絶対に間違っている」という英語の表記はありますか？看板の写真を撮って、Machigai.comに送りましょう！とんでもない英語だったら、このコーナーで出します！

A menu card sandwich?

X Let us make your favorites from the menu cards!

Tim says:

Technically, this could be considered correct, but it could be understood in two different ways. It could mean that you should choose your favorite items that are printed on the menu cards — that’s the meaning that’s intended here.

However, because “make 〜 from 〜” 「～から〜を作る」, it could also mean that they will make the menu cards into sandwiches! I don’t think I’ll choose that. The taste is a little dry.

To avoid confusion, it’d be better if they wrote it this way:

O Let us make your favorite menu items!

Just tell me how to get there!

Please come by the connecting passages at B1, 3F, 6F.

X Please come by the connecting passages at B1, 3F, 6F.

Tim says:

First of all, English speakers don’t expect such a sign to say “please”. We see this as simply information, not a request, so it doesn’t need to be so polite.

“By” sounds a little strange here. “Via” is better.

Also, Americans are not used to these abbreviations for the floors. “B1” is especially unfamiliar.

O Access to these stores is available via connecting passageways located on the 3rd and 6th floors and in the first basement.

Check the dictionary!

Villege

X The Villege

Tim says:

So many of the signs that appear in Sign Language could have been fine, if the writer of the sign had just checked a dictionary first! Get out your smart phone and check the spelling — you’ll avoid some embarrassment!

O The Village

It has to be corrected

It has to come down the stairs in order.

X Please wait in the road way side. It has to come down the stairs in order.

Tim says:

“It”? What has to come down the stairs “in order”? “You” would be a better choice (“you have to wait…”), but that would be too much of a command. It would be better to phrase it as a request.

Also, I think “in order” (順番で) isn’t what they want to say. I think they are trying to say 「一人一人」:

O Please wait along the street, and come down the stairs one at a time.

This column is way in the back of this web site

The restroom is all the way back in this store.

X The restroom is all the way back in this store.

Tim says:

This wording makes me think that the store itself is way in the back of something, and the restroom is in it. 「ずっと奥のお店の中にトイレがあります。」But the writer meant to say that the restroom is in the back of the store: 「トイレはこの店の奥の方にあります。」

O The restroom is in the back of this store.

Let’s set the record straight

Glasses of the set price

X Glasses of the set price

Tim says:

This expression sounds like how someone in The Lord of the Rings would say that the glasses came from the land of Set Price! It sounds too formal, and doesn’t quite seem to mean what it’s supposed to mean. It’s hard to explain, but it just feels strange.

I don’t think 「セット」here means “set price”; it refers to several things (the lenses and frames) being sold together as one product.

O lens and frame sets

Fine, but is that OK with you?

Our hotel is also used by guests who have tattoos.

X Our hotel is also used by guests who have tattoos.

Tim says:

In terms of grammar, there’s no problem here. But it’s not an accurate translation of the Japanese. The Japanese says that guests with tattoos may use this hotel, but the English simply says that it is used by them, with nothing said about how the hotel management feels about it!

I think the best way to express it in English would be:

O Guests with tattoos are welcome in this hotel. (タトゥがある方も歓迎いたします。）

The chicken house comes in for a landing

flying chicken house

X Cockle Doodle Doo Skwereed Grilled Chicken and Flying Chicken House

Tim says:

I’m not even sure where to start with this one. Ignoring the backward “n” in “chicken”, it has three mistakes.

First of all, in English, roosters say “cock-a-doodle doo” （コケコッコー）rather than “cockle doodle doo.” But it’s close. Secondly, “skewered” （串に刺した）is misspelled.

But the most notable part of this sign is the double mistake “flying chicken house”. Chickens don’t fly, even when they’re alive. The chickens themselves don’t fry anything, either, but they can be fried by someone else.

And besides that “flying chicken house” is unclear — are the chickens flying? Or is the house flying? I guess it’s a triple mistake!

O Cock-a-Doodle-Doo Skewered Grilled Chicken and Fried Chicken House

Stop that shower head!

stop shower head

X Stop Shower Head

Tim says:

To me, this sounds a bit like a command. “It’s running away! Stop that shower head!”

What it means is that the shower head has a switch to stop the water flow. In American marketing, we would say it has an on/off switch.

O Shower head with on/off switch.

Category: Sign Language （間違っている英語の看板）

A mistake? Or a pun?

A menu card sandwich?

Just tell me how to get there!

Check the dictionary!

It has to be corrected

This column is way in the back of this web site

Let’s set the record straight

Fine, but is that OK with you?

The chicken house comes in for a landing

Stop that shower head!

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