Sign Language （間違っている英語の看板） Archives - Page 22 of 44

Soft and cold. Like ice cream!

Soft Air-Conditioned Car (photo by Tim Young)

X Soft Air-Conditioned Car

Tim says:

This is my fuzzy pet train car! Isn’t he soft?!

“Soft” is an adjective, so it modifies the noun, “car”. If the car is soft, then I assume it must either have soft fur like a cat, or it’s soft and flexible like a foam rubber mattress.

Of course, “soft” is supposed to be modifying “Air-Conditioned”, but to modify an adjective, you need an adverb. So grammatically, “softly” would be better. But it’s still strange.

We don’t say that a place is “softly” air conditioned. It would be better to say “lightly”.

O Lightly Air-Conditioned Car

Ayumi says:

日本語は「弱」なのに、なぜ “soft” を使ったのでしょう？ soft ならやわらかいフワフワした感じで、車両 (car) が soft ではおかしいし、エアコンが soft でもおかしい。エアコンが「軽く」効いているということならば、lightly がピッタリです。

heavy traffic (多い交通量) large audience (多くの聴衆)

などを見ても、英語で適切な形容詞・副詞を選ぶのは難しいと感じます。日本語では「やわらかい」って固さだけでなく、日差し、音色、人当たり、まなざしなどにも使うし、英語のsoftよりも用途が多いような。「頭がやわらかい」とも言いますね。一体どこまで英語の soft が使えるのでしょうか？

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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！

In through the out door

Entrance (photo by Tim Young)

X Entrance

Tim says:

Um…. what?!

I found this extremely funny — the Japanese and the English say opposite things. And the Japanese is right: this sign was hanging over the place to get out of the ticketed area of the station. I really have no idea what prompted JR to translate 「出口」 as “entrance”, but I think they need to check their dictionary again.

O Exit

Ask us about our special rates for pirates!

Viking ¥1050 Student ¥900 (photo by Tim Young)

X Viking ¥1050 Student ¥900

Tim says:

In Japan, a “viking” is like a buffet. You can choose from many different kinds of food. It’s called a “viking” here because the actual Scandanavian word, “smorgasbord” (スモーガスボード), was too difficult to pronounce in Japanese!

For anyone else, though, this sign appears to say that any 10th century Norse viking who happens to be walking down the streets of Tokyo could get dinner at this restaurant for ¥1050, but students only have to pay ¥900. What about everyone else?

O Buffet ¥1050 Student rate ¥900

Ayumi says:

日本語の「バイキング」は完全に和製英語です。正しい英語では、 smorgasbord buffet all you can eat など。

vikingとstudentを並べていると、やっぱり「海賊」ならば1050円だと思いますね。昔、日本で初めて北欧風のスモーガスボードを店で提供しようと考えたけれど、「スモーガスボード」では覚えにくい。そこで北欧のイメージから「バイキング」をレストランの名前にしたことから、一般にそう呼ばれるようになったのだとか。

最近は「ビュッフェスタイル」の方がよく使われるように思います。または「食べ放題」。だいぶイメージが変わりますが。

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Keeping “track” of what’s dropped

Jump to the track (photo by Tim Young)

X When you drop something to the track please ask the clerk.

Tim says:

“When” I drop something? It sounds like you think there’s no doubt that I will drop something! And that I will do it on purpose! But if I drop it on purpose, what am I supposed to ask the clerk about? “Excuse me, Clerk, do you see that handkerchief I dropped on the track?” “Yes.” “OK, good.”

Most people don’t drop anything on (not “to”) the track. But if they do, they should tell the platform staff (they are not clerks) that you have dropped something and ask them to pick it up for you.

O If you drop something on the track, please ask the platform staff to pick it up for you.

Stress! Anxiety! YAAAAAY!

High Tension, Please! (photo by Tim Young)

X High tension please!!

Tim says:

In Japanese, “high tension” means something like “excitement”. It’s considered something positive.

But in English, if a person has “high tension”, it means they have a lot of stress. It’s something negative. It could also be used in a phrase like “high tension wire” (高圧線).

I don’t think this concert venue wants to stress you out. Relax and enjoy a concert! But they want people to get excited and happy at the concert. When someone is asking people to cheer, they can say:

O Let’s hear it!

Ayumi says:

ライブハウスなどでは「テンション高く行こうぜ～」と盛り上げますが、テンションって？

英語でtensionと言うと「緊張状態」。high tensionだと、気が張っていてストレスのある状態のこと。

たとえば、２国間でhigh tensionの状態だとしたら戦争が起きてしまうかも知れません。

一体どこでどう意味が変わってしまったのでしょうか？ Tim提案のcorrectionは、Let’s hear it! ここでの”it”は、拍手や声援のこと。「拍手や声援を送りましょう！」ということで「盛り上がろう！」となりますね。

本当に不思議な和製英語が街にあふれていて、私も “high tension” になってしまいそう・・・

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And then get a broom

Drop (photo by Tim Young)

X Drop

Tim says:

OK, in a sense this is not wrong. We can call a place where something should be dropped off a “drop”.

But since this is a place to drop off trays of dishes, it felt to me like the sign was an order to suddenly let go of your tray, wherever you happen to be standing! That would result in a lot of broken dishes!

I think it’d be better to make this sign a request — one that will not result in a lot of cleanup work afterward.

O Leave your dishes here

Ayumi says:

“drop” には確かに名詞もあります。おそらく「返却口」を辞書で引き、dropとしたのでしょう。

でも、やはりこれでは命令文に聞こえてしまいます。「落とせ！」って・・・

このサインを見てすぐさま手に持つトレイを床に落とす人続出、なんてことはないと思いますが。

おかしな英語を使うよりも「返却口」と日本語で良いのではないかと思うのですが。

外国の方だって他の人がやっているのを見て、「返却口」だと理解できるでしょう。

いきなりの命令にトレイを落としてしまうよりも安全に思います。

田中亜由美は「TOEICテストクロストレーニング PART 1・2」などの本は販売中！ブログはこちら.

A helpful plan for getting robbed

Caution,Snatching (photo by Tim Young)

X Caution,Snatching

Tim says:

This looks strange, written as if it were one sentence — with no space after the comma, and no period or exclamation mark at the end! Or perhaps it’s part of a list? The order in which things happen? “Caution, snatching, and screaming!”

Also, while we do talk about “purse snatching”, “snatching” by itself is rather vague. We could change this sign to “Caution! Purse snatching!” but I think the following sounds more natural:

O Watch out for purse snatchers!

Ayumi says:

日本語では「ひったくり注意！」となっています。それを英語で「注意、ひったくり」のように並べているのですが、ちょっと考えてみてください。

日本語の「ひったくり注意！」は、「ひったくりに注意しましょう！」の意味のはずで、ただ名詞を並べているわけではありません。

「注意する、気をつける」にあたる動詞は、Watch out 何に気をつけるのかと言うと、purse snatchers (ひったくり犯人) Watch out for purse snatchers!

これなら松戸市のひったくり犯もあわてて逃げていきそうです。

田中亜由美は「TOEICテストクロストレーニング PART 1・2」などの本は販売中！ブログはこちら.

Bring this to your next medical exam, guys

Prostatus (photo by Tim Young)

X Prostatus

Tim says:

I realize that this is the name of a sporting goods maker. The problem is that, written in this way, it reminds me too much of the word “prostate” (前立腺)! This brand seems like it could be uncomfortable for men, haha.

Most of the English Web sites I searched spelled this expression with a space or a hyphen, which makes sense. “Status” is not usually combined with adjectives; for example “high status.” An expression like this could be hyphenated to be used as an adjective: “a high-status person”.

O Pro Status O Pro-Status

One more thing to regret

Without the Regret (photo by Tim Young)

X Without the Regret Which is one my Lifetime

Tim says:

I found this in, of all places, the men’s room at a trendy cafe near Kichijoji Station! The cafe has somewhat of a “manga” theme to its decor, so perhaps this is a (very bad) translation of something from a comic.

My guess is that perhaps it means this:

O I leave behind my regret Which is the biggest regret of my life

Or perhaps:

O Don’t regret. You only live once.

And his cousin, the orange juice, is even more annoying!

Real Drip (photo by Tim Young)

X Real drip

Tim says:

Why are they insulting their own canned coffee??

I understand that they mean to say that the coffee is made using the “drip” method. But to say someone is “a real drip” means he is stupid, annoying, and so on.

So, instead of being mean to the coffee, let’s just say how it’s made:

O Drip brewed

Ayumi says:

これはかなりまずい間違いです。

ドリップして作った本格派コーヒーだと言いたいのでしょうけれど、”drip” には「つまらない人、弱虫」などの意味があります。これでは商品としてのイメージダウンです。

製法について伝えたいのであれば、drip brewed。 brewは動詞で「(お茶やコーヒーなど) を入れる」ほか、「(ビールなど) を醸造する」の意味にも使います。

田中亜由美は「TOEICテストクロストレーニング PART 1・2」などの本は販売中！ブログはこちら.

Category: Sign Language （間違っている英語の看板）

Soft and cold. Like ice cream!

In through the out door

Ask us about our special rates for pirates!

Keeping “track” of what’s dropped

Stress! Anxiety! YAAAAAY!

And then get a broom

A helpful plan for getting robbed

Bring this to your next medical exam, guys

One more thing to regret

And his cousin, the orange juice, is even more annoying!

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