Decorative Language

It is trendy in Japan to use English words not to communicate but to decorate, especially on clothing. One can see T-shirts here with the strangest English. I saw one with the inscription “Texas Excite Extreme Moving.” Another T-shirt declared, “Eight Bank Tofu.”

Glenda found one with the inscription “Precise Dwarf Bravery.” Another reads, “Don’t Choice I Wicked Want Funny.”

Finally,

IT IS THE EVENT OF ANCIENT TIMES—LONELY GRANDMOTHER

Words used often include “Texas,” “Luxury,” “Big,” “Increase,” and “You.” How about: “BECAUSE YOU ARE SLIPPERY, DO NOT ENTER POOL.”

Sometimes even when the Japanese are trying to make translatable English, something falls through the cracks. A business we passed had a sign declaring it was “A Technology World’s Large Front.” I’m still not quite sure what they sell.

Of course, we in the West do the same thing. Back in North Carolina we went into a restaurant where a waitress sported a tattoo of a Chinese character on her forearm. Although I could read the character, I asked her what it meant. She said, “It means ‘harmony or love.’”

I did not have the heart to tell her it actually means “teaspoon.”Read more