Engrish

Today’s Engrish photo comes from Kristin of Be My Travel Muse. A roadside sign in 4000 Islands, Laos, offers help for any Tylers in need of repair. As for the rest of us? I guess we’re out of luck!

While deciding to have some pizza in Romania, I opened up the menu and was even further allured by the description. Who wouldn’t want “downy” pizza? Nothing like a nice soft fluffy crust…filled with feathers! This picture was submitted by Jeremy a fellow travel blogger and owner of Write That Right.com, a language solution service dedicated to fixing menus, one country at a time!

“After eating a bowl full of creamy paprika sauce with chicken, I was definitely thinking dumps, but I wasn’t planning on having one for desert!”   Submitted by Jeremy from Home Town Travel Guides.com

This restaurant sign put a smile on my face! It’s a shame I didn’t get to try their ‘gilled port’ (last item on the menu) because it sure sounds like a one of a kind dish. On another note, where can I pick up one of these Ponly Planet travel guides? But seriously, if you find yourself in Hoi An, go eat lunch at the Bale Well because while their restaurant sign may be confusing, their food is amazing! You won’t get a menu; this is the kind of place where the food just keeps coming to the table, and […]

Today’s questionable use of English comes from Cole who writes, “This is from 2010 when I was living in Taipei, Taiwan for the summer…I still haven’t figured out exactly what got lost in translation. It worked though, since we couldn’t help but go in and check the place out.” Would you visit the Museum of Fishiegoodies? If you have any photos of funny English signs you’d like to share on ‘the Engrish Edition’, drop me a line using the contact form.

Today’s ‘engrish’ submission comes from Melissa who blogs over at Suitcase and Heels. She took this photo while travelling through Busan, South Korea last fall. Check out the sign just above the coffee shop’s doors: “You are falling in coffee scent.” Now what could that one mean?

Today’s engrish photo comes from Ferreting out the Fun. I came across this great menu in Siem Reap, Cambodia, that served up lots of great EngRish. First I noticed the simple mistakes, like the Hamburger with French Fried (#61) and the Fried Fish Grail (#66 – I’m guessing they meant tail?) But it was #65 that really caught my attention. For the life of me I can’t figure out what dish Spices Sour with Panties is supposed to be. Any ideas?

“When I first saw this sign, I was thoroughly confused. I was visiting the Tiger Temple just outside of Krabi Town, Thailand. I guess they were just trying to save money by combining two signs into one, but I also have no idea why they had a random whale skull either…those Thais!”   – Jeremy from The World or Bust.com

This quirky EngRish sign was spotted just outside a bank in my neighbourhood. If only they had stopped at ‘t’, I would believe the ad… 😉 It makes me chuckle because I have been trying to teach my Korean students how to avoid mistakes like this all year, yet they are still not clear on the difference between ‘fun’ and ‘funny’, ‘scared’ and ‘scary’. And as you can see, ‘smart’ and ‘smarty’ is another tricky one. I’m down to a couple of weeks here in Korea, which means no more ‘Konglish’ signs, but I’m certain there will be plenty of […]

I came across this sign while wandering around the Samcheon-dong neighbourhood in Seoul a couple of weeks ago. The coffee shop looked very cozy and festive despite it being almost February, and of course I had to snap a photo of their EngRish at the entrance. I liked the friendly welcome inviting me into their ‘comfybreezy’ place. Now I just wish I knew what they mean by ‘spell on your lazy time’…Are we starting a game of scrabble?

Today’s photo comes from Callie who blogs over at Wilds of Wherever. She snapped this photo from a menu in Indonesia. Now I’m thinking this dish’s name might be kind of accurate… I mean, picture a chef preparing your meal on a hot Indonesian day, and then think of just how hot it must get in the kitchen. He’s running around, chopping this, and frying that. He’s wearing a muscle shirt and perspiring heavily. He takes the back of his hand and wipes the beads of sweat that are beginning to form on this brow, and just like that, one […]

If you are looking for a job that will make you laugh daily, then nothing beats teaching children English as a second language. My students and I have had our fair share of lost in translation moments. Sometimes they don’t understand me, and a lot of times I don’t understand them. There have been funny English essays where my students come off sounding like blood-thirsty vampires, and class discussions that made my mouth drop and then laugh out loud at their lack of political correctness. Here’s a sampling of what’s been going on in my classes over the past few […]

Scroll down to the bottom of this menu for some delicious…  …shrimp crap! I was personally worried about the veal heart on a skewer, but this shrimp comes stuffed in an avocado with a creamy sauce and a parmesan gratin (fancy!), so why not order it for yourself? Kind of reminds me of the time I almost ate lobster crap… Today’s engrish photo comes from Jeremy who writes over at Top Spot Travel.com. He says, “This menu believe it or not comes from an expensive Peruvian restaurant in Miami. Almost seems like somebody sabotaged it, I hope…” Do you have a […]

Well, this certainly is a puzzling one. Is it an art exhibit? Is it a restaurant? Is it a…park? Actually, it’s a cafe in Busan, South Korea. Today’s photo contribution comes from Pierre Trowbridge who spotted this fantastic and somewhat philosophical ‘EngRish’ gem at a cafe called “Cafe the Park”. Your guess is as good as mine on this one… Do you have some funny photos with incomprehensible English you would like to share on The EngRish Edition? If so drop me a quick line using the contact form.

I noticed this sign in a window display in Daejeon. Ready with your interpretations? Go! Want more EngRish?