Language Mishaps不小心得鬧了笑話

No, I haven’t had a language mishap recently, but looking around the kitchen reminded me of just how easily it can happen. Take a look at this can that boasts “Premium Gold Chicken Powder,” from mainland China or this fine example of “All Purpose Sauce” (not bad tasting) from the Philippines. Their not exactly incorrect, just a little bit off from what we would expect in native-speaking English areas. There are plenty of examples of brands or names that don’t quite translate well. One such brand from Japan is Pocari Sweat, a sort of sports drink and a yogurt drink from Hong Kong I believe that promises ‘millions of bacteria in every serving’. There are of course plenty of American mishaps. Probably the most famous is the marketing of the Chevy Nova car, or ‘No Go’ car in Mexico.

I think one of the differences between people who successfully master a second language and those that don’t is the ability to laugh at one’s self. When I was first learning Chinese I wanted to tell this very bright and eloquent Taiwanese woman I respected a lot that it is easy for me to get lost in her city. After she broke out in peals of laughter, I realized I told her that it was very easy for me to topple over. Which I guess is also true if I am trying to ice skate…coordination is not my strong point. There is a story that may be apocryphal of the American who was trying to communicate that his parents 父母是在船上認識的 ‘met aboard ship,’ when what he actually ended up saying was that父母是在床上認識的 ‘his parents met in bed.’ There is just a little difference between boat ‘chuan’ and bed ‘chuang,’ so this is actually quite an easy mistake to make.