Monday, June 30, 2008

Another Engrish Post


It's been a while since I have posted an Engrish post! I was going through my clothes and putting away things I will not be able to wear in the next few months when my baby bump begins to show (and later on, when I become huge)! I came across a shirt I bought in Japan that made me laugh so much I just had to buy it.

I don't think I've ever worn the shirt, but the Engrish writing was just too amazing for me to not buy it. I found the next few photos via Google Images. When I was in Japan, I got a kick out of going shopping because the Engrish used to just blow me away. It was always so much fun finding all kinds of neat items in the stores, but it was the English descriptions that got me!

One of my favourite snacks in Japan was a cookie-type snack called Collon (by Glico). I just thought it was really funny that the company would choose to name a product after a part of the human anatomy. Too funny! The chocolate-filled cookies were good though...if you can get past the "collon" part! :)
Some of the American, Kiwi, and Aussie teachers I worked with used to drink this thing called "Pocari Sweat". Just the word "sweat" associated with something one would drink just turned me off. I think it took me an entire year to muster up the courage to try the drink! It wasn't really that bad. It sort of tasted like grapefruit. The drink is supposed to make one feel fresh and relaxed. I guess it can be likened to something along the lines of "Gatorade" or other sports drinks.Another drink that made me chuckle the first time I heard of it is "Calpis". When some of my students ordered Calpis at a restaurant one evening, I thought I heard them say that they wanted to drink "Cow Piss"! I immediately started laughing and was faced with a bunch of blank looks. I had to explain that I thought they had said "cow piss" and then I had to explain what "cow piss" was...and all of a sudden, it wasn't funny anymore.

Calpis Soda did turn out to be one of my favourite drinks in Japan. It is excellent as a mixer for cocktails and Chuhai.

18 comments:

Jan said...

Funniest Engrish shirt I've ever seen. why can't I find clever writings like that around here?

Jeanna said...

I like that Chuhai warning on the link to imbibe safely. Sounds good, and that t-shirt is hilarious, but you know it's practical advice for someone out there.
Cow piss, hahaha. You know those colon cookies look like a-- I mean colons.

Anonymous said...

I remember you sending photos along with your letters to us about all the funny things you saw in Japan. I still have some of the postcards and I think the funniest were the photos of the toilets, washing machines and vending machines.

Those Colon cookies don't sound too appealing after my mother just called to tell me about her colonoscopy!

Ed & Jeanne said...

Cow piss soda...awesome! What flavors do they have? I'll take a Mad Cow Piss bottle please...

Anonymous said...

That shirt is brilliant, C! I have bought a few items with funny Japlish sayings on them as well.

If it is possible to send over some Calpis and Pocari Sweat by post, I can do that. Do you think it is permitted? Which kind of Chuhai did you drink when you were in Japan? You look like an orenji-Chuhai girl to me.

-Pete

caninecologne said...

the collon cookies are pretty much sweetened air puffs. i bought a pocari swear for my husband once. he didn't like it. said it tasted like feet. he liked the calpis slightly better, but isn't something he'd go out of his way to buy. hell, i just bought it out of curiosity.

he does like ramune (their version of lemonade) because the bottle comes with a marble that you have to push down before you can drink it.

Unknown said...

You have a great collection of laughs there! I love the Colons. :) They even look like them!

Cherry said...

Wash down some Collon with Calpis!

Mmmm!

Uncivil said...

2 Cow pies and a Calpis please!

Unknown said...

Jan:
I've seen some pretty crazy Engrish shirts! When I was teaching in Japan, one of my junior high school students came to class wearing a t-shirt that read "F@#$ ME!"

I asked her if she knew what that meant. She laughed and said said she had no idea. I was in shock!

Jeanna:
LOL! I know! Too funny! Imbibe safely. The colon cookies do look like colons, don't they? ;p

Unknown said...

T:
If you still have any of those funny Engrish postcards I sent you, can you scan them and e-mail them to me? They were hilarious! I should have bought some for myself!

VE:
Hahaha!!! That's too funny! ;p The Mad Cow Piss Soda would have been...interesting.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Pocari Sweat. It is a great hangover drink!

Sreisaat said...

Hi C.
Oh, I didn't know -- congratulations!!! I had to scroll down and look for that particular post that I missed!

I went to Japan in 2006 and like you, grocery stores there are great source of laugh~! There were so many funny brand names and translations that tickled my funny bone :)

J said...

Funny shirt! And the collon looks kind of like it's doing its job, doesn't it? HA!

Unknown said...

Pete:
Oh! I have no idea if you can send liquid/bottled drinks in the mail. That would be awesome though! A student of mine recently sent me some Royal Milk Tea (not in the cans, but the powdered stuff). I was so excited because I used to drink Royal Milk Tea every morning when I taught in Japan!!

Canine:
HAHA! Bert thought it tasted like feet??? I thought it did too, at first. Then I tried it again and it tasted like grapefruit! LOL! Weird!

Ohhh! I LOVE Ramune!!!! If you pronounce it like ra-mu-ne it sounds like le-mon-ade!

I WISH we could get it here! I used to collect the bottles because I loved the shape of the bottles and the cool marble you were talking about! You're sooooooo lucky that you can get stuff like that where you live!! I'm jealous!

Unknown said...

Lisa:
They DO look like colons, don't they??

Cherry:
HAHAHA!! That's too funny! ;p

Unknown said...

Uncivil:
Yes, there appears to be a theme here! LOL! ;)

Fancy:
WOW! You can get Pocari Sweat in Toronto???? Oh, with all the Asian grocery stores I suppose you can get almost anything now! Okay, I seriously need to get myself to TO for some visiting with friends and family, shopping, and some Asian food/snack supplies!

Unknown said...

ZJ:
Thank you :)
As for the shopping in Japan...I spent HOURS in department stores and in little shops just looking at things! It's amazing what you can find in stores there! Japan has the coolest stuff! I was big into collecting Japanese paper, postcards, etc. What fun.

J:
HAHA! Yes, it does look like it's doing its job! ;p I need to find more of my funny Engrish things to post. You'll get a kick out of some of the things I collected from my days in Japan!

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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