#99971
04/04/2003 12:44 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
It's not just slang that causes misunderstandings when you travel . Brand names can be tricky. I bought a bike in England and got those foam handlebar covers for it. When I asked if there was an easy way to put them on The shop keeper said "Just use fairy liquid." I thought he was being funny so replied "Oh good, and the elves will come and do it for me." It turns out that Fairy Liquid is a common brand of dish soap.
Any other examples?
|
|
|
#99972
04/04/2003 2:06 AM
|
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Ooh, I've got a good one! There's a clothing company (as you, Zed, will know!) in Canada called "Roots." In Australia, to root is slang for, ahem, havin' sex (doin' the nasty, makin' the beast with two backs, shaggin', gettin' jiggy with it, etc.). A friend who went to Australia warned me about this, saying that when she was down under, she wore her Roots sweatshirt quite a bit...until an Australian told her what that word means down there. (I suspect, from a cross-cultural point of view, it doesn't help that Roots clothes often have a beaver on them - the mammular kind, but still....) I told everyone in the office where I worked at the time, about this; on my last day of work before I left to go to Australia for a year-long working holiday visa, my colleagues gave me....a "Roots Canada" t-shirt. And a handful of novelty condoms, all of which had passed their expiry date. Sighhh.... The t-shirt went missing somewhere along my way round Oz. To this day, I'm not sure if I simply forgot to take it off a clothesline at a hostel somewhere, or if some Aussie nicked it off same as a humorous souvenir.... 
|
|
|
#99973
04/04/2003 2:15 AM
|
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
Ooh, I've got another one: I went on a cruise in the Caribbean with a girlfriend, years ago. She and I have been penpals since the year dot - she lives in the UK (Reading, these days) and I live in Kingston (Canada). As we unpacked in our cabin, somehow the talk turned to something health-related - sunburns, maybe? Anyway, my friend said we could always use the Witch Doctor. I was quite bemused but tried to play along, saying, "That's right! Ooo, eee, ooo ah ah, ting tang, wallah wallah bing bang!" Of course she looked at me very strangely. She'd never heard the song. What she had been talking about was a witch-hazel gel product from the UK, that comes in a tube and is used for stings, rashes, mild burns etc...! We sang the witch doctor chorus quite a bit over the two-week vacation.... 
|
|
|
#99974
04/04/2003 11:30 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Those stupid BUM Equipment sweatshirts from Wal-Mart. Apparently the first association for USns for the word "bum" is a hobo, not a person's rear end (where they came up with the brand name), and no one thought to check cultural stuff before they marketed it here. My mum really hates the brand name, she teeters on the point of finding it offensive. I think we talked about BUM Equipment before you came here, Zed, and I discovered that they even have a website. It's a hoot when you read it thinking of the Canadian/British meaning of the word bum. Here you go: http://www.bumequipment.com/ Enjoy! 
|
|
|
#99975
04/14/2003 12:33 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
I had a similar problem over here a few years ago when a friend of mine informed me he was changing his car. I asked he was getting and he said, "Well, I've bought a SEAT."
I, of course, being always ready for a joke, replied, "What will you buy next, the wheels? How long before you can afford it all? Hohoho."
SEAT is the Spanish equivalent of FIAT, the Italian car company, but was quite new in england in those days.
|
|
|
#99976
04/16/2003 4:54 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 104
member
|
|
member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 104 |
>"What will you buy next, the wheels? How long before you can afford it all? Hohoho."<
Roffle, Rhubarb! You have humor like my husband! I used to roll my eyes and groan, but after 24 years, I actually find myself amused at his jokes!
Regarding brand names....If I remember correctly, Texaco (or perhaps Exxon) the oil company, used to be called Enco. Sometime in the late 60s or early 70s, the company expanded its services to the Orient. It seems Enco in Japanese (or Chinese or Cantonese?) losely translates to mean "stop" So, of course they had to change the name.....
Note: this was obviously before the internet, and bogus stories of this nature were therefore not prevalent. In fact the reason I remember the story, was because my mother heard it on the Paul Harvey show on the car radio, while we were driving down the road, and she laughed out loud.....not something she is wont to do. So, I guess it stuck in my mind.
|
|
|
#99977
04/16/2003 6:22 AM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
I heard a similar story about a USn car company which produced a car called Nova and was worried about the fact that it wasn't selling in Latin America.No va being the Spanish for doesn't go.
Bingley
Bingley
|
|
|
#99978
04/16/2003 6:28 AM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
And I don't know if it's true but it is rumoured that Grampian TV was originally going to be called Scottish Highlands and Islands Television.
Bingley
Bingley
|
|
|
#99979
04/16/2003 10:10 AM
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Ah, who gives a ... Oh, I see what you mean.
|
|
|
#99980
04/16/2003 11:03 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
before the internet, and bogus stories of this nature were therefore not prevalentBut by no means non-existent. Way I heard it enko meant broken car in Japanese. Never heard any confirmation from anybody actually knew Japanese. The Nova story is also pre-internet and has been fairly well demolished. See: http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/nova.htmAs a sidelight on the Esso story, there was a pre-internet legend that Exxon was made up from a combination of Esso and Nixon.
|
|
|
#99981
04/16/2003 11:27 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Anu's wife, Stuti, runs a company that handles precisely this type of challenge. [is this a commercial no-no, Jackie? If so, please delete for me]. http://www.namix.com/tt.html
|
|
|
#99982
04/16/2003 1:40 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
I thnk it was Esso who proved that a big oil company didn't have to be Humble.
TEd
|
|
|
#99983
04/16/2003 2:02 PM
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
Any other examples?
Yes, In Ostraylya there used to be a brand of sticky tape called Durex. It must have been a bugger to get off. fnar, fnar.
I think it's changed its name now.
|
|
|
#99984
04/16/2003 3:35 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
useful for sticking up the sign that says, "Buy me and stop one!"
|
|
|
#99985
04/16/2003 4:38 PM
|
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 104
member
|
|
member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 104 |
>The Nova story is also pre-internet and has been fairly well demolished.<
Yes, I am quite familiar with the bogus Nova story....precisely why I added my note regarding the origin of the Enco story. It was some 30 years ago, and as I mentioned, there was no Internet to perpetuate a story like that. Besides, I just feel in my heart of guts that Paul Harvey would not have broadcast a bogus story. But, then I was but a mere child at the time and could have misunderstood the whole thing.....
|
|
|
#99986
04/16/2003 5:06 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I did look up enko in a Japanese-English dictionary this morning. Didn't have time to make a detailed research attempt. What I *did find didn't look all that problematic. Don't remember what it was.
The internet didn't create urban legends; it just makes them easier to propagate. They used to get passed around on mimeographed sheets. POSH from Port Out Starboard Home predates the internet by many a year.
I think I heard the Nova story around thirty years ago, too, for that matter.
|
|
|
#99987
04/16/2003 6:25 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
The other one I know that can't be substantiated is the salted crackers which didn't sell well in France when marked as "Biscuits Sale" which without the correct accent ( that I don't know how to put on the above e) means dirty crackers.
|
|
|
#99988
04/16/2003 6:39 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
|
|
|
#99989
04/16/2003 6:45 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Mud flavoured chips, hmmm.They have to be as good as the ketchup flavored ones in England.
A Dutch friend travelling in the southern US asked for chips and was given a little bag of , to her, crisps. She managed to confuse everyone by responding. "No, no, I want chips. You know, the things you eat with mayonaise."
|
|
|
#99990
04/16/2003 6:55 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Chips (French Fries) with MAYONNAISE ?
GAAaaaaaarrrrrrrkkkkkkkkkkk © !
|
|
|
#99991
04/16/2003 6:55 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Whilst mav and I were waiting for the one guy in front of us at the sub shop in Battle Creek, MI this summer to order his 30 subs we noticed that the bags of what were to me chips and to him crisps were labeled potato crisps. The company that made them is in Texas.
|
|
|
#99992
04/16/2003 6:56 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
GAAaaaaaarrrrrrrkkkkkkkkkkk © !
Try it, you might like it.
|
|
|
#99993
04/16/2003 7:05 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>Try it, you might like it.
there is nothing better with (good) fries than vinegar!
-joe (good heavens, I've contributed to a food thread) friday
|
|
|
#99994
04/16/2003 7:06 PM
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
I have been told that the thin fried shavings of potato that we call chips and the Brits call crisps were originated in Saratoga New York and if you want to be a stickler type for correctness then you must call them Saratoga Chips.
So there, too. Sniff Sniff.
The following is from iwon site.
"potato chips
Because these deep-fried, thinly sliced potatoes were invented by the chef of a Saratoga Springs, New York, hotel at the behest of a mid-19th-century guest, they're also called Saratoga chips. Now these all-American favorites come commercially in a wide selection of sizes, cuts (ripple and flat), thicknesses, and flavors such as chive, barbecue and NACHO. Most commercial potato chips contain preservatives; those labeled "natural" usually do not. Some are salted while others are labeled "low-salt"; though most potato chips are skinless, others do include the flavorful skin. There are even chips made from mashed potatoes formed into perfect rounds and packed into crushproof cardboard cylinders. All potato chips should be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. The storage time depends on whether or not they contain preservatives and how old they were when purchased. Some chips have a freshness date stamped on the package."
|
|
|
#99995
04/16/2003 8:06 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 87
journeyman
|
|
journeyman
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 87 |
I've seen people here in central Ohio dipping the french fries into the milkshake....ECHH!
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (1929- )
|
|
|
#99996
04/16/2003 10:45 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Hi Vanguard
Thanks for the warning. With MILKSHAKES??
I got to like them with mayo while cycling in the Netherlands. Incidentally,at fairs where we would have a hotdog stand and the Brits a fish and chip stall the Dutch had herring stands. Choices include chips with mayo, cooked herring, pickled herring, raw herring and deep fried herring roe.
|
|
|
#99997
04/17/2003 12:29 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 508 |
what were to me chips and to him crisps were labeled potato crisps.
Faldage, it's my understanding that anything other than thin-sliced-and-deep-fried potatoes - for example, the pre-formed potato snacks (like Pringles [brand name, sorry]) - cannot be labelled chips in the US. Hence, potato crisps to distinguish them from *real potato chips.
|
|
|
#99998
04/17/2003 2:52 PM
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
anything other than thin-sliced-and-deep-fried potatoes
Interesting, nancy. I'll have to remember this and dig into it. I know there are some that are not fried but are baked to appeal to those wishing to avoid fried foods. I'll have to see what they're called.
|
|
|
#99999
04/17/2003 3:04 PM
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
I hadn't noticed this before, but in this list of Frito Lay products notice the baked potato crisps vs. baked tortilla chips. it seems to be per an FDA regulation/definition. http://www.taquitos.net/snacks.php?manuf_code=9-joe (spud) friday
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
And the crisps are baked! Scrolling down the list we see potato chips that are not advertised as being baked.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
t:notice the baked potato crisps
F:And the crisps are baked!
-joe (donning my crispy baked mantle) friday
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Hey! I was underscoring you.
(hastily concocting some reasonable-sounding excuse)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 87
journeyman
|
|
journeyman
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 87 |
Zed, back to your "dutch" food stand info...I think I'll take the milkshake-dipped fries, TYVM!
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (1929- )
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Try a bag of freedom fries, why don't you? They're like French fries, only politically correct!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
I like mustard on my french fried potatoes. Mmmmhmmmmm.
I really do. I've been eating them that way since I was a child.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725 |
Ah! A food thread at last! I've been lurking: reading and enjoying this thread.
Ummm....now I have a question. Are the Bike athletic products sold in German-speaking countries?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
So what is "bike" in German. ( and before anyone nitpicks, I mean the German word bike translated into English not the other way around.)
I grew up skiing at Tod Mountain which has, now that they try for the international market, been renamed Sun Peaks Resort. Todd being the German for death, they were afraid it would only appeal to the extreme skiers.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725 |
Well, bicycle is Fahrrad.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725 |
Nitpicking???? Around HERE??????
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Nitpicking???? Around HERE??????
*snortle*
|
|
|
|
|
