We share photos of English language that either does not mean what the writer thought it means, or it does not mean anything at all, and then we use these examples to teach correct English.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Services and mental?
To be honest, without a translation of the Korean language we have no idea what "services and mental" is supposed to mean, nor can we recommend a better way of stating this message in English. This would seem to have something to do with providing customer service, but we don't know in what way.
This is another example where either a second, full English translation should be provided for English speakers who probably can't read the Korean at all, or the entire message should be only in Korean since not every Korean understands English.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
This is from an English teacher?!?!?
This is from an English teacher? Besides poor punctuation, "a easy decision" should be "an easy decision."
A second image, intentionally not included due to branding, states "one dogs - My friend has a dogs." First of all, you can't have "one dogs," you can only have "one dog." "Dogs" is plural, meaning more than one. Also, either "my friend has a dog" or "my friend has dogs," but no one can have "a dogs."
The moral of this post is to be careful who you learn from.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Get a smart body.
Photographed at a fitness center in Andong (안동시), North Gyeongsang Province (경상북도), South Korea (대한민국), we first thought that this meant to say, "get smart, baby." Calling someone "baby" can indicate endearment or affection and is different from calling someone "a baby," which insultingly compares them to a newborn child.
However, because the adjacent sign reads, "make the best body," the first sign probably meant to say, "get a smart body."
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Writing a Better Warning Label
Keeping the same sentence structure, you could rewrite this as:
WARNING: If the rotor blade is damaged, do not fly it; it will result in fuselage damage.
However, a better way to rewrite this would be:
WARNING: Operating with rotor blade damage could result in fuselage damage.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Grand Open
Photographed in Andong (안동시), North Gyeongsang Province (경상북도), South Korea (대한민국), the use of "Grand Open" is common throughout the Republic of Korea. However, the phrase should be "Grand Opening."
Actually, the English should be removed from this sign. If you don't read Korean, then you don't know what kind of business is opening here unless you look through the windows. And if you read Korean, then you may not be able to read the English. The best approach, if there will be English-speaking employees, would be to have one sign fully in Korean and another fully in English. If not, just keep the signs fully in Korean.
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