I sincerely apologize if anyone thinks it’s mean to laugh at “Engrish” (awkward translations). Please bear in mind that I don’t think it’s funny because I think “for’ners” are idiots, but because I know how difficult English is- think of it as a laugh of sympathy and understanding. Also, I imagine I’d do a lot worse if I was the one trying to translate from English into… well, any other language in all of ever.
It’s like the most surreal poetry than anyone ever didn’t mean to write.
Now that that’s out of the way, I found some amazing examples a while back at Rossy. Rossy’s a weird store. It’s kind of like Bi-Way used to be. Remember that? No? OK, Bargain Harold’s. Still no? Whatever, like a slightly-better-than-a-dollar-store. You can get name-brand toys there (and presumably other things, but why would I look at that stuff?), but the real entertainment value is in the knock-offs.
I hope you can read the fine print on these doll boxes. I enjoyed them. 🙂
^Yes, but is it new?
^ Um, “spread to deduce the series” sounds super sketchy in a way I don’t even begin to understand. Sorry, cross-eyed doll. Moving on…
^”Come to foppery quickly to me” is kind of a hard sales pitch to resist, don’t you think?
^OK, THAT I definitely want.
SOLD!
disregard the prologue 
January 17th, 2013 at 2:00 pm
These are hilarious! And really, I think we can feel safe in laughing about them, because seriously, how hard is it in today’s world to get someone with a basic grasp of the language to write you a bit of promotional text?! Not very hard at all. The failure to do so means you’re a sitting duck when it comes to teasing. 🙂
January 17th, 2013 at 2:13 pm
I’m glad they don’t. Trips to bargain stores would be WAY less entertaining if they had good proofreaders!
January 17th, 2013 at 2:47 pm
True… 🙂
February 21st, 2013 at 9:01 am
[…] sure you’ll all be thrilled to know that I went back to Rossy last weekend (see also: this post). I didn’t have much time for photos (it was an emergency sock-finding mission), but I […]
March 13th, 2013 at 7:32 am
[…] Other posts I’ve loved from you peeps include one I can’t stop laughing about, from Kate over at Disregard the Prologue. Wish I had a Rossy to visit. Slepsnor and I have become friends recently and he’s got a new […]
March 24th, 2013 at 2:15 pm
[…] there’s a whole lot of other stuff here that has no business being on a proper writing blog. Engrish, pictures of a depressed dog, stuff I see on my walks, links to things that make me laugh. […]
April 3rd, 2013 at 7:38 am
[…] Probably any of the ones where I show off the Engrish toy packages I find at a cheap department store near my in-laws’ house. The pictures are fun, and I really […]
April 3rd, 2013 at 2:26 pm
Haha! Really? It seems so stupid when you read it out of context but it’s unfortunate that this happens. I just know I wouldn’t take that make seriously if I saw them in real life 😛
April 3rd, 2013 at 2:27 pm
I know– but I do love finding them!