Loved this story - and the poem with the three versions. Off to read your Japan book which has been on my TBR for a while now. And oh also Chinese Whispers - how did I miss this ?
Well, well, well - the unintended consequences of "lost in translation" !
The website engrish.com has tons of such funny examples of from menus, building names, signs and so on. Thus, one could visit MORON cafe in Kanazawa, Japan, or the POISON bakery in Busan, Korea or try out the SHAM POO in a Chinese Hotel.
Not to be outdone, the Ticino region of Switzerland has its transportation service Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi which it unhesitatingly abbreviates to FART. And in many lifts and other equipment in Scandinavia, you will find the word "fart" which translates to speed, motion etc.
Meanwhile, succumbing to the pressures of an unusual sort of tourism, the little Austrian village of FUCKING near Salzburg finally decided to change its name to FUGGING., see https://tinyurl.com/264vrmss. The village had been called Fucking for more than a thousand years but it capitulated when tourists stole signage and descended upon the village in droves making life hard on the villagers. Things didn't get better after Danish YouTuber Albert Dyrlund released a funny video filmed in the village and his altercation with some locals see: https://tinyurl.com/mrwyrdzf. Around 28 000 tourists visited the village after the video was released and life became hell for the villagers.
Fucking may have changed its name to Fugging but its troubles did not end. People vandalised signs to make it read Fucking again.
Meanwhile, nobody knows whether nearby villages of Unterfucking and Oberfucking will make similar moves...
While the first paragraph reminded me of a memory-full year from 17 years ago. The rest of it was so much new insights for be. As always, great writing. Thank you for continuing to write weekly..
Loved this story - and the poem with the three versions. Off to read your Japan book which has been on my TBR for a while now. And oh also Chinese Whispers - how did I miss this ?
Do you like cats? And thank you, so very very much, for subscribing.
Just finished Smoke and Mirrors recently and was experiencing a book hangover, thankfully this post came just in time
🤗
This was a delightful essay for a polyglot like me! Thank you for writing it. Glad to have found you here✨
What a lovely message!! Thank YOU
Well, well, well - the unintended consequences of "lost in translation" !
The website engrish.com has tons of such funny examples of from menus, building names, signs and so on. Thus, one could visit MORON cafe in Kanazawa, Japan, or the POISON bakery in Busan, Korea or try out the SHAM POO in a Chinese Hotel.
Not to be outdone, the Ticino region of Switzerland has its transportation service Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi which it unhesitatingly abbreviates to FART. And in many lifts and other equipment in Scandinavia, you will find the word "fart" which translates to speed, motion etc.
Meanwhile, succumbing to the pressures of an unusual sort of tourism, the little Austrian village of FUCKING near Salzburg finally decided to change its name to FUGGING., see https://tinyurl.com/264vrmss. The village had been called Fucking for more than a thousand years but it capitulated when tourists stole signage and descended upon the village in droves making life hard on the villagers. Things didn't get better after Danish YouTuber Albert Dyrlund released a funny video filmed in the village and his altercation with some locals see: https://tinyurl.com/mrwyrdzf. Around 28 000 tourists visited the village after the video was released and life became hell for the villagers.
Fucking may have changed its name to Fugging but its troubles did not end. People vandalised signs to make it read Fucking again.
Meanwhile, nobody knows whether nearby villages of Unterfucking and Oberfucking will make similar moves...
:-)
Most fun I've had with google translate.
While the first paragraph reminded me of a memory-full year from 17 years ago. The rest of it was so much new insights for be. As always, great writing. Thank you for continuing to write weekly..