Misuse, Mispelling Of English

[Ferf]

What's the funniest, most ridiculous sign, menu, T-Shirt, advertisement that you have come across while in Argentina?

A fictional example: the Mafalda comic strip in which one character promotes that his "classy" grocery store doesn't sell "lentejas", but "lenteja's".

On the next language segment of BA Cast, the bilingual radio show (live on radioledonline.com, Tuesdays at 8) we'll be covering this subject, and we'd like to have some of your experiences in this regard.

Thanks!

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

I saw a teenage girl walking down the street wearing sweat pants with "SLUT" written across her butt. I stopped her and asked her what she thought it meant. She said it meant "cool" or "chic".

You should have seen her face when broke the bad news. Even Google Translate knows what it means.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Not a mistranslation, but i saw a t shirt on florida which said "I am not a blogger"

Bizarre.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Many years ago, on a Chinese restaurant menu in Congreso, I saw camarones a la plancha translated as "ironed shrimps."

 

[Vermonter]

Read in Buenos Aires Herald how the government is "working more than never" to solve some political crisis. Can't remember exactly which. I thought, "more than never"? That's not saying much.

 

[Gringoboy]

Adri's boy was bought a T-shirt a couple of years ago that said 'fuck YOU!' in very large letters.
They thought it was entirely appropriate and not offensive in the least.

 

[nlaruccia]

I once saw on the menu "huevos a lo caballo" translated as "eggs on horseback". Apparently the same badly translated or use of vulgar terms on tee-shirts happen with Japanese too.

 

[RichardP]

I went to a fancy place in Puerto Madero once and "Pasta a la Crema" was translated as "Cremated Pasture" on the menu.

 

[AngelinBA]

I have always wondered why there is a kid's clothes shop called Advanced. Maybe not a misuse but the word needs a context that children's clothing doesn't seem to provide.

Actually, the misuse of an English word that has most impact on me is the use in USA family sitcoms of the word "wanker" (sorry, folks) by the token British guy. I think they don't know what it means.....

 

[internationalguy]

OMG. There's a street food place next to Reserva Ecologica with a sign that says "Meat the pork"