Concerning
the Engrish Phenomenon:
1. What is Engrish?
2. Is Engrish found only
in Japan?
3. Why do the Japanese try
to use so much English if they can’t
do it right?
4. Why can’t they get
it right? Don't Japanese study the English
language?
5. Why don't the Japanese
check their English beforehand?
6. Is Engrish real? Those
photos are doctored in Photoshop, aren’t
they?
7. What
are common Engrish mistakes?
8. Are these products on
your site targeting Japanese people or
westerners living in Japan?
9. Where does the word “Engrish” come
from? Are there other words to describe
it?
Concerning
the Engrish.com Website:
10. When did you start
Engrish.com?
11. I saw some of the same
pictures from your site on another site.
Who stole from whom?
12. I would like to use
some of the pictures on Engrish.com on
my site - would you mind?
13. Why don't you make a
site showing examples of Americans using
funny Japanese or Chinese characters -
such as on tattoos or t-shirts?
14. Your site disgusts me.
How can you make fun of others like that?
They are only trying their best to use
English as a second language.
15. Sure, you make fun of
the Japanese, but do you speak their language
(or any language other than English)?
16. Why don’t you
have information about the most famous
Engrish of all - “All Your Base are
Belong to Us” video game?
17. Where/how can I submit
pictures?
18. Where can I buy some
of your Engrish products? I searched everywhere
on the net, including Ebay, but cannot
find anything!
19. I submitted some Engrish
to you a while back but it hasn’t
made the site yet- why not?
20. Can I link to Engrish.com?
21. Can we exchange links?
22. I don't like your commentary
- can you take it off the site please?
23. You update every day
- will you ever run out of funny Engrish?
Concerning the Engrish Phenomenon:
Q.
What is Engrish?
A. Engrish can be simply defined as the
humorous English mistakes that appear in
Japanese advertising and product design.
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Q.
Is Engrish found only in Japan?
A. No, Engrish can be found all over the
world, but the vast majority of the really
funny and creative Engrish is from Japan.
The webmaster has seen many examples of
Engrish from around the world, but most
are not fit for Engrish.com (ie – they
are not funny enough). People are invited
to send in Engrish from other countries
(including the US) - if some really good
examples come in, Engrish.com will be happy
to post them.
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Q.
Why do the Japanese try to
use so much English if they
can’t do it right?
A. Most of the Engrish found on Engrish.com
is not an attempt to communicate - English
is used as a design element in Japanese
products and advertising to give them a
modern look and feel (or just to "look
cool"). There is often no attempt
to try to get it right, nor do the vast
majority of the Japanese population (=
consumers) ever attempt to read the English
design element in question (the girl wearing
the “Spread
Beaver” shirt for example, had
no idea what it said until a foreigner
pointed it out to her). There is therefore
less emphasis on spell checking and grammatical
accuracy (note: the same can be said for
the addition of Japanese or Chinese characters
to hats, shirts and tattoos found in the
US or Europe).
Quite
often it is easier to come up
with English names than Japanese
for a particular product. New
products are brought to the marketplace
in Japan more than anywhere else
in the world and Japanese words
and slogans quickly get used
up. Japanese graphic designers
will often tell you that English
is widespread because the Japanese
writing script (or scripts) limits
their creativity - there are
only so many ways to display
their language, and only so many
different types of fonts to use.
That
said, in most instances Japanese
companies do get it right and
quite often consult a native
English speaker for corrections.
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Q. Why
can’t they get it right?
Don't Japanese study the English
language?
A. The Japanese educational system is one
of the best in the world - one of the primary
reasons Japan was able build the world's
second largest economy. It is not a perfect
system, however - although most Japanese
study English for anywhere from 6 to 10
years as a second language, they get little
practical use since there are not enough
native English speakers to practice with.
The fact that the grammatical structure
of the two languages is quite different
does not help. The Japanese language also
does not contain many sounds that you find
in English (see below for
specific examples).
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Q.
Why don't the Japanese check
their English before putting
them out into the world?
A. As stated above, many companies DO check
their English before placing them on products,
within advertising, etc.(these companies
get it right). There are just many companies/individuals
that either do not care to do so (again,
in such cases English is used as facet
of design more than a way to communicate),
or do not have the resources to check their
English - although there are many more
native English speakers living in Japan
now, they still comprise a very small portion
of the overall population.
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Q.
Is Engrish real? Those photos
are doctored in Photoshop,
aren’t they?
A. The Engrish contained in the pages of
Engrish.com are real and true examples
of flawed English. Engrish.com has not
touched any of the photos in any way (to
enhance their humor or otherwise), except
to lower their resolution and to add "www.engrish.com".
The webmaster personally took many of the
photos found on the site and can assure
you that they are genuine.
If there has been any such editing, it
was done by those that forwarded Engrish.com
their samples. Engrish.com scrutinizes
all photos as much as possible before posting
them, but we cannot rule out the possibility
(however slight) that they are not genuine.
If anyone can prove that a photo that Engrish.com
has received from others is not real then
it will be immediately removed from the
site (or put into a special “fake
Engrish” section).
The photo below ("Fuk Mi") is
an example of tampering and was sent to
Engrish.com many times. The original name
of the restaurant is actually Fu Kim. Although
it goes without saying, this picture will
never make “Engrish of the Week”.
(Famous
Fake Engrish)
A
note regarding "fuzzy" pixelation
surrounding "suspicious" text: When
scaling down the resolution
of files for optimal use on
the web, particles or 'fuzzy
stuff' surrounding text with
high contrast becomes quite
noticeable. This is a natural
and common occurrence that
happens with real text in actual
photographs when lowering their
resolution as the pixels migrate
to their surroundings.
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Q.
What are common Engrish mistakes?
A. Regarding the Japanese use of English,
common mistakes are most often attributed
to the vast differences in their phonetic
and grammatical structures as well as how
the languages are used.
The most common mistakes due to phonetic
differences are as follows:
1. The inability to differentiate between "R" and "L" (the
Japanese "R" being closer to
the Spanish "R" with a trill
sound); samples found within Engrish.com
include "Eric Crapton"and the
word "Engrish" itself. Other
famous examples include the misuse of the
word "erection" (instead of "election").
2. The pronunciation "shi" (or "shee")
vs. "see". Common mistakes found
are variations on "shit" vs. "sit" -
there have been a number of reported sightings
of "baby-shitter" in place of "baby-sitter",
and you can find one instance of "shituation" in
place of "situation" within Engrish.com.
3. Lack of “th” or “v” sounds
in Japanese - "th" is often replaced
with an "s" sound, while "b" is
most often substituted for "v".
4. The Japanese inability to pronounce
various vowel sounds found in the English
language. The Japanese language contains
only 5 basic vowel sounds: "a" as
in "ah", "i" as in "eee", "u" pronounced
like "ooo", "e" pronounced
like "eh", and "o" pronounced
like "oh". Such confusion in
vowel sounds can lead to examples like "fack
you!" in place of "f*ck you",
etc.
Grammatical mistakes vary but there are
a few common errors that English teachers
in Japan see on a daily basis:
1. Using a noun as a verb with "Let's" as
in: "Let's beer" or "Let's
Kiosk"
2. Redundant wording such as: "Let's
play with me!"
3. Dispense with connecting words. Example: "I
feel Coke"
You must be thoroughly bored by now....
no more examples
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Q:
Are these products on your
site targeting Japanese people
or westerners living in Japan?
A: Most of the products you see on Engrish.com
are targeting Japanese people in Japan.
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Q.
Where does the word “Engrish” come
from? Are there other words
to describe Japanese Engrish?
A. The webmaster of Engrish.com came up
with the term “Engrish” to
describe flawed English found in Japan
and other countries. The most popular alternative
word used to describe the phenomenon of
Japanese English is “Japlish”.
Other terms sent in to Engrish.com include:
Janglish, Engelese (or Engalese), Englese,
Japanglish, Jinglish and Nihonglish.
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Concerning
the Engrish.com Website:
Q.
When did you start Engrish.com?
A. The website was formed in 1996 and was
hosted at various servers including lumine.net.
Engrish.com was formally registered in
1999.
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Q.
I saw some of the same pictures
from your site on another site.
Who stole from whom?
A. Engrish.com uses only original samples
of Engrish either sent in by individuals
for use on Engrish.com or collected personally
by the webmaster. There are Engrish "copycat" sites
out on the internet that have taken content
directly from Engrish.com without the approval
of the site's content administrator (some
have gone as far as replacing the "www.engrish.com" mark
with their own!). Unlike these sites, Engrish.com
will never knowingly take any content from
another website. For your reference, the
only site that Engrish.com has given permission
to showcase photos is <www.gate39.com>.
Any other site claiming to have permission
to use Engrish.com photos is lying.
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Q.
I would like to use some of
the pictures on Engrish.com
on my own Engrish site - would
you mind?
A. I am glad that you enjoy the site, but
Engrish.com cannot allow for photos from
Engrish.com to be used on your "Engrish" site
for a number of reasons:
- Copyright issues (the copyrights to the
photos belong to either Engrish.com, or
many others who have only given Engrish.com
permission to showcase them).
- Engrish.com cannot understand the rationale
to build another site using images taken
straight from Engrish.com. We believe in
the concept of everyone producing their
own original content (call us crazy...).
Thanks for your understanding.
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Q:
Why don't you showcase examples
of Americans/Europeans using
funny Japanese or Chinese characters
- such as on tattoos or t-shirts?
A: If you do have any funny examples of
mistaken Japanese or Chinese used by a
westerner, please send them in - I have
yet to receive anything to showcase. Besides,
there are Japanese websites that already
do that, and it wouldn’t really make
much sense to the vast majority of those
looking at Engrish.com (since most do not
understand Japanese/Chinese).
If you can read Japanese, or are just curious
you can visit these
sites in the links section to check
for funny Japanese found overseas.This
is just a small sampling of sites that
I found casually surfing the net - I am
sure there are quite a few more if you
search for them.
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Q.
Your site disgusts me. How
can you make fun of others
like that? They are only trying
their best to use English as
a second language.
A. Please remember that the point of Engrish.com
is to have fun with the Engrish phenomenon,
not to make fun of (criticize/mock/ridicule)
the people who made it. The webmaster has
taken great pains not to point out the
faults of others or have a discriminatory
tone - just to have fun with the results.
Engrish.com does its best to stay away
from any type of "ha ha – these
guys are idiots" lines or insinuations.
You will also find that the vast majority
of the English examples on Engrish.com
were produced by companies - not individuals
and that most
of the Engrish found within the site is
not an attempt to communicate, but are
examples of English being used as a design
element.
At
any rate, if anyone can point
out anything in the site that
is blatantly racist or otherwise
uncool (and Engrish.com agrees
with you), we will happily change
the content of the site.
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Q.
Sure, you make fun of the Japanese,
but do you speak their language
(or any language)?
A. The webmaster of Engrish.com lived in
Japan for ten years - three of which were
spent as a student learning the language,
and the other seven working for companies
in various positions (none involved English
teaching) which required that he speak,
read and write Japanese 80-100% of the
time. The webmaster can therefore say with
confidence that he is fluent in Japanese,
but is by no means a 'native' speaker.
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Q.
Why don’t you have information
about the most famous Engrish
of all - “All Your Base
are Belong to Us” video
game?
A. I never thought it was that funny -
plus there is enough coverage of that game
as is.
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Q.
Where/how can I submit pictures?
A. Please go here
for information on how to submit Engrish
photos.
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Q.
Where can I buy some of your
Engrish products? I searched
everywhere on the net, including
Ebay, but cannot find anything!
A. Engrish.com started selling Engrish
products as of November 1, 2002. Original
t-shirts and other Engrish-based merchandise
are now available for purchase in North
America. Check the link at the top of this
page.
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Q.
I submitted some Engrish to
you a while back but it hasn’t
made the site yet? Why not?
A. There are two basic hurdles to your
Engrish submission making the site: #1.
So much Engrish - Engrish.com receives
quite a bit of Engrish every day and the
number of Engrish photos in our archives
is reaching staggering proportions. Your
Engrish could be waiting in line right
now. #2. Humor factor - Engrish.com sorts
through the multitude of Engrish to look
for only the funniest examples (determined
by the webmaster) for inclusion on the
site. If your Engrish is not that funny,
it may never make the site - sorry.
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Q.
Can I link to Engrish.com?
A. By all means, spread the word! You don't
have to ask.
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Q.
Can we exchange links?
A. Engrish.com only links to sites containing
original Engrish or related content. If
your site does not fit this description,
I am sorry – no.
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Q.
I don't like your commentary
- can you take it off the
site please?
A. I realize that my commentary is not
for everyone, but a clear majority of the
people who write in seem to enjoy it. The
commentary will stay, so I would suggest
that you ignore it as best you can.
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Q.
You update every day - will
you ever run out of funny Engrish?
A. Rest assured - Engrish.com keeps an
archive of enough funny Engrish examples
to last many years. There are many new
examples sent in every day, so I do not
anticipate a shortage.
