| Beehive
|
| 10501. Fri Nov 12, 2004 11:46 am |
 |
|
I am quite disappointed now all these amusing tales of corporate stupidity turn out to be untrue.
However, some products remain which I have seen with my own eyes, including Urea soap and a cartoon called Happy Wanko in Japan and Powergen Italia which has always had problems with its web address. |
|
|
|
 |
| laidbacklazyman
|
| 10503. Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:01 pm |
|
|
Perhaps once I get my forum up and running again it may be an idea to get a joint membership kind of thing going, where the trivial side of discussions like this one can be thrashed out with urban legends in a manner that would be expected from Alan Davies. Keeping this forum for the more heavy weight discussions that can be backed up by fact. That way everyone gets the enjoyment of the trivialities of life without diluting the QI team's efforts.
That has come out all wrong, it makes the QI board sound snooty but I'm just trying to think of a way to give a happy medium |
|
|
|
|
| Chamaeleon
|
| 10504. Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:09 pm |
|
|
| Beehive wrote: | | I am quite disappointed now all these amusing tales of corporate stupidity turn out to be untrue. |
Please note that the Pajero story is true however! |
|
|
|
|
| Flash
|
| 10506. Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:30 pm |
|
|
| Quote: | | Powergen Italia which has always had problems with its web address. |
Although this company has nothing to do with the UK company PowerGen: post 3019
| Quote: | | Please note that the Pajero story is true however! |
That's a relief. What is it? |
|
|
|
|
| JumpingJack
|
| 10509. Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:34 pm |
|
|
Hi Chamaeleon
Just had a look at your fascinating site.
Looks like we could use a chap like you around here. (Not there are many like you I imagine).
Start a thread why don't you? There's a lot of us who are seriously interested in languages - brackett speaks Mandarin and Gaazy Welsh to name but two... |
|
|
|
|
| Flash
|
|
|
|
|
| NJBeckett
|
| 10594. Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:30 am |
|
|
The Pajero is called the Montero in Spain but that's not much consolation if you take your British or North European one there on holiday.
Here in the German town where I live we have a hairdresser's called Wanka, which is quite a common German name. In fact the minister of science, research and culture of the state of Brandenburg is also a Wanka. The problem is the local hairdresser has decided to start cutting men's hair as well. In there window it now says in English (as that is the fashionable business language in Germany): Wanka for men! |
|
|
|
|
| Jenny
|
| 10596. Sat Nov 13, 2004 10:00 am |
|
|
| When I was in Spain, staying in a Spanish family's house, we saw a Spanish toilet cleaning product called Aseole, which to sniggery immature people like us looked amazingly like arsehole, and was therefore funny in connection with toilet cleaning. |
|
|
|
|
| NJBeckett
|
| 10606. Sat Nov 13, 2004 2:03 pm |
|
|
| Did they use the chemical C4H5As? |
|
|
|
|
| NJBeckett
|
| 10609. Sat Nov 13, 2004 2:17 pm |
|
|
| I should have said does it contain C4H5As? |
|
|
|
|
| Jenny
|
| 10630. Sat Nov 13, 2004 4:29 pm |
|
|
| I should have checked, but didn't! |
|
|
|
|
| Gaazy
|
| 10647. Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:50 pm |
|
|
| It'd be interesting to know how French speakers react to seeing the soap title "Emmerdale" in TV listings, given that the verb "emmerder" means "to piss off", and "emmerdeur" means "a pain in the arse". |
|
|
|
|
| Gaazy
|
| 10648. Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:55 pm |
|
|
| For all I know, there's still a French fizzy drink called "Pschitt" which, as kids on a school trip to France in 1964, we regularly ordered in the restaurant purely for the pleasure of asking for a bottle of shit without being censured by our teachers. In actual fact, the drink was immeasurably tastier than anything comparable that we'd drunk at home. |
|
|
|
|
| Commander
|
| 10651. Sat Nov 13, 2004 7:26 pm |
|
|
| Apologies if you've already seen it, but the Engrish.com site is one of my favourite places for bad translations. Fabulous stuff! |
|
|
|
|
| Chamaeleon
|
| 10691. Sun Nov 14, 2004 10:14 pm |
|
|
| Jenny wrote: | | When I was in Spain, staying in a Spanish family's house, we saw a Spanish toilet cleaning product called Aseole, which to sniggery immature people like us looked amazingly like arsehole, and was therefore funny in connection with toilet cleaning. |
That's from aseo, "cleanliness", which is used as a euphemism for "toilet".
There are several brand names in Spain that may sound silly to us. "Horniman's" tea, for example (though that is named after an English tea merchant from the Victorian era). There are also plenty of SMEG appliances. My girlfriend points out that Facultats ("Faculties") tube station here in Valencia sounds just like "Fuck All Tarts". |
|
|
|
|
