In lots of cases, the laziness is just obvious. But, I often get, “Well, it’s not for the sake of foreigners, anyway. Just there to add some foreign coolness to the sign.”

To that, I say, Thanks for the abundant mistakes! That means there’ll always be a demand for English teachers here and if I have to, I’ll go back to working in an Eikaiwa school if things go that far downhill for me.

Another one that irked me was during the 2010 Winter Olympics, when Nelly Furtado and Brian Adams lip synched the song ”Bung the Drum”. Well, at least that’s what the NHK screen caption said. Swing and a miss.

We at http://www.macmillandictionary.com are celebrating 2010 as a year of English as a language without borders. We are interested in how English is used and adapted in different countries all around the world; how different languages and cultures uniquely influence English so that it no longer belongs to ‘native English language speakers’ but to the world as a lingua franca.

We are aware that March is a month for festivities in Japan because of the Vernal Equinox, and we thought that this would be a great time to focus exclusively on Japan and English as it is spoken in Japan.

In March we want to add words to our Open Dictionary that have come to English from Japan, or English words that you have invented in Japan or use in Japan and are not used anywhere else.

We would be delighted if you could contribute to our blog with your ideas, thoughts, and comments of the way English is spoken in Japan with us.  I’m sure you have a funny story to tell connected to the English you heard being used by the Japanese!

We would really appreciate if you could send us a post to publish or comment on the ones that will appear in March at http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com where we will have Japanese guest bloggers posting throughout the month.

We look forward to hearing from you!

—–
Barbara Kulaga
International Marketing
Macmillan Education
Between Towns Road
Oxford
OX4  3PP
Tel: 0044 1865 405 847

@Mr. Penguin:
I see you’ve also found the nirvana in a bottle that is called “Sanity.” Well before I did, it seems.

And, I think your treatment of Engrish is always well done, Sir.

Personally, it never ceases to amaze me, in a country apparently obsessed with both perfection and English, how much money is paid to have incorrect English placed on store signs, official notices, corporate branding etc.. I reserve the right to document this mercilessly, especially when you have to ask yourself how the hell the person making the (de)sign has evidently never heard of a modern invention called a dictionary?

There’s also pure Engrish of the “Mr. Cat! He is a happy. Let’s! Enjoy Bounteous Beauty and Healthy” variety, which is an artform unto itself and should be shared with the world.

Simple mistakes, e.g. where a non-native speaker has made a genuine effort to provide English information without having access to professional translation/proofreading resources.? Sh*t happens, for me that’s not Engrish (and it’s not like my Japanese is any less free of howlers).

Also, I do like to try and redress the balance, though with less success, and of course Hanzi Smatter is an excellent source for the reverse perspective.

@Karasu:
Thanks. That’s why I rarely do Engrish posts; I don’t want anyone seeing them as designed to put others down for a laugh, just as mistakes that are quite amusing. We all make ‘em.

We should all laugh at ourselves as often as possible.