X No Change Please

Tim says:

This sign was intended to mean that you can not receive change from this cashier. But it sounds as if the restaurant does not want to receive change from you!

The Japanese translation uses the term  両替. We can assume that the intended meaning is お金をくずす (“make change”) and not, for example, changing yen to dollars.

But “change” is being used as a noun here (rather than the verb “make change” or “give change”), and as a noun it should mean 「小銭」, or 「おつり」, or even 「変革」! So “No change please” translates as「小銭を私たちに与えないでください」! (Native speakers will NOT think that “No change please” means “Please don’t ask us to make change.”)

Technically, 「両替は御遠慮下さい」 means “Please refrain from asking us to make change”, which is a natural way of expressing this in Japanese, but sounds strange in English. We expect a sign like this to tell us directly what THEY will not do, rather than asking US to avoid doing something.

It’s still possible to do this in a way that sounds polite, though:

O Sorry, we cannot give change

周囲にある英語を見て、果たしてそれが正しい英語なのだろうかと感じる英語はありますか？「あの英語は絶対に間違っている」という英語の表記はありますか？看板の写真を撮って、Machigai.comに送りましょう！とんでもない英語だったら、このコーナーで出します！

X Leaving Underground.

Tim says:

Something about this sign made me worry that I was going to miss the train. It’s leaving already?!

It would sound a little better to say “leaving from underground” or “departing from underground”. But most native English speakers (perhaps Americans in particular!) prefer to have the intended meaning stated more clearly. The point of this sign is not that the train is leaving, nor even that it’s underground; it’s that the track is below where you currently are, and that you need to go down in order to board the train. So how about:

O Go downstairs to board the train

Ayumi says:

田中亜由美は「TOEICテスト クロストレーニング PART 1・2」などの本は販売中！ブログはこちら.

周囲にある英語を見て、果たしてそれが正しい英語なのだろうかと感じる英語はありますか？「あの英語は絶対に間違っている」という英語の表記はありますか？看板の写真を撮って、Machigai.comに送りましょう！とんでもない英語だったら、このコーナーで出します！

X Clash

Tim says:

I have a few theories about this very strange sign:

• The picture shows people “slam-dancing” to the music of the ’80s punk group, the Clash
• Since “clash” can mean “a violent confrontation”, such as a fight, perhaps the two people in the picture are fighting by simply running into each other, instead of using weapons or their fists
• Each person in the picture is shocked by how the clothes worn by the other person “clash” — that is, the colors of the clothes don’t look good together. So both people are fainting because they can’t believe how badly the colors clash
• The person who designed this sign didn’t know a good way to translate 「衝突注意」！(Or perhaps they meant “crash”?)

「衝突」in English is “collision”, not “clash”. However, “beware of collisions” is a little unclear. Perhaps we could say:

O Be careful when rounding corner

Ayumi says:

田中亜由美は「TOEICテスト クロストレーニング PART 1・2」などの本は販売中！ブログはこちら.

周囲にある英語を見て、果たしてそれが正しい英語なのだろうかと感じる英語はありますか？「あの英語は絶対に間違っている」という英語の表記はありますか？看板の写真を撮って、Machigai.comに送りましょう！とんでもない英語だったら、このコーナーで出します！