Sign Language （間違っている英語の看板） Archives - Page 2 of 44

Down in a hole

Dish Down Hole

X Dishes and drinks cup Please lower to the dish down hole.

Tim says:

I can’t imagine exactly what a “dish down hole” looks like. Are we throwing the dishes and cups into the garbage?

That’s the strangest part of this sign, but there are a few smaller problems….

We wouldn’t say “drinks cup.” “Cups for drinks” is better, but really, would the cups be used for anything else besides drinks?! Simply “cups” is best.

Using “lower” as a verb is common when someone is using a machine, or has an object attached to a rope and you are lowering it into a hole by rope. I don’t think the “dish down hole” is so deep!

This photo was submitted by ミキコリさん, who says that, after she took the photo, the sign was replaced with a much simpler and better-written sign:

O Return trays here

Thank you to ミキコリさん for sending this photo!

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！

Use the AED? 床n’t!

mark is marked

X AED is installed in the floor in which this mark is marked.

Tim says:

Once again, the English errors on this sign also come in threes:

A minor point, but “AED” should follow the word “A”.

“Installed in the floor”? Oh no! We need to move it around, but we can’t if it’s 「床に設置された」! But looking at the Japanese we can see that 「フロア」 is used, not 「床」. So the correct English would be “on the floor”, not “in the floor.” However, it is probably installed on more than one floor, so change that to “on floors.”

Finally, we wouldn’t say “this mark is marked” — using the same word twice, in two different meanings, makes it pretty hard to understand. Referring to the little red “AED”, we would probably call it a “symbol”, not a “mark”. And we wouldn’t use “mark” as a verb in this case, either. Perhaps “posted” would be better.

Also, “where” sounds more natural than “in which”.

O An AED is installed on floors where this symbol is displayed.

Thank you to ミキコリさん for sending this photo!

Your English has no heart

in congressional

X The automated external defibrillator is set up in congressional in the this hospital.

Tim says:

There are three problems with the English on this sign.

If you say “The automated…”, we would assume it’s the only AED, or it’s a specific AED that has been mentioned before. But it hasn’t been mentioned before, so “an” is better.

Someone has translated 「設置」 as “set up in congressional” — it’s hard to be sure what that means! Americans might think it has something to do with their Congress (国会)! A better translation is “installed”.

Also, as you probably realized, there’s no reason to have “the” and “this” together. You only need one or the other. In this case, “this hospital” would be better, because it means 「当病院」; “the hospital” is simply 「その病院」.

O An automated external defibrillator is installed in this hospital.

Thank you to ミキコリさん for sending this photo!

Insisting on smoke

No, Smoking

X No, Smoking

Tim says:

A simple change in punctuation can make a big difference. “No Smoking” clearly means that smoking isn’t allowed, but if you add a comma, it sounds like the angry response of someone who is committed to lighting up a cigarette! It’s not perfect English grammar (that would be, perhaps, “no, I’m going to smoke”), but the feeling that the comma adds is obvious to the native speaker.

O No Smoking

Garbage in, garbage out

garbage factory

X Toshima Garbage Factory

Tim says:

Sometimes, relying on a dictionary can be dangerous. It’s true that 「工場」 means “factory” — sometimes. A factory is where something is made, but of course this 工場 isn’t making garbage! Instead, we would say that this plant is processing garbage.

O Toshima Garbage Processing Plant

This “storage” is all wet

Moisture-proof storages

X Moisture-proof storages

Tim says:

“Storage” isn’t a countable noun, so it seems strange as a plural form. Instead, let’s use “storage” as an adjective and say:

O Moisture-proof storage cabinets

Under the “Spell” of Japan

Enjoy Japanese Original Flavores

X Airport Orginal X Flavores

Tim says:

Tourists will be entranced by the “spell” of this sign… Both of these words are spelled incorrectly!

O Original O Flavors

X Enjoy Japanese Original Flavors

But also, this phrase is a bit strange. The typical word order would be “Enjoy Original Japanese Flavors,” but being told to enjoy something still feels odd to me, and I think “original” is not used exactly correctly here. This sounds better to me:

O Try these unusual flavors, only available in Japan!

Are mistakes in fashion?

every women

X Alta is the Mecca for every women who are in the forefront of fashion in dress.

Tim says:

This sign has so many mistakes! The biggest mistake in the first sentence is that “every” should be used with a singular form — so not “women”, but “woman.” Also “in dress” is completely unnecessary — “fashion” generally means “fashion in clothes.”

O Alta is the Mecca for every woman is who in the forefront of fashion.

X To be what I am, to enjoy my own style makes it happy everyday.

You should say that it makes “you” happy, not makes “it” happy! Also, “every day” should be two words here, because it’s a noun. (As an adjective, it would be one word.)

O To be what I am, to enjoy my own style, makes me happy every day.

If you’d rather resort to sports….

Sports and Resort

X Sports & Resort

Tim says:

In some past Sign Language columns, I’ve shown signs bearing two words that don’t work together. This is another example.

When making such a sign, ask yourself: Would these two words both be acceptable as endings for the same sentence? For example, “At our business, you can play sports! At our business, you can play resort!” No, it’s not possible!

O Sports and Games O Recreation Center and Resort

My dearest parking ticket

Please to the information counter

X Parking ticket, Please to the information counter.

Tim says:

On this sign, “Parking ticket,” is written by itself on one line, with a comma after it, so it looks exactly like someone wrote a letter to a parking ticket! I assume it means “If you have a parking ticket.”

The next line also has a problem: the verb is missing! “Please” can be a verb, but we wouldn’t use “to” with it, and even if you removed “to”, it still wouldn’t make sense. Instead, we should add “go”*

O If you have a parking ticket, please go to the information counter.