World Englishes
Today, 300-400 million people around the world speak English as their first language; another 300-400 million speak it as a second language. Nobody knows how many people speak it a little (for their job, perhaps) or are in the process of learning it, but those numbers are bound to be high as well. With so many English speakers around the globe, it is not surprising that there are many different varieties of the language, different Englishes.
English long ago spread out from the island of Great Britain, where it was born. The first country outside Britain to use English as its first language was Ireland, which was invaded by the English in 1171. The first English-speaking settlements in America began in 1607 and 1620. As the British Empire gained power in the 18th and 19 centuries, English was introduced to its colonies in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and the West Indies.
In all, English has official or special status in at least 75 countries, with a combined population of two billion people. These include places as far away as Nigeria, Fiji, Singapore, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Botswana and Ghana.
In countries such as South Africa, Bangladesh, Israel, Kenya, Malaysia and Tanzania, English is a second language for most people, but it is significant as a national language of communication, and often education. English is used widely throughout the world as the language of education, science, commerce, and the Internet.
Are there any words that mean completely different things in various parts of the world?
Absolutely! For example, take the word rubber. In British English this often means “an eraser,” while in American English it is often “a condom.”
In South Africa, robot is the standard name for a set of traffic lights (but it means a mechanical man in the U.S.). Also, in South Africaa globe is an electric light bulb, and a packet is a shopping bag.”
In New Zealand, a traffic circle (like Dupont Circle in WashingtonDC) is called a rotary.
Walking on the pavement is safe in Britain (where it means the paved area reserved for pedestrians,) but fatal in North America (where it means the paved surface of a road)!
Very often, the only way to learn these specialized terms is to live in the country where they are found.
Why does English have different vocabularies and accents in different countries?
There are many reasons for this. One factor can be that different countries were originally settled by people from different regions of Britain. Since the earliest days of Old English, different parts of Britain have had different accents, and that is still true today. So in South Africa, for example, the word milk is pronounced like “mulk” because of the regional accent of the first British who settled there.
Another factor could be isolation; the farther a country was from the British motherland, the more differences they might develop.
And of course English has always been greatly influenced by other languages it encounters wherever it goes, so American English has native words like powwow and moccasin, Australia has the didgeridoo (a musical instrument), South Africa has the sangoma (healer), and people in Zimbabwe eat sadza (thick porridge).
There are also many variations in English in countries where it is a second language.
As they say in Malaysia: “Please be upstanding for our honored speaker!”
Here are some English Bloopers from around the world:
This is a clothing store in Korea.
Cat food in Japan; in English, “smack” means to hit someone hard!
I don’t know where this came from . . .
A brand of cigarettes in the Philippines.
This one is from Canada. The “homo” stands for “homogenized,”
not “homosexual”!
From Japan
From a Tokyo pet store, an ad for frozen meat to feed to pets.
(BARF stands for “biologically appropriate raw food.” In American English, barf means to throw up, to vomit.)
Advertising Slogans Gone Wrong...An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I saw the potato" (la papa).
The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem-Feeling Free", was translated into the Japanese market as "When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."
When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "it won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you". Instead, the company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant".
Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer from diarrhea."
Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure stick".
When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the beautiful baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside, since most people can't read.
Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.
In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into "Schweppes Toilet Water."
FAULTY TRANSLATIONS....
When Braniff translated a slogan touting its upholstery, "Fly in leather," it came out in Spanish as "Fly naked."
The Chevy Nova never sold well in Spanish-speaking countries. "No va" means "it doesn't go" in Spanish.
When Pepsi started marketing its products in China a few years back, they translated their slogan, "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life" pretty literally. The slogan in Chinese really meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave."
When Coca-Cola first shipped to China, they named the product something that when pronounced sounded like "Coca-Cola." The only problem was that the characters used meant "Bite the wax tadpole." They later changed to a set of characters that mean "Happiness in the mouth."
FOREIGN SIGNS
THESE ARE ACTUAL SIGNS POSTED IN VARIOUS PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS AROUND THE WORLD. THESE ARE EXAMPLES OF HOW TRANSLATION BETWEEN LANGUAGES CAN BE VERY CONFUSING.
In a Tokyo Hotel: Is forbitten to steal hotel towels please. If you are not person to do such thing is please not to read notis.
In another Japanese hotel room: Please to bathe inside the tub.
In a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.
In a Leipzig elevator: Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when lit up.
In a Belgrade hotel elevator: To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.
In a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at the front desk.
In a hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily.
In a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.
In a Japanese hotel: You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.
In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastry: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.
In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.
On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.
On the menu of a Polish hotel: Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion.
In a Hong Kong supermarket: For your convenience, we recommend coureous, efficient self-service.
Outside a Hong Kong tailor shop: Ladies may have a fit upstairs.
In a Bangkok dry cleaner's: Drop your trousers here for best results.
Outside a Paris dress shop: Dresses for street walking.
In a Rhodes tailor shop: Order your summers suit. Because is big rush, we will execute customers in strict rotation.
In an East African newspaper: A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.
In a Vienna hotel: In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter.
In a Rome laundry: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.
In the window of a Swedish furrier: Fur coats made for ladies from their own skin.
Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan: Stop Drive Sideways.
In a Swiss mountain inn: Special today -- no ice cream.
In a Bangkok temple: It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man.
In a Tokyo bar: Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.
In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions.
On the door of a Moscow hotel room: If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.
In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.
At a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.
In the office of a Roman doctor: Specialist in women and other diseases.
In an Acapulco hotel: The manager has personally passed all the water served here.
In a Tokyo shop: Our nylons cost more than common, but you'll find they are best in the long run.
From a Japanese information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner: Cooles and Heates. If you want just condition of warm in your room, please control yourself.
From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo: When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.
Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance
- English well talking.
- Here speeching American.
In an East African newspaper:
A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.
In the office of a Roman doctor:
Specialist in women and other diseases.
From the Soviet Weekly:
There will be a Moscow Exibition of the Arts by 15,000 Soviet Republic Painters and sculptors. These were executed over the past two years.
Detour sign in Kyushi, Japan:
Stop: Drive Sideways.
On the box of a toy made in Hong Kong:
Guranteed to work throughout it's useful life.
In the window of a Swedish furrier:
Fur coats made for ladies from their own skin.
Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand:
Would you like to ride on your own ass?
In a Czechoslovakian tourist agency:
Take one of our horse-driven city tours - we guarantee no miscarriages.
In a Roman laundry:
Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the rest of the afternoon having a good time.
In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist:
Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.
In a Zurich hotel:
Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.
A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest:
It is strictly forbidden in our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.
In a Vienna hotel:
In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter.