Date:  Tue, 25 Nov 1997 03:38:15 -0500
From:  Jim Crotty <Monkmag[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM>
Subject: VERNACULAR MISHAPS

Some decent yuks.... Any other examples let me know.....

Jim Crotty, How to Talk American

1. Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was
>>>  read as "Suffer from diarrhea".
>>>
>>> 2. Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into
>>>  Germany only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not
>>>  too many people had use for the "manure stick".
>>>
>>> 3. Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the
>>>  following in an American campaign: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.
>>>
>>> 4. In Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger-lickin'
>>>  good" came out as "eat your fingers off".
>>>
>>> 5. 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".
>>>
>>> 6. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the
>>>  same packaging as in the US, with the Caucasian 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 English.
>>>
>>> 7. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the
>>>  name of a notorious porno magazine.
>>>
>>> 8. 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).
>>>
>>> 9. In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name
>>>  into "Schweppes Toilet Water".
>>>
>>> 10. Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated
>>>   into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave", in Chinese.
>>>
>>> 11. We all know about GM's Chevy Nova meaning "it won't go" in Spanish
>>>   markets, but did you know that Ford had a similar problem in
>>>   Brazil with the Pinto? Pinto was Brazilian slang for "tiny male
>>>   genitals". Ford renamed the automobile Corcel, meaning "horse".
>>>
>>> 12. Hunt-Wesson introduced Big John products in French Canada as Gros
>>>   Jos. Later they found out that in slang it means "big breasts".
>>>
>>> 13. Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "it takes a strong man to make a
>>>   "tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it takes an
>>>   aroused man to make a chicken affectionate".
>>>
>>> 14. 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".
>>>
>>> 15. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Ke-kou-ke- la",
>>>   meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax",
>>>   depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000
>>>   characters to find a phonetic equivalent "ko-kou-ko-le", translating
>>>   into "happiness in the mouth".
>>>
>>> 16. In Central American Spanish, the name of the Mexican restaurant
>>>   chain "Chi-Chi's" literally means "titties."
>>>
>>> 17. Probably the most famous of all is John Kennedy's announcement to
>>>   the people of Berlin, "Ich bin ein Berliner!" JFK thought he said,
>>>   "I am a citizen of Berlin!" What he *really* said was, "I am a
>>>   jelly doughnut!" ("Berliner" is German for "jelly doughnut".)
>>>
>>> 18. The Trump Shuttle (Donald Trump's airline) caused a lot of guffaws
>>>   to traveling Brits where "Trump" is another way of saying "fart"!