I think John meant this for the list. > [Original Message] > From: John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx> > To: <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Date: 5/19/2006 11:18:10 AM > Subject: Translation > > On 5/20/06, Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > Sorry. The last one (next one) crossed. Will do henceforth. > > > > > > Most gracious. > > Note the subject line. If anyone is interested in talking about > translation, I'll be glad to participate. My wife and I are the > owner/principals of translation and copywriting company that works > primarily for Japanese clients. > > The major howlers we encounter primarily involve usage instead of > semantic or syntactic errors per se. What, after all, was so funny > when Tokyo Gas, which supplies the gas we use in our stove, plastered > subways and billboards all over the Kanto plain with the famous > slogan?..... > > > My Life. My Gas. > > Or a famous electronics company that had sold a lot of computers that > featured a touch-screen interface with a campaign using Woody > Woodpecker as its symbol, was talked by a local agency into taking the > campaign worldwide....and only brought up short at the last minute > when a foreign employee stood up at the in-house unveiling of the > campaign and said, "I think we have a problem with the catch > phrase...." > > > Touch Woody, the Internet Pecker. > > P.S. This is not an urban legend. We were actually called and asked, > "Is this really so bad?" > > John > > > > -- > John McCreery > The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN > > US CITIZEN ABROAD? > THROW THE RASCALS OUT! > Register to Vote in '06 Elections > www.VoteFromAbroad.org ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html