Engrish

As anyone who has visited Asia can tell you, there is a lot of bad English here. I'm not talking about speaking skills. If it weren't for most Koreans English skills I wouldn't get anything done. However, since English is the second most common language here, it is often seen on signs, products and t-shirts, with varying degrees of success. This phenomenon is unique to Asia and has given a name: Engrish, from the difficulty native Asian speakers have differentiating the "l" and "r" sounds in English. There's a web site that's devoted to some jewels of Engrish called (appropriately enough) engrish.com. Most of the examples are from Japan, but every once in a while a Korean one will pop up. This is akin to an American who has a Chinese character tattooed on his or her body and trusts that it means "inner peace" and not "bean curd."

As I mentioned, I would be lost without the bilingual nature of Koreans. I especially congratulate them for translating their in-flight magazines. Who hasn't flipped through these brainless periodicals trying to find one article of interest to keep them occupied while waiting for the drink cart to arrive or the bad movie to start? On a recent flight on Asiana Airlines I turned to the entertainment section to check out exactly what bad movies I had the option of viewing. Turns out there were about 20 movie descriptions along with quotes from critics about the movie. In a fit of boredom I read one. That one so intrigued me that I read another…and another…and then I read them all. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The quotes were mostly from reputable US papers. It wasn't like the movie studio had to find a quote to put in a newspaper ad and the best they could do was "FUNNY!" and in very small type sources the quote to the Terre Haute Tribune-Star. For the life of me, the only reasons I can think of them putting these quote in the in-flight magazine are humor or that the writer just didn't understand what they meant. See for yourself. They are all the entire quotes, with no editing except the emphasis, which is mine. All are from Asiana Airline's in-flight entertainment magazine vol 11 no 5, May 2005

Coach Carter
Samuel L. Jackson plays the real-life coach of a high-school basketball team in this solid, unsurprising sports drama.
-A. O. Scott, New York Times

National Treasure
This one's no treasure. But it features a few interesting baubles.
-Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News

Oceans Twelve
Steven Soderbergh's unabashedly trivial sequel may be slim pickings but when it works, it's a blast.
-Manahla Dargis, New York Times

The Incredibles
Pixar's new animated action-comedy, about a superhero family stuck in middle-class suburban exile comes tantalizingly close to greatness.
-A. O. Scott, New York Times

Finding Neverland
Finding Neverland usually sustains its magic. Return to Earth though it must, the movie's joys and sorrows leave memorable impressions.
-John Wirt, Advocate (Baton Rouge)

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
News flash: Love ain't easy.
-Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune

Shall We Dance
Good natured fluff.
-Scott Von Doviak, Ft Worth Star-Telegram

And my personal favorite…

Grease
Grease hasn't improved much in two decades. It remains a juvenile remembrance of a mythologized 1950's, a musical lacking grace.
-Jeffrey Westohoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)