June 12, 2008
Specialists Admitted in Rear
General Hooker Entrance
It's even funnier because it's an entrance for the State House.
Posted by crispy at 06:03 PM | Comments (1)
February 16, 2008
The T-H Transposition Error
As students of Spanish, English-speakers have a few shared errors that are so common that they get names, like yoísmo, the tendency to overuse the first person singular pronoun when it is not necessary. Spanish tends to omit pronouns because they are made redundant by the conjugated forms of verbs, but they are rarely omitted in English.
From a Spanish-speaker's perspective, English has a lot of funky ways to write various phonological units. That is, to make the sound like the "oo" in "tool," they use the letter U and only the letter U. In English, this sound appears in written contexts like "oo," "u," or even "ue." At the same time, these are not consistent, as the "oo" in "look" is not pronounced like the "oo" in "tool." The whole English pronunciation thing can be very, very difficult for people who learn it as a second language.
Vowels are hard enough. Silent letters are completely stupid, at least from a learner's point of view. Native speakers do not think twice about them because they grew up using them, but for a student of the language, they can cause lots of problems. In Spanish, the letter H is silent, like it is in many (but not all) cases in English. Native Spanish-speakers can grasp the idea that in words like "height" and "rhapsody," but they often get it confused with the TH digraph, which has four possible different sounds: the voiced dental fricative, as in "this," the voiceless dental fricative, as in "thing," with a silent H resulting in just a T sound, as in "Thailand," and a consonant cluster where both the T and the H are their own independent sounds, as in "lighthouse."
As a student of a foreign language myself, it isn't nice of me to laugh at mistakes others make with a language I lucked out in learning by growing up with it. Yet it's hard not to chuckle when it happens, no matter who you are. I'm sure even the most well-meaning and encouraging Spanish speakers have to laugh when a student of their language gets pregnant simply saying something incorrectly or making a social faux pas. Nobody thinks the person making that mistake is stupid, merely human and showing their native language bias in the interpretation of the secondary language. It is just being human to see the humor when someone else evidences their humanity. It shows us we're all in the same boat.
It is especially funny when someone is so human on a grand scale, like when there are mistakes on product packaging or on billboards or banners out in front of restaurants. Because English is seen as classy here for some reason that I have yet to fully grasp, businesses use it to give their establishment an air of refinement or something. I guess the same is done in the United States, where you see a roadside stand in Nebraska calling itself a "shoppe" of some sort, even though nobody in the midwest would normally write it that way. At least I hope they wouldn't.
One sees a lot of signs and labels here that are printed with some English, and it is particularly odd when they are half in Spanish and half in English. I don't mean they are bilingual and have the same information in Spanish and English both. I mean they will have the name of the product or store in English, and maybe slogan too. But then the descriptor of what the thing or place is (a carbonated beverage or a convenience store) is written in Spanish. Shawn tells me this is also done a lot in Japan, resulting in great hilarity.
Here in Mexico, Shawn and I never cease to be amused by the signs which reflect the Spanish-speaker's confusion with the TH digraph. Most recently, we got a chuckle out of:
Monday Nigth Football
Yet we are always amused by the appearance of:
yogurth
on a menu, although this seems to be a widely-accepted spelling for what I always learned was yogur.
One sees a lot of things that are advertised as 'ligth' (having fewer calories than the regular style), and I've even seen a sign advertising a dentist that works on 'teet.'
Unfortunately, I have not had my camera with me when I've seen a lot of these things; hopefully in the future, I can snap a few examples to share with you here.
Posted by crispy at 03:00 PM | Comments (2)
December 22, 2007
¿Qué pasa, ese?
Ese laundry detergent, product of Panama
I wanted to rinse out some of my sweaty clothes in our hotel room sink, so I went to the mini super to buy some laundry detergent. When I got there and saw this box, I had to buy it.
Posted by crispy at 05:11 PM | Comments (2)
December 21, 2007
My Kind of Convenience Store
Mini-Super Fuki #2, Panama
This is the store under the Hotel del Alba building, where I bought the previously described Colombiana soda. This illustrates a situation where it might be better to use the pound sign.
Mini-Super Fuki #2, Panama
Posted by crispy at 01:49 PM | Comments (4)
December 18, 2007
"This is the school I work for..."
Shawn comes home today and tells me about the administration's plan for rewarding the students for good performance. He had suggested extra recess or maybe getting to watch a movie. Instead, the geniuses came up with this killer idea.
Each teacher will get a set of flags for various subjects to put on the wall. The top student in each category will have their photo put under it. WOO HOO! What fun!
They look like this:
Award flag for "Reading Comprehension"
Award flag for "Listening"
Award flag for "Writing Skills"
...but this says it all about he school where Shawn works:
Award flag for "Spelling B"
Another funny thing about it is, they have seven teachers that are supposed to use them, but they only made five sets of flags.
Posted by crispy at 03:21 PM | Comments (4)
December 08, 2007
Megacable Blows
Digital Cable typo listing How to Blow a Billionaire
It's true. I have lost some of my love for Megacable, but I'm saving that for another post.
Instead, today we're going to talk about something they did that made me laugh. Today Shawn was looking at the digital cable guide and he saw the listing for the FX show, How to Blow a Billion...
Proper title on FX-created bumper
...but instead, it looked more like How to Blow a Billionaire. It's a little off, written as Billionarie...
not "Billionaire"
...but it's close enough that we both were shocked and amazed. Maybe that's some way for them to avoid a copyright infringement lawsuit from Vivid Video.
In any case, it's a sure-fire way to get people to tune and check it out, even if it is cheating a little.
At least they do properly label it as an 'adult' show.
How to Blow a Billionarie
Posted by crispy at 01:04 PM | Comments (1)
December 07, 2007
Chokocrak
Chokocrak label
I saw this candy bar, manufactured by Dulcería Italiana under the Laposse label, at Wal-Mart. I bought it just for the box, but I wasn't going to let chocolate go to waste. I have to say, Chokocrak is really good. A lot of chocolate sold as candy here in Mexico is not very good, but I have to admit that I really liked this one. It is kind of like a Nestlé's Crunch, but with raisins, and huge: the bar is like 4" x 7".
As is typical of stores in Mexico (and especially Wal-Mart), the next time I went back and tried to buy more, they did not have it. Furthermore, none of the employees working the candy section knew what I was talking about it when I asked. Maybe they don't make it anymore, but I suspect it fell prey to Wal-Mart's no restocking policy. If you ever get the chance though, I recommend that you try Chokocrak. You'll be hooked!
Posted by crispy at 01:24 PM | Comments (3)
October 22, 2007
Another Funny Mexican Product
Product Label, Food Keepers Storage Bin
I suppose the product itself isn't that funny. It's a plastic storage bin, sized to fit under a bed. It even has nifty little rollers to make it easy to slide in and out from under your bed.
The funny thing is that they call it Food Keepers, despite the fact that the label clearly shows office supplies, not food, and right under the Food Keepers part, it says bajo cama:
Detail, Food Keepers Product Label
...which means "under bed."
An under bed food keeper? It's like they had Homer Simpson in mind.
Posted by crispy at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2007
I went on a date with a real clown last night.
I was looking through a newspaper while in San Luis Potosí, San Luis Hoy. I turned the page and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what I thought were personal ads for something like Clown Seeking Clown:
Clown Classifieds, San Luis Hoy [larger image]
It was one of the most surreal things I'd ever seen. But, I figured, clowns need love too.
On closer investigation, I saw that they were just clowns for hire, advertising their services...
...as clowns.
I hope.
Posted by crispy at 12:18 PM | Comments (3)
October 09, 2007
Oh, wait...
Cinépolis coupon, 10 October 2007
I went to the cinema tonight and noticed on my box of popcorn an eye-grabbing notice that said "Don't forget to peel off the coupon on this box!" (but in Spanish, of course) I turned the box around, found the coupon and peeled it off. I was excited to get a pretty cool offer, like reduced-price movie tickets any day of the week (instead of just Wednesdays like Cinépolis usually does)...
...until I noticed that the coupon's validity ended nearly two weeks ago.
Posted by crispy at 10:19 PM | Comments (3)
May 27, 2007
La muerte cruzó el río Bravo
I was watching La muerte cruzó el río Bravo on de Película, one of our better movie channels here. It was the undisputed best before they started cutting the films and showing commercials.
It shows a lot of Mexican films that are more recent. A lot of these are, well, disappointing. Yet a gem comes along once in a while that knocks your cultural socks off. I looked up from reading the news online to see if La muerte cruzó el río Bravo had gotten any more interesting.
Unfortunately, I was so stunned it took me a while to boot up our camera, discover there was no charge at all in the batteries, change the batteries, then snap a few shots of this scene. I shall call it, 'the playing pool on horseback scene' from La muerte cruzó el río Bravo:
Playing Pool on Horseback from La muerte cruzó el río Bravo
It's hard to tell, but that's a pool cue in his hand, and another one in the hand of his opponent.
Playing Pool on Horseback from La muerte cruzó el río Bravo
It is even harder to tell that they are both riding horses, but they are.
Playing Pool on Horseback from La muerte cruzó el río Bravo
Here the pool table is a little easier to see. As you can see, playing pool on horseback is very popular with the locals in this part of Mexico. I'm hardly one to criticize. I was fascinated by the whole thing.
Playing Pool on Horseback from La muerte cruzó el río Bravo
With the game over, a tie is declared between the two sportsmen.
Playing Pool on Horseback from La muerte cruzó el río Bravo
The scene ends with this:
Playing Pool on Horseback from La muerte cruzó el río Bravo
Posted by crispy at 02:13 AM | Comments (4)
December 21, 2006
Poopy Stylists
Pupy Stylists, Mexico City
Because the letter U is pronounced like the OO in "room," one would pronounce "Pupy" as "POO-py," making the English translation of the name of this beauty salon, "Poopy Stylists."
You can't make up stuff that good.
Posted by crispy at 04:08 PM | Comments (1)
October 19, 2006
If Moses supposes potatoes son rosas, then Moses supposes erroneously.
This is the funniest thing I've learned yet about Mexico.
You know what red potatoes are, right? (If not, click on the previous link and look at the picture. Sheesh.)
In Mexico, the red potatoes that you buy in the supermarket are not really red-skinned potatoes. They're just boiling potatoes painted with red food coloring to make them look like their skin is red.
I learned this from someone that used to work as a potato painter. No joke.
Posted by crispy at 07:23 PM | Comments (2)
September 16, 2006
Wacky Mexican Television Revisited
Playing Jenga® on Muévete
This is a Saturday morning show called Muévete. It's for kids, mostly.
It reminds me of the children's programming in Brazil as represented on The Simpsons. They have scantily-clad hosts that bounce around, banda ensembles, and perky songs about not smoking cigarettes complete with a dance line, again, scantily-clad.
Playing Jenga® on Muévete
The audience seems like a big party, with everyone dancing around and singing. They hold up big signs that talk about how they love the hosts of the show and young girls (scantily-clad) blow kisses to the camera.. At one point, they bring out a special guest, usually someone slightly famous from Mexican TV, and...what else? They play Jenga®!
Playing Jenga® on Muévete
The band plays this trippy abstract "tension" jam, like when the protagonist is walking through a dark house and you know the murderer is waiting for him in there somewhere. But because the Jenga® game can go on and on and on, it's like the house is the château de Versailles and the inevitable victim is practicing walking meditation.
Playing Jenga® on Muévete
Given that it's a couple of people playing Jenga® for half an hour on tv, it cracks us up that they run a title at the bottom of the screen that reads: ¡El momento más tenso de televisión!
Posted by crispy at 11:05 AM | Comments (3)
March 14, 2006
Wacky Mexican Television
It's 1 am on a Tuesday and I'm watching one of Mexico's most revered female authors, Elena Poniatowska, being interviewed on a show called "Show del Insomnio." Yet she's not being interviewed in a studio or any place befitting her stature in the country's literary landscape. She's being driven around what I presume to be Mexico City in a flatbed truck that has been set up like a bedroom, complete with bed, nightstand and a television.
Elena Poniatowska on Show del Insomnio
This is the only aspect of the interview that is so campy; she is discussing other authors, recounting her early days as a journalist, and talking about the advantages of being small.
Elena Poniatowska on Show del Insomnio
Although we get it on channel 80 here in Guadalajara on Megacable, it's a Canal 22 production.
I love this country.
Posted by crispy at 12:13 AM | Comments (5)
January 15, 2006
Another Strange Product
Somewhere, there are a pair of panty hose in an attic with your legs getting increasingly whiter and rougher.
Posted by crispy at 10:10 AM | Comments (2)
December 27, 2005
Grocery Shopping in Mexico
A stroll through the neighborhood supermarket showed us that not only the Japanese have funky product names. Then there are the products that we can get here that I wish we could have purchased in the United States.
A sugar substitute. Does it really taste like sugar? Well...it's similar:
Even if you're already svelt, you can always be a little more svelty:
Maybe Dave Chappelle has started a bakery in Mexico:
You loved the movie, now enjoy the refreshing tea-based beverage:
And last but not least, some truth in advertising:
These are not funny. In fact, I'm really annoyed that we could never buy these Campbell's Soups in the United States. Maybe because they don't have meat in them:
Corn Soup.
Squash Blossom Soup.
Homestyle Lentil.
Poblano Chile.
And how about this flavor of Tang?
Of course, it doesn't surprise me that you can't find this Ibarra product, since it's not all that easy to find the legendary chocolate para mesa that they produce in thick, unwieldy discs. Still, I thought for those of you that are familiar with that product, I'd include this photo. The bummer is that it isn't really "Mexican" chocolate - the kind with almonds and cinnamon that you get in the disc form - but rather, just chocolate powder like Nestle Quick.
Posted by crispy at 03:50 PM | Comments (3)
November 17, 2005
Engrish Food
Posted by crispy at 07:20 PM | Comments (1)
June 01, 2005
The Latino Comedy Project
This sketch-comedy troupe from Austin offers lots of online video of their Chicano-oriented parodies through their website.
My favorite? Their parody of Monolithic Corporate News.
Posted by crispy at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2005
Colombian Town Outlaws Gossip
Psst. Hey Bud. Yeah, you. Word's out on the street that the clink zips loose lips in Colombia.
Posted by crispy at 10:00 AM | Comments (1)
Tom Tomorrow and This Modern World
To keep reassuring myself that I'm not the only one out there that thinks all this stuff is crazy, I read the comic This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow. There's also a blog and an archive of previous years.
Posted by crispy at 07:00 AM | Comments (0)