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Off topic: Funny brandnames
Thread poster: JH Trads
James McVay
James McVay  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:51
Russian to English
+ ...
Pocari Sweat Dec 27, 2008

I did a double take the first time I saw this beverage for sale in a vending machine in Japan. It didn't sound like something I would want to drink. The Japanese use a number of English words with twisted meanings, but in this case the meaning isn't far off. Wikipedia describes it like this:

The reference to the bodily fluid resulting from perspiration in the name of the beverage tends to have a certain offputting or humorous connotation for native English speakers. Howeve
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I did a double take the first time I saw this beverage for sale in a vending machine in Japan. It didn't sound like something I would want to drink. The Japanese use a number of English words with twisted meanings, but in this case the meaning isn't far off. Wikipedia describes it like this:

The reference to the bodily fluid resulting from perspiration in the name of the beverage tends to have a certain offputting or humorous connotation for native English speakers. However, the name was chosen by the manufacturers originally for the purpose of marketing the product as a sports drink in Japan, where people generally do not mentally translate names appearing in English and are therefore not bothered by the connotation. It was largely derived from the notion of what it is intended to supply to the drinker: all of the nutrients and electrolytes lost when sweating. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocari_Sweat)

Gatorade is a popular product sold in the U.S. that does the same thing. It was originally developed at the University of Florida for use by their football team, the "Gators," and later marketed to the general public. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatorade, where the word "sweat" appears only in the bibliography.

Now I've wasted enough time. Back to work.
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Christiane Lalonde
Christiane Lalonde  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 09:51
English to French
Chia pets Dec 27, 2008

Well, for those who speaks French, what about this well-known brand of collectible animal figurines covered with chia, where the chia sprouts resemble the animal's fur.
It's called chia pets.


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:51
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Puket Dec 27, 2008

This is a Brazilian brand, mostly for socks, but pajamas too.
http://www.puket.com.br
All very colorful, irreverent, and funny.

The name means nothing in Portuguese, and their web site says they export to France and Spain. It should be funny in English-speaking countries, though.

A rather desperate, sick-looking person briskly walks into a store.
The clerk courteously g
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This is a Brazilian brand, mostly for socks, but pajamas too.
http://www.puket.com.br
All very colorful, irreverent, and funny.

The name means nothing in Portuguese, and their web site says they export to France and Spain. It should be funny in English-speaking countries, though.

A rather desperate, sick-looking person briskly walks into a store.
The clerk courteously greets him/her:
"Good afternoon, sir/madam. How can I help you today?"
"I had a Rottenburger for lunch, and now I wanna puke it!"
... and s/he is given a pair of Puket socks.

Cliffhanger: Will s/he use them as a barf bag?
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silvia_duran (X)
silvia_duran (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 14:51
English to Spanish
+ ...
Nordic Mist Dec 27, 2008

Andrzej Lejman wrote:

should be the name of one of Rolls-Royce models...

But "Mist" is "manure" or "dung" in German.

Finally, they named it "Silver Ghost".

A.



That's exactly why Nordic Mist (a Coca-Cola-owned brand for tonic water) is not sold in Germany. It is quite popular in Spain though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_Mist


 
Susanna Garcia
Susanna Garcia  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:51
Italian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Italian Jan 3, 2009

Not forgetting that Sega is not just a games console in Italian. Wouldn't recommend asking for one over there! I don't know if the moderator will let me put the meaning but it rhymes with 'tank'.

But then, this is the country that gave us bands called 'Pooh' and 'Dik Dik'.

Apologies for my schoolgirl toilet humour but it's getting late!

Vi auguro un 2009 sereno e felice.

Suzi


 
Daina Jauntirans
Daina Jauntirans  Identity Verified
Local time: 08:51
German to English
+ ...
Happy End Jan 10, 2009

It was the name of a cheap brand of toilet paper when I lived in Germany.

 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 14:51
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
... Jan 10, 2009

Daina Jauntirans wrote:

It was the name of a cheap brand of toilet paper when I lived in Germany.


Hilarious. Ha ha. Very indicative..


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:51
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Curves - Women's Health Clubs Jan 11, 2009

http://www.curves.com

As far as I know, this is a derogatory term for women in some Slavic (Polish for sure) and a few other languages (Yiddish included). Nevertheless they DO have units in Slovakia and Israel.

How do women feel when seen walking out of a place with such a sign on the door?


 
Monika Rozwarzewska
Monika Rozwarzewska  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51
Member (2006)
English to Polish
+ ...
curves vs curva Jan 11, 2009

José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote:

http://www.curves.com

As far as I know, this is a derogatory term for women in some Slavic (Polish for sure) and a few other languages (Yiddish included). Nevertheless they DO have units in Slovakia and Israel.



"Curva" is a derogatory term for women in Polish, not "curves".


 
José Henrique Lamensdorf
José Henrique Lamensdorf  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 10:51
English to Portuguese
+ ...
In memoriam
Polish curves Jan 11, 2009

Monika Rozwarzewska wrote:
"Curva" is a derogatory term for women in Polish, not "curves".


Point taken, Monika. I guessed that with all those Polish declinations I never managed to learn properly, saying something like Ja pracuje z/u kurwy might be prone to happen.

In Yiddish it's unavoidable. Quoting from http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_3_letters.html :
Stefan Kanfer’s wonderful “The Yiddish Theater’s Triumph” [Spring 2004] evokes so many memories. I lived on the Lower East Side for most of my young life, and at 92 Second Avenue, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, for many years. As we know from historical documents, that was once a famous house of prostitution, where the kurves, or prostitutes, lived (which is why the Jewish mothers wouldn’t let their sons go driving out in the country, because there were signs that said “curves ahead”).

My ex-wife's late father, upon arriving from his native Romania to Santos, in Brazil, while riding a bus to Sao Paulo, saw the sign by the (old) winding road "Curvas Perigosas" (= "Dangerous Curves"), and years later he recalled that his immediate thought then was "Why? Do prostitutes pack guns here?


 
Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:51
German to English
Choky Jan 11, 2009

I recall seeing a poster for a cocoa-flavored drink, "Choky" in a café in France a number of years ago.

Apparently it's also the name of a breakfast cereal in Portugal.
http://nerdchallenge.com/runawaysquid/?p=190


 
Lingua 5B
Lingua 5B  Identity Verified
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 14:51
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
Choky Jan 12, 2009

Kevin Fulton wrote:

I recall seeing a poster for a cocoa-flavored drink, "Choky" in a café in France a number of years ago.

Apparently it's also the name of a breakfast cereal in Portugal.
http://nerdchallenge.com/runawaysquid/?p=190



Ha ha.. You guys are making my day.

Does one choke on Choky ?


 
Sara Senft
Sara Senft  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:51
Spanish to English
+ ...
It's also the name of a car model Jan 14, 2009

Hyundai also has a car model with the same name. Imagine.....some people ARE driving sharks!

Bilore wrote:

This is the name of an anti-inflammatory medecine in France.

It means "shark" in spanish, and it always makes me thing about a song from proyecto uno...this can help when you have a headache


 
Edward Vreeburg
Edward Vreeburg  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:51
Member (2008)
English to Dutch
+ ...
not so much a brand name but a product: Slagroomtaart Jan 21, 2009

Especially the ones from the HEMA in the Netherlands:
"Slagroomtaart" always made our British colleagues really wonder what Dutchies would eat on their birthdays...


Ed


 
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