11 May, 2008

The Land of Plenty

Funny story - a few years back, when my oldest daughter learned to read English, we found her reading everything she could find, and of course it made us very proud. One day, she came up to me and asked, "Why is everything made in China?"

Ah, she didn't know just how profound a question she was asking.


We really need to be grateful for this abundance of non-local products - they provide such a treasure trove of humor. My younger daughter's birthday wasn't too long ago, and she got a truly nifty gift - a sort of roulette game, in which players take turns spinning a top amongst marbles that then are knocked into holes with varying points. It really is fun, and she opened it and began playing so quickly that I
almost didn't get a chance to see the package. But, good girl that she is, she kept the box for storage, and so I got a good look when we took it out to play the next time. I actually got my first impression from the side, before we had even taken it off of the shelf:

That was amusing. Not so special, but amusing. It in no way prepared me for the crazy potential on the front, though. Just wait, it's coming.


See, it's getting better already. This isn't just a game, it's a funny game. The "first grade product" seemed perfectly reasonable to me at first - it's an age recommendation, right? Until, of course, I realized that it might be a declaration of quality... hmm... which is it? Tricky.

Now this is just childish humor, I know; some capitalization issues, a bit of metathesis, and a missing apostrophe aren't really that funny. But really, this is the promise we need to be most grateful for, since their "model" is:

Whoa! That kid is downright frightening! He (she?) seems to be calling out for help right here on the box - look what they've done to me! Please come and save me! Put my hair back!

And of course, the grand finale:

Here's hoping that things look up for China, and for all of us non-native English speaking countries...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very funny! It's astonishing to see the translations and mistranslations.
Mom