Top 4 Phrases Translated into English that Needed a Bit of Editing (Notes from Under the Tatami Mats–50 … My Adventures in Japan)

“Summer is here, and we are looking for a place to stick it in.”

New fresh open

English speakers would just use the word “reopening.” For some unknown reason, the Japanese would not. 

Healthy and safety (or) …health and safe (or) … healthiness and safetiness (or) …... Aagh!

I suggested to the head translator that we change “Healthy and Safety” to, for instance, the two nouns “Health and Safety” or the two adjectives “Safe and Healthy” – either one of which is a very logical, understandable, and proper-sounding English phrase. He rejected my suggestions, explaining that our Japanese client would like the way the two words both ended in “…y.” 

I did not approve, but was in no position to argue. (That is, I was in Japan.)      _{(Image source)}

Japan is a safety country

Anyone who’s spent a bit of time in Japan has heard this ungrammatical sentence many times. For some reason, it seems that no Japanese person can put together the 3-word phrase and come up with the correct phrase “a safe country.”    

Even my advanced-level students would make this mistake – and be surprised when I pointed out that it was erroneous. In a nation where millions of people study English for at least the required 6 years, plus another 5 or more years of voluntary study, almost nobody can produce this simple adjective + noun phrase.    

Eventually, many of my English-speaking friends and I started using the phrase, too – partly in jest, partly just to be understood. I guess that’s how languages evolve. Or maybe how they devolve.   _{(Image source)}

A place to stick in

This came from a beverage company, which had planned to put the phrase on a can of soft drink. I assumed that they had probably intended to say “a place to fit in.” But I was not gonna jump to conclusions. Nor was I gonna let this opportunity to have some fun slip away.    

So, I changed it from the rather dull “... a place to fit in”  to the catchy sentence “Summer is here, and we are looking for a place to stick it in.”    

When I handed it to the head translator for approval, he asked me why I had made that change. I kept a serious look on my face, and justified my change by saying that – Duh – the transitive verb “stick” needs an object, so I simply added the object pronoun “it.”  He nodded in agreement, and left my revision as is. I returned to my desk, trying to hide the smile on my face.   

For the rest of that summer, I kept an eye out for any new beverage cans with that catchy and memorable slogan. I never did find it, and I assume that somewhere along the line, someone at the beverage company had rejected it or simply abandoned it. Too bad.    _{(Image source)}

   Introduction to – “Notes from Under the Tatami Mats”  _{(right-click on title)}

Top 3 Great Names for English Schools

Top 3 Moronic Ad Slogans Used by English Schools

Top 4 Types of Student Most Appreciated by English Teachers

... and more

Links to my Other Series …

      Introduction – "Intro to Vocab-ability"   _{(right-click on title)}
      Guide – "Guide to Entries"   _{(right-click on title)}
      Index– "Index" to all Chapters and Sections   _{(right-click on title)}

      Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 1"   _{(right-click on title)}
      Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 2"   _{(right-click on title)}

_{Images sourced from Google Images, unless otherwise indicated or unless my own.}