Patterico's Pontifications

10/23/2010

To Refuse the Future

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 11:51 am



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; send your tips here.]

This adapted from is an old post from my blog, that I consider an “oldie but goodie” to give you guys a little content while I handle some personal matters.  I hope you enjoy it.

A bad translation of the reasons to drink sake (rice wine) results in a fun turn of phrase.

Do you think that Democrats are working right now to refuse the future?

Or perhaps to refudiate it?

By the way, my favorite bad translation was reported at a Japanese hotel: “You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.”  Now, that is a friendly hotel.

Via Volokh.

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

8 Responses to “To Refuse the Future”

  1. That picture made me chuckle.

    JD (eb1dfe)

  2. It doesn’t have the political bite, but I prefer the English-language “five reasons”:

    If all be true that I do think,
    There are five reasons we should drink:
    Good wine,
    A friend,
    Or being dry,
    Or lest we should be by and by,
    Or any other reason why.

    d. in c. (f262fa)

  3. Aaron:

    “The drinking water in this airport has been passed by the Quarantine Authorities.”

    Dafydd

    Dafydd the Asker of Annoying Questions (632d00)

  4. “Ohana means ‘family’ and family means no one gets left behind.”

    THAT is a movie reference that I am ashamed to admit to knowing.

    Gesundheit (aab7c6)

  5. Ohana does mean family in the Hawai’ian language. 😉 But I’m thinking it’s a different version of family, not a nuclear family but an extended family where your longtime friends are cousins and stuff.

    John Hitchcock (9e8ad9)

  6. John

    Under Obama everyone’s Ohana – in other words – they can help themselves to my wallet

    EricPWJohnson (95fb9d)

  7. There’s an organization who selects the worst mistranslations of the year and publicizes them.

    I forget their name but back in the mid-80s they selected the following dire
    warning, which was located on the sides of “Ginzu” type/clone kitchen/butcher knives:

    Caution! Blade Extremely Sharp!
    Keep Out Of Children!

    LOL.

    IgotBupkis (9eeb86)

  8. Dude, right on there bthroer.

    Jayne (0fec07)


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