As readers of his admirable works Mother Tongue and Made in America will know, Bill Bryson is a cunning linguist. His fascination with the evolution and usage of the English language is boundless.
His sense of humour shines through both both books, particularly when he writes about how English is mispronounced, mistranslated and misunderstood in other part of the world. Here, from Mother Tongue, is his example of brand names which are inoffensive in English, but take on negative connotations when used in countries where English is not the native tongue.
Some idea of the scope of the problem can be seen in the experience of a British company when it decided to sell its vintage port, Cockburn's Dry Tang, in Scandinavia. When it didn't sell well in Sweden the company investigated and learned that "tang" means "seaweed" in Swedish, and clearly the name "dry seaweed" was not conjuring up the requisite image of quality and premium taste that would lead Swedes to buy it by the sackful.
So, at the suggestion of the Swedish importers, the company changed the name on the label to Dry Cock, which sounds very silly to English speakers, but which was a big hit with the Swedes.
However, sales immediately plummeted in Denmark. Urgent investigation showed that "cock" there signifies, of all things, the female genitalia. So yet another name had to be devised. Such are the hazards of international marketing.
Presented to you as a Saturday Smile...
No comments:
Post a Comment