Dunglish

Look at the tagline, watch out for the blaring music, enjoy the rest.
On the same street in Haarlem there are shops with the names “Sissy Boy”, “Man to be” and “A boy named Sue”. Scary.
In a leaflet published by the province of North Holland: “Reproduction of any kind without written permission is not prohibited”. Copyleft?
In a Dutch railway company leaflet: “A Cheap Day Return is cheaper than two singles”.
Very cheap indeed.
On the website of the Zaanse Schans (tourist attraction): “There are special rates for groups and busses”. I wanna be a bus!
There’s a Dutch site called Lord of the Winds. I’m, sure they’re cool.

This was passed around an ‘international’ company in the Netherlands. An ‘international’ company means that English is used in all communications. Or Dunglish.

(Image: Alexander from majesticmoose.net)

This company is trying to tell us about the importance of presentation and quality. They’ll even teach you how to use a computer. The women using computers on this site are as credible as the text. All the classics are here, but I especially like “her” to designate a company. Later on we learn that “your company will show his best sides”, so maybe the company is a he. I’ll leave it up to you.

This Dutch restaurant in Lanzarote, Spain serves up homemade Dunglish. Once you get past the homepage, the menu also has a few nice items. Even though the Dutch name is right above the English one, they still managed to get things mixed up. Near the end, they gave up altogether.

(Link: Yuri from vorontsov.nl)

Here is the description of an “apartment to rent” for gay tourists in the beautiful Jordaan area of Amsterdam. I wish I could live there! One bit of Dunglish stands out from the rest and has to do with “the backside of the apartment”. The moral of this story is don’t translate “achterkant” literally.

(Link: Yuri from vorontsov.nl)

The Dunglish FAQ is online (see link to the right). Any additions, questions or comments are welcome, just make a comment in this posting.

This website has a certain dislexic quality to it as well as its very own style of Dunglish. Letters tend to fall away like autumn leaves from trees, making some sentences look like graffiti. “Any form of republication”, “in counsulation with you” and “restrictly forbidden” can all be admired on the disclaimer page. The disclaimer also invites us to point out any mistakes, as they claim to have used “the most care and thought”. Don’t change a thing!

I picked up this folder while shopping in a posh part of Amsterdam the other day. I quickly grabbed it and put it into my bag, trying not to laugh. My problem is not the mistakes, but the combination of the mistakes with the illustration.

This establishment offers little words, but much Dunglish. They offer rooms with a “fohn” (no, not a phone, a hair dryer – yes, it’s a German word) and “thee equipment”. I especially like the fact that they have a “heatened terras” in the summer and equate being close to the casino and a shopping mall as being close to nature! Darn, they didn’t translate the menus.

(Link: Yuri from vorontsov.nl)

Besides its looks, this website about frogs is a joy to visit. The French is funny as well (”click here” was translated as “le clic”, which has a Pepe le Pew ring to it. The German is probably just as amusing. The Dutch is very questionable as well. “Nicht and day” (”nicht” means “fairy” (homo), “female cousin”, or “niece”, depending on your preference). Some of the pictures are actually very nice if you like frogs. There are movie files and sounds files are well. Enjoy!

(Link from Mr x)