Flowers for you
This one goes out to the retro computing crowd. This is a textbook case of what a Dutch company’s website looks like when it is trying to sound international. I’m sad, because I wish they meant what they are trying to say. The company is known internationally, and that in itself should be a reason to sound the part as well. Why the Vic 20? Well, enough people use a Macintosh when referring to computer viruses, so I went with an old Christmas present of mine.
Some highlights:
-“Out of warranty?”
Got warranty? Would have been funny.
-“To continue to derrive from those benefits”
That’s ugly.
“If your product suddenly turns-out to be out of order ”
Out you go!
January 16th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
‘Out of warranty’ is actually pretty standard business English for ‘no longer covered by a warranty’. See Google.
I’m more dismayed by their use of ‘adequate’, which in English suggests their solutions and support are just about good enough, rather than satisfactory or suitable in the sense that ‘adequaat’ conveys (although I see the Dutch version uses ‘passend’).
And then there’s the classic ‘Welcome at’on the home page. I think there should be public service announcements in the Netherlands to educate people that there is only one preposition that goes with ‘Welcome’.
January 16th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
1. “Out of warranty” or “out-of-warranty” is usually used as an adjective.
2. “Welcome at” is not always wrong, but the Dutch equate ‘bij’ with ‘at’ all too often.
3. I have a problem with the use of the word ‘optimaal’ everywhere, but that’s just me 🙂
January 16th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
> “Out of warranty” or “out-of-warranty” is usually used as an adjective.
Which is how it is used here, too. Tired? Happy? Broke?
> “Welcome at” is not always wrong
Sure it is. This is how we distinguish the natives from the Germans.
January 16th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Which is how it is used here, too. Tired? Happy? Broke?
None of the above 🙂
January 17th, 2006 at 8:53 am
Enne, “you are *welcome at* my house any time”.
You can use welcome at, it depends how you use it.
And this is even funnier:
Welkom at last sees the light
http://www.theherald.co.za/colarc/daze/jm211002.htm
January 17th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
Well, that’s the difference between ‘welcome’ (adj.) and ‘welcome!’ (interj.), innit?