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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Also a great gift!, August 14, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Free Drinks for Ladies with Nuts (Paperback)
My friend and I accidentally read this book cover-to-cover while killing time at a bookstore. We just couldn't put it down, and for this I blame the chapter on English subtitles to foreign films ("Look! His torso is here, but his arm is fighting all the way over there!") This book is well-presented and covers a wide variety of topics, from store marquees to the aforementioned English subtitles to product slogans, and really has something for everyone. I am not being at all liberal in giving it five stars; I feel everyone should read it. Just make sure you're not drinking water when you do, or it will wind up sprayed from your mouth onto the floor. Believe me, I know.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
(4-) The Misuse and Abuse of the English Language, April 7, 2004
This review is from: Free Drinks for Ladies with Nuts (Paperback)
This is a delightful collection of what the author terms "mangled English"; it includes malapropisms, inappropriate although sometimes technically correct translations, misspellings, and instances that simply reflect a lack of thought or care by the individual involved. Most of the items included in the book are very brief, they often consist of only a few words (e.g. menus items that were translated in a humorous fashion) or a single phrase. Very few of the selections are as lengthy as a complete paragraph. Thus, the book can be sampled and skimmed in bite size morsels, and it is a wonderful item to be placed in locations where people pick it up, get a good laugh by reading a few selections and then return to it at their convenience (e.g waiting rooms in offices, subway briefcases, coffee tables, and magazine buckets in bathrooms). The author has segmented the items into twelve categories; the majority involve inappropriate translations in some context, such as the suggestion at a Bangkok dry cleaner to "Drop your trousers here for best results" or the Swedish ad that "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux". However, there are also some sections that involve American misuse of our own native language, such as the sign in a hospital maternity ward that advised "no children allowed", or the warning in a Pennsylvania cemetery that "persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves". One of my favorites was the Ohio shop that proudly advertised "We buy junk and sell antiques". Of course, the quality of the entries are uneven, as is inevitable in a collection of this type, Some are clever and will make you laugh out loud, some are quite cute and will occasion a smile, some involve words that are inappropriate and quite embarrassing in the context in which they are used, and a few seem to not deserve being included. But probably each reader's judgment will differ with regard to the level of humor of the individual items included in this collection. This is also a great book for sharing with others. I was reading one section while watching TV with my wife, and found myself frequently reading the more enjoyable items out loud to her. And when I was reading it alone, I'd on occasion feel compelled to note the items that I wanted to share with others in the future. While the pieces are too long to include in this review, my favorite section is definitely "Ads with Impact", written to appeal English speaking customers by people who often have just enough knowledge of our language to mangle the impression that they are trying to create. So while this is not a great piece of literature, nor a work of wonderful insights, and certainly not filled with action, adventure and romance, Jane O'Boyle has managed to assemble an enjoyable collection of fractured English signs, movie marquees, advertisements, product names and other miscellaneous items that certainly approaches a four star level of enjoyment. Tucker Andersen
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Warning: May cause milk to be snorted, January 10, 2003
This review is from: Free Drinks for Ladies with Nuts (Paperback)
This is a cute, stocking-stuffer sort of book that will make anyone who reads it giggle uncontrollably. Anyone who has checked out It includes various signs ("Drop your trousers here for best results" at a dry cleaners'; "Not to perambulate the corridor in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension" -- whatever that means!), menus ("bosom of chicken," "garlic coffee," "fried hormones" and "gelatinous mutant coconut"), faulty movie subtitles ("To eat the chicken, first you must catch it with your teeth"), helpful instructions on various products ("For indoor or outdoor use only," "This package will self-destruct on Mother Earth"), various advertisements ("In France, you can cruise on many canals and see the peculiarities," and "So keep your eye skinned!"). We make a brief foray into the English language then, with a bunch of labels that are just dumb English ("Fits one head" on a shower cap, and "do not attempt to stop chain saw with your hands"), then some signs that were clearly not double-checked ("Archery tournament/Ears pierced," "Marital arts studio"), brand names in other countries that seem a little off (mineral water called "Kolic," soap called "Parrot Toilet," and canned squid called "Battleship"), assorted slogans that don't quite work ("Today I Smoke, Today I Smoke, Today I Smoke, Yes," "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux"), newspaper clippings that don't translate very well ("Ban Body Odor"?), and a hilariously distorted interview with Madonna, which was retranslated so many times that it now is worthy of this book. Then there are movie titles where some of the letters/words flickered out ("Ear of Living Dangerously," "Bugs Lie"), and then this little volume rounds off with a last spattering of weird signs ("GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS -- Live Shoes Daily," and "Free Drinks for Ladies With Nuts"). Perhaps the main letdown of this book is that occasionally, perhaps as filler, O'Boyle has to grab some not-as-funny items from English, like the movie titles. But otherwise it's a hilarious little way to spend a half-hour, especially for befuddled Americans who found obscene street signs in other countries.
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