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| Tuesday February 8 | 23:30
The word "perm" is such lovely Konglish (pronounced "peh-ma" in Konglish). Most used, in Britain at least, to mean a poodle type hairdo, in Korea it is used to mean everything from said poodle hairdo to a simple wave - which means you don't necessarily need to panic that you'll be going out with a poodle when your girlfriend tells you over the phone "I had my hair permed today".
This hairdresser has taken the word one step further. Would you trust a hairdresser that can't spell the word "perm" to perm your hair?
The Konglishi
Purm
It should say
Perm
| | Monday February 7 | 23:28
Here we have two lovely pieces of Konglish in one sentence.
First, the lovely use of the word "lover". Koreans have adopted the word "lover" with open arms, not realising that "lover" has implications of a relationship of a sexual nature, rather than necessarily a boyfriend/girlfriend relation.
The second, "propose". Never "proposal", always "propose". Propose was traditionally used in Korea with it's original meaning - marriage proposal - but these days is used for just about anything. In fact, to be honest, I find it hard to get to grips with the exact meaning of the word "propose" in Konglish these days - but you can be sure that in this Jewellery shop window placard it means only "gift" rather than "ask your boyfriend to marry you".
The Konglishi
Valentine's Romantic Propose for My lover
It should say
A Valentine's Romantic Gift For My Sweatheart
| | Sunday February 6 | 01:28
The old "a" problem rearing its head here, courtesy of Hollys Coffee - a chain which is trying to rival Starbucks in Seoul.
Which good sense should I have? Should my sense of taste be my good sense? My sense of smell? My sense of hearing? It's a tough one to choose.
The Konglishi
Have a good sense
It should say
Have good sense (though that's also less than ideal..)
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Archived Konglishi
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The Konglish Photo Blog
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The Konglish Photo Blog
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About the Konglish Photo Blog
The Konglish Photo Blog is not about laughing at the English mistakes of common Koreans. I speak Korean as a second language, and I make mistakes every second word! I speak English as a first language, I make mistakes every third word! No one is perfect at English, not even native speakers.
But.
If I intended to write and print a menu, sign, huge banner, shop display board, advertisement, or any such big public item in Korean, the very least I'd do is ask a Korean native speaker to check it first!
The Konglish Photo Blog is about laughing at companies who do not even bother to check their English before plastering it over subway trains, on 20 foot banners, on flashing neon signs. At companies who didn't bother to spend 100,000won, or the trifling amount it would have cost to get a native speaker to check their Konglish over, and instead display their mistakes boldly and with confidence.
I hope native readers will be entertained, and that Korean readers will take the opportunity to compare the Konglish with our "It should say" version, to help improve their English.
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