{"id":3655,"date":"2016-02-05T16:23:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T16:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=3655"},"modified":"2017-08-23T16:33:57","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T16:33:57","slug":"unfortunate-product-names-to-the-english-speakers-ear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/unfortunate-product-names-to-the-english-speakers-ear\/","title":{"rendered":"Unfortunate Product Names to the English Speaker’s Ear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Going around a local supermarket in another country can be a daunting experience. Where does the cheese live? What on earth does that<\/i> product do? Why are there so many varieties of napkins (Spain and Italy: we\u2019re looking at you<\/i>)? But it doesn\u2019t have to be daunting. It can be a lot of fun. It can be an adventure<\/i>!<\/p>\n

Okay. So perhaps adventure is a bit strong. Kesko<\/a> is not Helms Deep, after all. But we promise, it can <\/i>be entertaining. We refer of course to the unfortunate product name<\/i>. Unfortunate because to us, yes, often silly-minded native English speakers, some product names just have different meanings and do not fit with the product at all. Here are some of our favourites.<\/p>\n

Bimbo<\/b><\/p>\n

Country<\/b>: Argentina (also available in Spain)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: Bimbo is a brand of bread. The first time you see this over the breakfast table perhaps you\u2019ll think of a blond airhead. But as Elle Woods<\/a> taught us, you really can\u2019t judge a book by its cover. Remember: bend, and snap!<\/p>\n

\"Photo_1\"<\/a>

Image via Flickr \/ Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Jussipussi <\/b><\/p>\n

Country<\/b>: Finland<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: This is a popular brand name for bread rolls in Finland. Honest. We know exactly where your minds are going, and that is definitely <\/i>not a breakfast item that you want to put your hard cheese or sliced pork on first thing in the morning, right? Or you know. Maybe it is. No judgement here\u2026<\/p>\n

Colon <\/b><\/p>\n

Country:<\/b> Spain<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: Would you believe us if we told you that this is a laundry detergent? We know, that particular body part is something that occasionally receives<\/i> the cleaning instead of, um, doing it. But you know. Each to their own.<\/p>\n

Learning a new language? Check out our <\/i>free placement tests<\/i><\/a> to see how your levels measure up!\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Pee Cola <\/b><\/p>\n

Country:<\/b> Ghana<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: Yes, you guessed correctly, this is, in fact, cola. And despite the giggle we get out of this name, pee<\/i> in this sense is meant to mean very good<\/i>. We\u2019re sure it is. We\u2019d probably give it a quick sniff before we had a sample though.<\/p>\n

Spunk<\/b><\/p>\n

Country<\/b>: Denmark<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: This is salmiakki. Or for those heathens out there who haven\u2019t tried it yet, salted licorice. It is delicious<\/i> if you like your salty products. Not so much if you don\u2019t, but we highly recommend that you give it a go.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Image via Flickr \/ Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Fart<\/b><\/p>\n

Country:<\/b> Poland<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: This is a sweet, or a candy bar. Apparently it means lucky<\/i>. We are dubious as to its flavour and will happily defer to you to tell us what it tastes like. No, no, we insist<\/i>, after you...<\/p>\n

Pork Joy <\/b><\/p>\n

Country<\/b>: Japan<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: These are, apparently, leather gloves. Although some of the pictures of this product suggest that perhaps they meant latex. We\u2019re not sure. However, the packaging does promise that they will be \u2018your hands\u2019 good partners<\/i>\u2019, so, we are reassured either way.<\/p>\n

Pschitt<\/b><\/p>\n

Country<\/b>: France<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: This is lemonade. From the Perrier company, no less! We hope that it tastes a lot better than it sounds. We\u2019re sure it does.<\/p>\n

Vergina<\/b><\/p>\n

Country<\/b>: Greece<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: This is beer. Of course it is. With this company having a share of the Greece market of between 5.5 and 7%, is beer going to be the saviour of the Greek economy? We would like to see that, very much.<\/p>\n

Bonus activities<\/b><\/p>\n

Now that we\u2019ve heard from some countries that perhaps don\u2019t know any better about their product name choices, here\u2019s a couple from Australia. Who clearly know exactly<\/i> what they are doing. Australia, we salute you!<\/p>\n

Golden Gaytime<\/b><\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: This is ice cream, and a very popular ice cream it is, too. It's hard to have a Gaytime on your own<\/i> is their tagline, and judging from their adverts<\/a>, they\u2019re not afraid to have a little fun with their target market. Or any market, in fact. We want some!<\/p>\n

\"Photo_3\"<\/a>

Image via Flickr \/ Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Wack off<\/b><\/p>\n

What\u2019s it <\/b>doing<\/i><\/b>, precious?<\/b>: This delightfully named product is in fact insect repellent. And \u00a0so effective a repellent, that the armed forces themselves endorse and swear by it, apparently. If that isn\u2019t reason enough to try it, we\u2019re not sure what is.<\/p>\n

And finally<\/b><\/p>\n

We were a little disappointed to find that 666 Cold Preparation<\/b> is from an American pharmaceutical company and not, in fact, from hell. But perhaps that\u2019s just because we wanted to drop in on Crowley<\/a> after recent Supernatural episodes and see how he\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n

And now, over to you. We believe it is your responsibility, no, your duty<\/i>, next time you visit a shop abroad, to seek out these unfortunately named delights and share them with the world. \u00a1Vamos!<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Going around a local supermarket in another country can be a daunting experience. Where does the cheese live? What on earth does that product do? Why are there so many varieties of napkins (Spain and Italy: we\u2019re looking at you)? But it doesn\u2019t have to be daunting. It can be a lot of fun. It(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":3657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[439,491,46,31],"class_list":["post-3655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-foreign-languages","tag-funny-words","tag-languages","tag-words"],"yoast_head":"\nUnfortunate Product Names to the English Speakers' Ear<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever been in a language class or been abroad and thought you misheard a word because it has a similar sound to something vulgar? 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