An example of Engrish in Sasebo, Japan

An example of the Japanese use of English for aesthetic and marketing purposes.

From a pair of shorts purchased in Huwei, Taiwan

Engrish (/ˈɪŋɡrɪʃ/; Japanese: [ĩŋɡu͍ɽiɕːu͍]) is a slang term for the misuse or corruption of the English language by native speakers of some East Asian languages.^[1] The term itself relates to Japanese speakers' tendency to inadvertently substitute the English phonemes "R" and "L" for one another, because the Japanese language has one alveolar consonant in place for both. The related term "wasei-eigo" refers to pseudo-anglicisms that have entered into everyday Japanese.

While the term may refer to spoken English, it is more often used to describe written English. Engrish can be found in many places, including signs, menus, and advertisements. Terms such as Japanglish, Japlish or Janglish for Japan, Konglish for Korea, and Chinglish for China are more specific terms for Engrish.^{[citation needed]}

Roots of the phenomenon[edit]

In Japanese Engrish, there are two contributing factors:

• First is the great difference between Japanese and English. Japanese word order, the frequent omission of subjects in Japanese, the absence of articles, a near-complete absence of consecutive consonants, as well as difficulties in distinguishing /l/ and /r/, or /th/ and /s/ sounds, all contribute to substantial problems using Standard English effectively.^[2] Indeed, Japanese have tended to score comparatively poorly on international tests of English.^[3]
• The second factor has been the use of English for "decorative" or "design" rather than functional purposes;^[4] i.e., for Japanese consumption, not for English speakers per se, and as a way of appearing "smart, sophisticated and modern," in much the same way as Japanese and similar writing script is used in Western fashion.^[5] Indeed, it is claimed that in such decorative English "there is often no attempt to try to get it right, nor do the vast majority of the Japanese population ever attempt to read the English design element in question. There is therefore less emphasis on spell checking and grammatical accuracy."^[6]

In popular culture[edit]

Instances of Engrish due to poor translation were frequently found in many early video games produced in Japan, often due to the creators not having enough (or just not wanting to spend enough) money for a proper translation.^{[citation needed]} One well-known and popular example of Engrish in pop culture is the translation of the video game Zero Wing which gave birth to the phenomenon All your base are belong to us, which also became an Internet meme. This phenomenon is parodied in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, in which the character Fawful speaks Engrish. In the Japanese version of the same game, the character Broque Monsieur also speaks Engrish.

Engrish has been featured occasionally in the Trey Parker and Matt Stone cartoon South Park, such as the song "Let's Fighting Love", used in the episode "Good Times with Weapons", which parodies the poorly translated opening theme sequences sometimes shown in anime, and in Parker and Stone's feature length Team America: World Police where the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is depicted singing the song "I'm so Ronery".^[7]

The British fashion brand Superdry, in a reverse parody of the phenomenon, has established a style of placing meaningless Japanese text such as 'Sunglasses company' and 'membership certificate' on clothing sold in Britain. The company explained to a Japanese television crew that most translations were done using simple automatic translation programs such as Babelfish.^[8][9]

Monty Python's Flying Circus featured a parody of the drama series Elizabeth R, where they portrayed the cast riding motor-scooters and speaking Engrish, thus changing the title to "Erizabeth L".

In the 1983 film A Christmas Story, the Parker family goes to a Chinese restaurant for their Christmas dinner, and are serenaded by the waitstaff with Engrish Christmas carols, such as "Deck the harrs wis boughs of horry, fa ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra" and "Jingre berrs, jingre berrs, jingre arr the way, oh what fun it is to ride in one-horse open sreigh!"^[10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Engrish.com—photos of Engrish from Japan, China and elsewhere
• fahruz.org—A private collection of Engrish and equivalents in French, German and Italian
• Large Engrish Photo Collection on Weird Asia News
• Engrish Funny—photos of Engrish from around the world
• Translation Party—an online tool that demonstrates how phrases are lost in translation between English and Japanese