One of the great things about the world we live in is the rich and diverse variety of languages that you can find across the globe. The only problem is that, as you can see from these pictures, sometimes these languages don't quite translate, turning into Engrish, Spanglish or Chinglish along the way.
In homage to hilariously bad translations and funny slogans, Bored Panda has compiled this list of t-shirt design from East Asia that don't quite say what they should ("Texas state it's a triangle OMG so hipster triangle," for example). Some of them don't say anything at all (well, not unless "temmby woroing terrislylastly" means anything to anyone?). But while all of them may have failed as far as translation is concerned, they have all definitely succeeded in making us laugh. Hard.
Seen any funny t-shirt translations that we might have missed? Then add to them to the list below and don't forget to vote for your favorite!
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I'm A Kindergarten Teacher In China And One Of My Students Was Rocking This Shirt Today
The really worrying thing is this was actually available in child's size.
I guess they just copied English from an adult's T-shirt without understanding what it means.
Load More Replies...I live in Taiwan. If you are a linguist like me, then you will hate it. (I go to a bilingual school and there's a Chinese department as well.) People always buy extremely cheap clothes that look fine, but get this: they always have long rants of English words strung together to mean something. Think of Google Translate, but worse. For example, each year a class designs their own class T-Shirt. The Chinese department ALWAYS uses English in theirs; most of the time, they say this - "FRIEND FOREVER WILL BE," "YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN THE HEART," or some other rip-off of a regular inspiring quote. Please respect English. I'm not trying to shame them; I would run over to them each year and gladly correct their T-Shirts for them.
I Saw This Girl In Tokyo
i've met her. she signed my shoes! i would bet anything she knows full well what it means. charisma dot com are quite edgy. there is a great video of her attacking the dancers in the video with an axe.
oh, actually apparently it's not her. that really does look like them though.
Load More Replies...Wow, and my BF in HS was pissed cause I wore a T shirt that said "I'm free tonight" in French.
if i remember shes a famous TV personality and did a whole broadcast wearing this
Whoever is responsible for embarrassing this poor girl is really not nice.
While At The Golden Pavilion In Kyoto, I Saw This Man With Quite Possibly The Greatest Shirt In Japan
I am Japanese and would like to let you know he is not Japanese. I assume he is one of Chinese tourist in Japan.
Japanese people are notorious for mistaking L and R though. I've seen "curture" and "gallely" in Japan. Such English is called Engrish.
Load More Replies...Teaching English In Korea. Best Shirt Ever? Yup!
Good! As Bernie Sander pointed out just the other day: Disney IS EVIL!
Ok so their English might not be good, but anyone can recognize the middle finger?
My Chinese Friend Doesn't Understand English. This Is Her Favourite Top
Is it possible her arm is covering up another letter? "C" perhaps?
Am I the only gentleman left on this planet? 1) The shirt is probably missing a letter. 2) The lady does not know what it says, that's the whole point of the article. 3) This is not an invitation for you to take advantage of her ignorance. She is a real person with real rights. Taking her up on an offer she is not making is a)immoral and b) a crime. Grow up. You guys make give real men a bad name.
Can u please stop bitching..it's the internet, lighten up! You're probably the life of the party, i can tell🤣🤣
Load More Replies...hahahaha here I am at 10pm, alternating between looking at fanart, reading fanfiction, boredpanda-ing, & actually doing my hw... and then I see this 🤣
This Little Guy
Disrespecting someone else's religion as a joke........not cool, and very unoriginal.
Load More Replies...The whole point here is that NO ONE THERE CAN READ THIS SHIRT. It's not in their language. They are not making a statement. It has nothing to do with parenting skills or religion. Can you read Kanji or Mandarin? NO. So your shirt/tattoo might be just as offensive /funny to them. So stop judging them. Thanks.
Worst is, his parents are likely Christians and only read/understood the 'Jesus' part. Thought they were getting their kid a religious tee.
I spy some upthight people 🙄 Since Jesus is a somewhat common name in some cultures/languages the shirt could just as easily read 'who the f**k is jim'.
Not as uptight as we would be if we were Muslim, and the shirt read "Prophet Muhammad." (Are you listening?)
Load More Replies...But he'll need SOME indoctrination to help him discern the difference between religions that WON'T kill you for wearing such a shirt, and those that WILL.
(This is meant as advocacy for da debil. I know it's bull, because the people don't know what the shirt says. Worse, as another pointed out, they probably think it is a NICE Christian T-shirt, recognizing only the word Jesus. Millions of Asians are Roman Catholic. It's disgusting that this thread of thought even arose. And so TYPICAL.)
Load More Replies...Inspirational T-Shirt In Asia
They just don't know the meaning . People who want Chinese character tattoo sometimes make the same mistake,trust me.
That's true! I wonder how many people have the character that means "pig" or "dishrag" tattooed on their body (or, like Penny from Big Bang Theory... "soup").
Load More Replies...Non native speaker here. I bought myself a tshirt in london when I was 11. It said "tease me thrill me taste me take me", when my older sister with better language skills saw it she was horrified. :D I coul still wear it back home, even in school, except for english lessons - nobody understood.
Messing up with asian people just because they can't understand english :( ayayayay tshirt producers XD
Never 'commit' to something you don't understand! This is very bad!!
i have got chicken and sweet corn soup and crackers tatoo'd on my but
Gangsta Granny
Might look not real, because it's flock print (letters made of thick material)
Load More Replies...My Brother Teaches English In Vietnam. I Don't Think This Young Student Or His Parents understood What His T-Shirt Meant
This proves your brother either did a good job or a bad one... nothing in between :)
I Deliver Food To Seniors Who Live In Homes As A Side Job. This Woman's Shirt Made My Day
So seniors get paid to live in homes???? I need a side job like that, sounds easy enough. haha
so they live in homes as side jobs? she isn't the only one that doesn't quite get the English language.
I thought I was the only one that bothered until I read the comments.
Load More Replies...There are seniors that live in homes as a side job??? What is their primary occupation? o.O
Love it!! Took me a minute though! I love that .jpgs don't get censored!
Matching Sweaters For Your Favorite And Second Favorite Child
My Buddy Is Teaching Young Kids In Taiwan. This Is His Student
The fact that these shirts come in kid sizes... does that bother anyone else?
No. Because the manufacturer will simply take an existing design, not knowing what it says either, and slap it on everything they can.
Load More Replies...That's a David Shrigley piece of art and is correctly written!
Haters Gonna Hate And Ain'ters Gonna Ain't
Yeup, clearly an American flag on that truck behind him. Does no one hire editors anymore?
Load More Replies...Got A New Shirt, It Means 'Tranquility' In English
Japan And Its Impossible Standards
Yet another unattainable beauty standard! Guess i'm having a wood job
Oops
Funny English-Language Slogans On T-Shirts Is Nothing New In Asia, But This One Really Stood Out To Me
Sniffing glue has addicted many children in Asia. It has some kind of drug effect....
Much Sense. Wow
Mmmmh, Google translate, the only virtual translator who learnt Alien language without anyone implementing it into it.
This is how Asians feel about us when we got something ''cool'' written in their signs.
this is what happens when you type random letters and spell check is on!
Or you play around with your text predictions..
Load More Replies...You Don't Want To Mess With This Lady
Huh? This is actually in front of my office in Utrecht, the Netherlands!
When people tell you who they are believe them I bet he Ms lady ain't nothin' to play with
Not that much of a rare sight, but seriously, grey hair doesn't mean neccessary old.
Load More Replies...Another Awesome Japanese Shirt Found In Their "American" Store
Haha chocolate Easter bunnies are a thing, maybe make chocolate santas and jesus' too. Though religious kooks will probably be upset, try to ban it in the US haha, they wipe their asses with the constitution to push their goofy bible
Think Less
I need about a dozen of these to send to certain MOC and Faux news folks
The Shirts In Korea Are The Best. There Are 1000s Of Them
Uh, No Thanks, Chinese Kid
Because they have no idea what it actually says.
Load More Replies...Why are most of the shirts shown here in this gallery come in kids sizes, at all??!!
My Wife Photographed This Woman In Beijing Last Week. Better Not Wear That Shirt When You Travel, Lady
covering all the bases right there.... and in such friendly font with a heart and dots....
Wow! She's gonna get her butt ki ked and not even know why. What atore/website do you buy this from?
Sorry i meant kicked and store for misspelled words.
Load More Replies...Found This Shirt In China. All Hail Chairman Obamao
Somebody had an interesting sense of humour, I'm sure s/he knew what they were doing.
This feels more like something you'd find in an American gift shop in the south, but w/e lol. Go off, China. You do you.
I Can Feel The Love Tonight
I Saw This Guy In South Korea And Asked If He Knew What His Shirt Said, He Didn't Speak English
I think it's you who didn't understand what he meant. He's a nihilist
I Have Gas
I actually took this picture in a lift in Singapore. Amazing how it got here. He literally had no clue.
This is adorable, he looks like he might actually know what it says, too. Or he's just uncomfortable with pictures
Here's One Funny T-Shirt From Japan
And here I was, with ambitions of taking part in an LSD orgy and sleep with hundred men :(
Load More Replies...Do they just pick out random comments from English/American newspapers? Lmao
It's like they litterally printed the title of a s****y newspaper article.
Hot
My Favourite Find While I Was In Asia
Lovely Combination
I think this guy knows exactly what he is doing, many young people in China understand the F word .
This is in Shibuya, Tokyo. Always saw some crazy slogan shirts there
Load More Replies...Yes, Indeed
Please Don't Drop Your Bomb
This could serve as a uniform for anti-was protests. Even better if peaceful lrotests and demonstrations.
I guess it's in China. Japanese don't use periods in their price.
Load More Replies...Possibility it’s a hunger games thing? Other than that it’s hilarious!!
Future Man
I don't think this is a fail at all! You go King, you really are so f*****g future!
I Found This In Beijing
I have this shirt! When in BJ, do as the BJans!
Load More Replies...BJ doesn't only stand for blow job, it can also stand for Beijing or broadcaster jockey etc. I know for example that bj in Konglish is broadcaster jockey
it's funny that English speaker use "double entendre". French speakers wouldn't understand this (most of them). A real French expression would be: "double sens"
Load More Replies...I Teach In South Korea. Today An Entire Class Showed Up To School Wearing These Shirts
Korean Shirt
Purple and green are nonconformists; Purple's going by a goofy nickname and Green has gone punk.
Dear Friend
This seems like something that would be on an Obvious Plant product lol
And The Winner Of The "Best Shirt In China" Award Is...
This Shirt Is Shirt
Maybe it means "Don't get excited about something being free if it's low-quality"?
Everybody Must Get Stoned
It is, from Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, on the great 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.
Load More Replies...Are we certain that ain't Willie Nelson... Sounds like Willie to me!
Ahh Yes... Nonsense Clothing In Japan You Say
Cultural references. He thought his friend was a duck and tried to eat him. He later apologized.
Fun fact, this is a quote from the comic strip “Peanuts” by Charles Schulz! One of the staple characters, Snoopy, is trying to determine what kind of bird his friend, Woodstock, is. He becomes fed up with the investigation and deems him as a duck, upsetting Woodstock and requiring an apology (hence the quote). That said, I wonder what the front of this shirt looks like.
Precise Dwarf Bravery
He's not a dwarf though... Looks more like a refference to Bilbo's crew to me.
Load More Replies...Oh Chinese T-Shirt, Truer Words Were Never Spoken
Ok. If you interchange the first & the last letters of each word and then read the whole sentence backwards, it still doesn't make sense. Not everything in life is supposed to have a meaning.
Heed no do permitted to going THE PERSON temmby woroing terrislylastly
T-Shirts In Japan
I Love Casio
Emm... No
The Best T-Shirt To Wear While Travelling The World
N****r- Black, Frog- French, F****t- gay, Wop- Italian, Limey- British, Dyke- lesbian, Honkie- White, Mick- Irish, Kike- Jewish, C***k- Chinese, Spic- Spanish/Hispanic, Beaner- Mexican.
Load More Replies...She's at the airport. This is the standard uniform for the airport greeters. Give her a break - just trying to make the foreigners feel welcome.
When you absolutely have to offend every m**********r in the room😂
She's not prejudiced, she's an equal opportunity offender
Load More Replies...the person who made this knew what they were doing cause the Japanese did this exact same thing when in the 1800's westerners started importing things from there and a lot of it had rude phrases on them
Whomever listed the derogatory words were consistent and spelled them correctly. Hate speech is hate speech in any language.
Dubai's Entry In The Best Failed English T-Shirt
Well... This is not really a fail, however only a person living in Dubai would fully understand this. It's about Dubai style eating out.
Gotta Love The T-Shirt
Would totally wear that tbh, and It looks really good on him too! I love this
Touch Me Now
Later, in court: Your honor, I'm innocent, he asked for that! ... Srry, I'm done
People who don't understand engrish and just slap random, exotic words and alphabet designs, on everything.
Load More Replies...English Writing On Clothes In Asia
Oh. I saw that in real life. And I thought it was intentional, given all the food blogging trends....
I guess they're just copy-pasting anything written in English on the internet.
Load More Replies...I need two shirts custom made. The first one will have this comment and the second one the post
Load More Replies...I Am In Tokyo, And Found This In A Shopping Mall
Pshh. It Doesn't Make You Better Than Me
Truer Words Were Never Spoken
This Rebel Kid
Bad English T-Shirt In Korea
She also talkth with a lithp. Thath life in the fatht lane, folkth.
I've Heard Women Like Bad Boys, But This Is Ridiculous
Literally.
We All Scream For Ice-cream!
English Teacher Went To Japanese Clothing Stores And Got Slightly Confused
This shirt makes complete sense why is it even on here. In Japan French fries are in many cases referred to as Potato, or fried potato.
The original name, "Pommes Frites", literally is "fried potatoes".
Load More Replies...Po-TAY-toes. Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew!! Nice golden chips..
Found This Shirt In Japan. I Think They Just Stuck Together Random Words
ever read the hobbit? Nobody can say dwarves aren't brave
Load More Replies...Yes let's send a brave dwarf to defeat Sauron with an exhilarated kitten.
At least the printer still spelt it right - it's not at its drunkest
This Boy And His T-shirt
Don't Have A Box New
My Wife Found This T-Shirt In A Seoul, Korea Market
Massachubatts is lovely this time of year, but not as lovely as it was in the 17th century.
Oh yeah, the Salem witch trials were really Massashubatts prime. Since then its just been downhill... I mean MIT... the Red Sox... such failures
Load More Replies...I would love to go to Massachubatts. Sounds like a very nice place except the airline got pretty confused when I told them I wanted to get tickets
It's a brand in Korea I think, used to see these all the time when I lived there. One guy I know from Boston area bought one bc he found it hilarious
Middle Aged Japanese Women Eating Sushi
"I didn't really feel like celebrating your birthday at this restaurant so I picked my most passive-aggressive shirt"
There's Just So Much Going On In This Photo, But The Sweater That The Guys Wearing Tops It Off!
Creepy T-Shirt For Baby
you mean the symbol of "reddit"? :) the one with the red eyes and antenna on the head? https://www.reddit.com/
Load More Replies...This is what my hypotetical baby would wear.. well, another reason yet to never ever have babies!
Sniffing Glue Won't Keep Families Together
teeth are expensive, not everyone is as rich as you
Load More Replies...It's Only Baby Burn
don't think its a haiku, mate. Think the printer had a sugar high and crashed out
Load More Replies...Anyone else think that she had a weird ponytail on the side of her head?
It’s a shirt but it did throw me off haha
Load More Replies...Don't Be Greedy!
i will NEVER buy anything with untranslated Kanji charcaters on it again, no matter how pretty they may look!!
My Brother Lives In South Korea. He Bought Me This Shirt
Dudious : the adjective form for "dude". Thank you South Korea for improving my vocabulary everyday :D
Funny T-Shirt
This works with: https://www.boredpanda.com/i-can-feel-the-love-tonight/
Saw This Asian Tourist At The Airport. She Didn't Choose The Thug Life
Hmm...
Should .... Should we tell her.... I feel like somebody should tell her ....? 😬😬🤐🤔
Japanese English
Internet Arguments, Now In Shirt Form
Found Of Walks
Try It
Found This T-Shirt In China
T-Shirt Found In South Korea
Thanks For Sharing That, Aqua Lover.
Good Morning & Good Bye
This one ain't even wrong, it's what teacher sees when you show up to class but realize it was a terrible idea and decide to leave instantly.
Lol I'd wear that to class and walk right back out once the teacher's had a good look at it
Spotted In Thailand.
Language Barrier
Wise Words
I figured they were referring to a “Karen” lol
Load More Replies...So I think this is a play on the fact that in old times people thought giraffes were unicorns also called Kirin or basically a horned horse beast.
Swim With A What Now? Found In Hangzhou, China.
Wow, my friend has this shirt, although without the typos. She's lived in China before, so I guess that fits.
Nope my name's Erica Bulman and I'm illiterate
Load More Replies...My Friend Modeling My Favorite English T-Shirt Sold In Japan
T-Shirts In Japan
I Want Beard Your Sexy
My Buddy Snapped This Pic While Teaching In Busan.
Even without the words, why would a child be wearing this picture on a shirt?!?
Geezus somebody needs to proof read these before they come off the f*****g assembly line and hit shelves---PLEASE?! I mean yeah me too but F**K MAN... Inapprops.
pls firstly make ur statements comprehensible
Load More Replies...Asian T-Shirt
Japanese Granny
That's a show cut, the places on the hips and leg joints are to protection when they retrieve in water-their original purpose. Now it's only on show dogs. The part on the chest is supposed to provide protection and also lift in the water.
Load More Replies...Sound Philosophy In Fuzhou, China
Don't Cry Say Fuck You And Smile ... Paris
An original Paris quote... She really likes to use the apostrophe randomly. So stylish!
12 Year Old Girl At The Terra Cotta Soldiers In Xi'an
Different Version Of The Movie From What I Remember...
The kid’s expression is priceless. I have a feeling he knows what the shirt says 😂
Hmmm yes. I think I saw that p***o variant once... Excellent quality c**k on Morty... I mean Marty :P same difference though.... An old guy with a young high schooler, probably always looking to get laid cause you know gotta get back to the future to bang that chicks he's been trying to nail...
Mushroom Quicho
Mushroom quiche? Quicho would sound better tho if that's what you're suggesting
Who Gives This Kind Of Hairpin To A Little Girl?!?
A Shit Jumper (pull Over) From Japan.
Makes Sense
Strange Asian T-Shirt
It's telling the story about her morning: running to the subway, through the tunnel, trying to catch it, it going uptown, and she decided to take the train instead.
Found In A High End Store In Tokyo.
#92 My Vies Follo The Views
I love how it started sounding very scientific and analytical and ended with "My Vies Follo"
Still Need More?
At Least He's Honest.
#129 I Don't Need Sex...
Water On The Thirstry Soil
A Jumper Sold In Japan
A T-shirt From Japan
The Beginning Of Knowledge?
At least it's the "beginning" of knowledge and not "knowledge right now" tho where Mr Orange Man is concerned, it may as well be
Seems This Dwarf Bravery Is A Thing..
Richland Bombers
Richland Bombers are a real team in Richland, Washington, USA. They're called the bombers because of a nuclear site there.
I thought it was an AFL reference for a sec cuz they have the Richmond Tigers and Essendon Bombers
The Back Of An Unusual United Way(?) Sweatshirt I Purchased From A Thrift Shop In Tokyo.
So we're up to printing parts of crime fiction on the back of t-shirts now? Geez humanity really is screwed...
At A Train Station In Osaka. There Were About Five Of These Young Women With Matching Outfits.
Seen On A Street In Osaka
This Girl In My English Class In Central China Obviously Has Her Priorities Straight.
This Is A Boy Who Knows What He Wants. Found In An English Class In Central China.
It's Nice To Share (taiwan)
One Of My Fifth Graders In Ulsan, South Korea~!
Yes, cause i do too and I don’t want to be alone
Load More Replies...What a great companion to the Bambi 'I like to f**k face down a*s up' shirt....
that design was sold in the US booleggers probably printed it no knowing the meaning
Oh Japan.. Why Can You Always Find My Temper?
Oh No! My Crush!
Supermarket Café In Harbin, Heilongjiang Province.
Local Man In Bali Loves What..?!
Blog Writers Suck, China
Sound Philosophy In Fuzhou, China
He Learned Young
what should I think? as it says swank, not wank. The kid is holding his arm over the "s"
Im American so I only know what wank means causea Aunty Donna.
Load More Replies...I Spotted This One In Moscow
Or The Letter N?
Maybe they just want you to remember all you frieds. Fried egg, fried chicken, fried shrimp. All the frieds!
Overly Attached Girlfriend Called.. (tokyo)
What’s wrong with this shirt? I get that it’s not exactly grammatically correct, but it’s close enough! Also, about the title, maybe it’s for a wife or fiancé or a husband or groom. You never know
Seems like ur the girl who bought this shirt. :0 :)
Load More Replies...Hmm, So Warm.. (japan)
I Got This Shirt In Tokushima Japan
Whilst Working On English Camp In Thailand.
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Yes, The Toilet Should Be Sure It Cleans Itself
What’s with the weird freaked-out looking elephant (?) on the back of the toilet?!?
Who's The Lucky One?!
There's something inherently charming about seeing phrases get lost in translation, particularly when it leads to unexpected humor, as seen with various badly translated shirts.
For further amusement, explore our collection of English translation fails spotted in Japan.
I think Asian countries have the same lists, but then with western people wearing shirts with stupid characters in an Asian language.
My son came home with a baseball hat his friend gave him for his birthday. It had Chinese letters across it. I asked a Chinese friend to read it and she got hysterical. It said "hat."
I seem to remember a post here where tourists got tattoos overseas, and just went by what they were told, without any personal research. The artists were inking them with swear words and stuff!
Considering the price of tattoos and removing one, I hesitate to tell them their tattoos have something wrong... they'd be happier without knowing the true meaning, maybe.
Load More Replies...There's a name for this: Engrish. For more foreign goodness, head over to Engrish.com 😆
Personal favourites I would pay good money for... ''Good things come to those who hustle'' and ''I don't need life, I'm high on drugs!''
Most of this clothing is made in Asia. These items are more often than not factory rejects or unpopular items that could not be exported. I once bought a Garfield T-shirt from a street vendor in Hong Kong that said 'Gadfield'. above the picture of the famous cat.
Hahaha! I've been living in Asia for the past 10 years and you get so numb to those shirts. Great to see them in a list like thatToo funny!
I think Asian countries have the same lists, but then with western people wearing shirts with stupid characters in an Asian language.
My son came home with a baseball hat his friend gave him for his birthday. It had Chinese letters across it. I asked a Chinese friend to read it and she got hysterical. It said "hat."
I seem to remember a post here where tourists got tattoos overseas, and just went by what they were told, without any personal research. The artists were inking them with swear words and stuff!
Considering the price of tattoos and removing one, I hesitate to tell them their tattoos have something wrong... they'd be happier without knowing the true meaning, maybe.
Load More Replies...There's a name for this: Engrish. For more foreign goodness, head over to Engrish.com 😆
Personal favourites I would pay good money for... ''Good things come to those who hustle'' and ''I don't need life, I'm high on drugs!''
Most of this clothing is made in Asia. These items are more often than not factory rejects or unpopular items that could not be exported. I once bought a Garfield T-shirt from a street vendor in Hong Kong that said 'Gadfield'. above the picture of the famous cat.
Hahaha! I've been living in Asia for the past 10 years and you get so numb to those shirts. Great to see them in a list like thatToo funny!
