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One of the things that I love the most about the English language is that the spellings don’t always match the sounds they’re supposed to represent. It always kept me on my toes and constantly kept me curious to explore the depths of the language. Quirks, oddities, warts, and all. Just like all of you, I’ve had hilarious slips of the tongue (or rather the fingers when I’m writing), creating some truly bizarre sentences.

However, this article isn’t about small linguistic accidents—it’s about large English language fails and translation disasters. Grammar so broken, fixing it is more expensive than repairing your car. And the delightfully called ‘phuck ups,’ as the r/engrish subreddit describes them. It’s an online community that documents the most giggle-worthy times people messed up while writing. What can I say? My inner linguist is having a great time and I hope yours will, too, dear Pandas. So scroll down, have a read, have a laugh, and don’t forget to upvote your fave pics. If you’re feeling up for it, share your biggest English fail in the comments, though, no pressure if you’re feeling shy today.

Oh, and do keep in mind that this entire article is done in the name of good humor and fun, dear Pandas. Nobody’s making fun of anyone who’s having a hard time learning English. It can be a very peculiar language to learn, hard to get to grips with, notoriously silly with its spelling system. I would know. Scroll down to find out my own experience with this.

I reached out to Lisa McLendon from the University of Kansas to hear her take about some of the challenges that foreign students face when learning English (spoiler warning: the "train wreck" that is spelling is just the tip of the iceberg), how spell check impacts us, and why English spelling is so peculiar. You'll find Bored Panda's interview with her below, so be sure to scroll down if you'd like to learn something new. Lisa is the William Allen White Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications and the Coordinator at the Bremner Editing Center at KU.

Lisa, from the University of Kansas, told Bored Panda straight-up that the main challenge foreign students face when it comes to English is spelling. "English spelling is such a train wreck, with its myriad silent letters and wildly varying pronunciations for letters and letter combinations. But also, articles (a/an/the) tend to be difficult for people whose native language doesn’t have them, and our tense/aspect blend with combinations of auxiliary verbs makes the English verb system tricky even for native speakers sometimes," she explained to Bored Panda.

I was interested to hear the expert's take on spell check. She told Bored Panda that spell check is a great tool for catching typos and misspelled words. However, it's not perfect. "Where it’s more of a curse than a blessing is with homonyms/homophones because it won’t flag a word that is a word, but not the word you want. Think affect/effect, who’s/whose, led/lead but also word pairs like form/from and not-synonyms like bemuse/amuse, etc," she shared. Lisa added that anyone curious about the quirky world of spell check should definitely check out the #SpellCheckCannotSaveYou hashtag on Twitter.

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According to Lisa, English isn't 'spelled as it sounds' for a lot of reasons. They're mostly connected to when the words entered the language, where they came from, and when the spelling of a particular word was first 'codified.' I was curious whether a complete overhaul of the spelling system could make things easier for everyone or if it would lead to a loss of the language's character that we love so much.

"People have proposed spelling overhauls before but they tend to not go anywhere, probably because it’s such a daunting project—could we all agree on what the changes would be?—and because then an entire body of texts would become basically a foreign language to the next generation. Many factors in addition to spelling contribute to a language’s 'character,' but some spellings do have echoes of archaic English—in my opinion it would be a little bit sad to lose some of that," Lisa told me.

#5

Rude And Unreasonable Chicken

Rude And Unreasonable Chicken

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Julia Atkinson
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is sublime. I'd love to see how they'd describe spotted d i c k and tarts

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#6

Very Wholesome Engrish

Very Wholesome Engrish

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Personally, I had a difficult time spelling some words when I was a kid, learning my first words in English. For instance, I used to write ‘family’ with two y’s and ‘honey’ as ‘hunny’ like Winnie the Pooh does when I was a munchkin. And for the life of me, I couldn’t spell the word ‘beautiful’ because of how gorgeously long it was. Really, nine letters for something that essentially means ‘pretty?’

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I didn’t give up, however. Through sheer force of will and lots of repetition, with the guidance of my parents and some very patient teachers at the Brussels American School, I finally tamed English. It fascinated me. It drew me in. And I couldn’t stop reading and writing ever since. And look at me now! Writing and amusing you Pandas for a living.

#7

🤦🤷

🤦🤷

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Bacony Cakes
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Really? I just shot their entertainment buildings with music beams and project a giant shouty man at them until they converted.

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Andy Hinds
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How it works is that if you don't convert on request, then they hit you over the head with it.

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James Pasquini
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've heard people call them Cadillac converters. Wait a minute! Isn't that a beer tap on the side?

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Sgraham
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Five a Honda exorcist and I haven’t gotten a ticket cents.

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Mya Lugar
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think that method would convince anyone to convert to anything. I would def be a convertable!

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John Purves
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And I'm sure that "Catholic" converter just fell off a car. It couldn't possibly have been stolen.

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#8

I Hope This Was Copy And Paste

I Hope This Was Copy And Paste

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Something
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm sure there is a work by that name, though I'm not going to look it up myself.

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One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is my understanding that the language can seem overly difficult—alien, even—to foreigners. I might laugh when I see a particularly silly mistake, but the gears in my noggin also immediately start turning, searching for the reason why someone made that particular error. Often, the mistake is very logical.

Someone may have misheard a word. Or tried to adapt some linguistic rules they already know to some phrases that are the exception. Translation’s also a tricky task to tackle, too. Syntax, the way you order words in the sentence, is vital.

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A translator who isn’t intimately familiar with English might throw the sentence together haphazardly, creating something incredibly humorous in the process. ‘Pandas like green bamboo shoots’ is very different from ‘bamboo shoots green like pandas’ after all. Note: unless you’re Master Yoda, syntax really is important.

It’s also something that you need to get to grips with through experience. Book smarts are great, but what you really need is a way to develop your linguistic intuition or instinct that’ll tell you when something sounds ‘off.’ What that means is actively engaging with the language: talking to native speakers, writing awesome short stories, watching English TV shows. In short, the more you embrace the language, the more you give yourself over to the wacky and wonderful weirdness that English is, the quicker you’ll adapt.

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#14

I Love Going To The Bathroom In China

I Love Going To The Bathroom In China

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Psycho Cat
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh man, I know this would insult many people, but it so hilarious. I chocked on my coffee.

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#15

“Under The Rest”

“Under The Rest”

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The r/engrish subreddit has been around for quite a while now. It was created way back in the late September of 2008 and recently celebrated its 13th birthday. If the subreddit were a person, it would be going through puberty, going to the 7th or 8th grade, and trying to find themselves. Over the years, the community has grown to have over 625k members (or ‘Grammar Nazis’ as the community calls them).

The subreddit’s moderators ask their members to only post content that’s in English (sounds fair, given the name of the community), that they don’t feature any typos, and that they avoid posting examples where people deliberately made errors for whatever reason. In short, if it’s a hilarious English mistake, then it probably belongs on the sub. Granted, you should probably check and see if someone hasn’t already posted the photo or screenshot within the last half-year. The subreddit’s quite strict about managing reposts, you see.

#17

Taken From R/Memes

Taken From R/Memes

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Something
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's hard to clock a full year of zero experience without being in a coma.

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A while back, I spoke to Lisa from the University of Kansas about why we make English mistakes and mix up words. She told Bored Panda that we sometimes have “temporary blips” in retrieving the words we need. Especially when we’re stressed, tired, or just plain distracted.

“Because spell-check and autocorrect are everywhere, what seems to be the biggest problem is words that are spelled correctly but aren’t the right word, like ‘form’ instead of ‘from,’ ‘it’s’ instead of ‘its,’ or ‘defiantly’ instead of ‘definitely,’” Lisa explained to me earlier.

#21

Comedi

Comedi

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Baby Fratelli
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How do they know this person is butyfull if they haven’t sand photo yet

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“Read carefully over what you’ve written, to make sure you—or autocorrect—didn’t use the wrong word or misuse an apostrophe. Know yourself well enough to know where you usually make mistakes. For instance, I frequently type ‘form’ when I mean ‘from,’ so whenever I finish a document, I do a search for ‘form’ so I can catch the wrong usages,” the language expert explained what we can do to reduce the number of errors in our texts.

“If your writing is going to be seen by a broader audience, have someone else read over it. When you’ve written something, your brain already knows what you’re thinking and what you meant to say, even if you didn’t actually say it. So when you read your own writing, you unconsciously fill in missing words, skip over typos, fail to see ambiguity, etc.,” she said.

#22

The Laundry Room Has Been Too Holy Recently

The Laundry Room Has Been Too Holy Recently

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#23

Washing Machine Is Done Apologizing

Washing Machine Is Done Apologizing

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“Another person, someone who sees only what’s on the page and not what’s in your head, can help you spot mistakes and improve your writing. This is especially important if you are carving something in stone or getting a tattoo with words in it,” Lisa suggested that we always have someone take a look at our writing if what we’re doing is incredibly important.

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#29

When The Engrish Is Actually Truthful

When The Engrish Is Actually Truthful

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#30

Hmmmmmm

Hmmmmmm

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Caro Caro
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Prim minister: Old biddy clutching her handbag with a disapproving expression on her face. HAAAAHAHA

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#31

I Love This Image

I Love This Image

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#33

Homophobia In Its Eyes

Homophobia In Its Eyes

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#34

When R/Technicallythetruth Meets R/Engrish

When R/Technicallythetruth Meets R/Engrish

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#35

Me Too Broken Coffee Machine, Me Too....

Me Too Broken Coffee Machine, Me Too....

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#36

Turns Out Us British Can’t Speak English Either

Turns Out Us British Can’t Speak English Either

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Maiun
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's not bad English, it's a local joke. You can buy signs for your gate with it on.

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#39

Nice Try, China

Nice Try, China

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#40

An Out Of Control Freezer

An Out Of Control Freezer

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Rose the Cook
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reminds me of a sign in a Chinese bank. "Please control your money before leaving the counter."

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#42

Does This Count

Does This Count

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#44

Joe Is Biden?????

Joe Is Biden?????

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Jetze
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He is biden his time ever since he ran with Obama to become president?

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#48

This Is Why I Don't Travel Internationally

This Is Why I Don't Travel Internationally

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#50

From My Brother In China

From My Brother In China

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#51

Bill Gets

Bill Gets

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Note: this post originally had 84 images. It’s been shortened to the top 51 images based on user votes.