ADVERTISEMENT

Engrish is a term used to describe funny and often unintentional misuse of the English language, and there's a website of the same name that has been running since 1999, sharing examples of such instances.

Whether we're talking about restaurant signs, Amazon ads, or product labels, turns out, there's no shortage of texts that were introduced to the public without running them through a proofreader first.

But before we continue, it's important to note that Engrish is not trying to mock or criticize non-native speakers but rather to appreciate the humor that unexpectedly arises in everyday life. So, without further ado, let's do just that!

More info: Engrish.com | Facebook | Instagram

#1

Thank Goodness I’m Stuck In The Past

Thank Goodness I’m Stuck In The Past

engrishdotcom Report

Add photo comments
POST
stan_y234 avatar
LaserBrain
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What it says in Japanese is that it's dangerous to go further than this point.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

English belongs to the Germanic languages branch of the Indo-European language family.

It is one of the most popular languages in the world, with approximately 1.5 billion speakers, the mother tongue of more than 350 million people, and the most widely taught foreign language.

#4

I’m Betting It’s Not A Bible

I’m Betting It’s Not A Bible

engrishdotcom Report

#5

Sometimes We Wish You Were Someone Else

Sometimes We Wish You Were Someone Else

engrishdotcom Report

To someone who is well versed in the language, the mistakes in these pictures might seem absurd, but despite its prevalence, English is quite hard to learn.

"The most difficulty arises when people ... don’t have the advantage of sharing many borrowed words or grammatical patterns," "Sean Sutherland, senior lecturer in English language and linguistics at the University of Westminster, United Kingom, said.

"This will include speakers of Arabic, Urdu, and Bengali"

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

In his own experience, the most common complaint learners make about English is that the spelling of words often has little or nothing to do with their pronunciation.

"It’s easy enough to teach someone how to write the letter 'a', for example, but then they must be taught that its pronunciation changes in words like hat, hate, and father. In oak, it isn’t pronounced at all," the linguist explained.

"Compare this to the simplicity of Spanish, a language in which an 'a' and other vowels rarely change pronunciation from word to word."

#12

I Feel I Can Trust Light Gary

I Feel I Can Trust Light Gary

engrishdotcom Report

ADVERTISEMENT

Furthermore, English keeps adopting new words from other languages (350, to be exact, according to David Crystal's book 'English as a Global Language').

With so many sources behind its evolution, English is malleable, or as Robert Burchfield, calls it in 'The English Language', "a fleet of juggernaut trucks that goes on regardless."

No form of linguistic engineering and no amount of linguistic legislation will prevent the myriads of change that lie ahead, he said, and people whose texts ended up on 'Engrish' would probably agree.

#14

Swearing At The Water Does Help

Swearing At The Water Does Help

engrishdotcom Report

#16

Now I Can’t Seem To Think Of Anything Else

Now I Can’t Seem To Think Of Anything Else

engrishdotcom Report

#17

Waves Begin At 9 Am

Waves Begin At 9 Am

engrishdotcom Report

#18

Which Came First... The Driver Or The Fee?

Which Came First... The Driver Or The Fee?

engrishdotcom Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#23

Because A Whole Child Would Be Insane

Because A Whole Child Would Be Insane

engrishdotcom Report

#26

If You’re Alive, Thank A Sign

If You’re Alive, Thank A Sign

engrishdotcom Report

Add photo comments
POST
trinityhan12 avatar
Trinity Han
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Speaking as someone who understands Chinese, it actually says "be careful".

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#27

You Won’t Like The Paper, Either

You Won’t Like The Paper, Either

engrishdotcom Report

#28

And Yet We Keep Selling Them

And Yet We Keep Selling Them

engrishdotcom Report

ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#31

Batman Will Be Sad That He Went Legit

Batman Will Be Sad That He Went Legit

engrishdotcom Report

Add photo comments
POST
lismarie avatar
Undercover
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The pure existence of penguins makes every day nicer, even without drugs 🥰🐧

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#32

Then Open The Door To Turn The Knob

Then Open The Door To Turn The Knob

engrishdotcom Report

#33

Shart Will Do In A Pinch

Shart Will Do In A Pinch

engrishdotcom Report

Add photo comments
POST
boredpandasucksbigtime avatar
A B C the Third
Community Member
4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Shít. Shít shít shít. BP, get your fúcking censoring straight, stop censoring the punchlines of your own fúcking jokes. /edit: lol, some special snowflake reported this comment and got my account banned from commenting. ABC the Fourth, here we come.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#35

He’s A 9, But A 10 With Soup

He’s A 9, But A 10 With Soup

engrishdotcom Report

Add photo comments
POST
eggsplosion420 avatar
BrownTabby
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The vowel drop overcorrection! In Japanese every consonant except “n” has to have a vowel after it, so there are a lot of loan words where a vowel has been added on the end. So when Japanese people learn English they have to learn to drop the vowel in a lot of those words, and sometimes they drop a vowel that was legit. I am still not OK after hearing a Jpop song where they wanted to say “thank you” in a bunch of languages and they knew that the French word is pronounced “merushi boku” in Japanese so they sang “merci bock”.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Note: this post originally had 80 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.