Purple marble elegantly

After having witnessed and been amused by this for years now, I am finally compelled to comment on the Japanese' use of English in whimsical and nonsensical phrases. Apparently, I'm not the only one.

The above subject line I actually saw on a t-shirt yesterday, and maybe the most hilarious part of it all is we do the same thing. Who knows what the Chinese, Japanese, etc. characters could possibly mean on t-shirts, tattoos, and other various forms of display that have grown trendy in recent years?

I had a friend who wore some t-shirt with Chinese lettering on it to Disney World, and while she visited "China," she actually asked for a translation and was told the word emblazoned across her chest actually read something similar to "whore"!

Of course, knowledge and usage of English is much more common in Japan than vice versa, and the average Japanese tends to have a basic working knowledge of English, so it just always makes me wonder why some words get siphoned through. There's this "American" grocery store a few blocks away called "Mommy," for instance.

Oh well. I'm glad this strange disparity exists, as it provides endless amusement for us visitors to Japan. Happy kitty bicycle time!