Spanish speakers are never "under the weather"
The signs have been appearing, in both English and Spanish, in the NYC subway system.
The English one says "Feeling under the weather?" and then contains some text about how, if you are not feeling well, it's better to stay in the station and ask for help than to get on the train and risk holding up the whole system when you pass out/die/hemorrhage. The graphic is of an umbrella, with some, er ... spheres hovering above it, which is unrelated to any use I've ever had for an umbrella.
Update: The spheres above the umbrella are giant aspirin tablets.
The Spanish language version contains the same graphic, except the text says "Not feeling well?" because the expression "under the weather" does not so much exist in Spanish. Meaning that any Spanish speakers reading this poster are just going to be like What the fuck is up with that umbrella?"
Labels: Spanish
posted by JenIsFamous at 1/09/2008 05:46:00 AM
3 Comments:
It's a Mary Poppins reference. You're supposed to see the umbrella and think of how just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
Many years ago, McDonalds was running a promotion for their sundaes. The ad was a photo of the item in question, with the caption, "Friday, Saturday, Sundae." In Quebec, however, it didn't play very well, with the caption, "Vendredi, Samedi, Dimanche."
I guess the ad agency is just cashin' the checks.
Here's a bit you'll enjoy. The Spanish for 'gargantuan' is 'pantagruelica'. Rabelais wrote about two giants, Gargantua and Pantagruel. We picked one giant, the Spanish picked the other.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home