There was a guy who sat across from me on the train. He was very unassuming. Average, almost boring. He looked like he may have just come here from another country which made me question if he knew what his shirt said.
My dad has pointed out, some folks wear shirts without knowing what they say. Dad, who lives in Mexico says, "It would seem that if the Mexicans are going to wear American T-shirts with messages written on them they should, at least, understand the words. Being a little better versed in the verbiage one is carrying around might eliminate seeing silver-haired old ladies at mass wearing T-shirts that announce: 'SHIT HAPPENS!' or 'DO ME NOW!'"
Another reason I thought he might not know what his shirt said was because he never expressed any I-know-what-you're-laughing-at acknowledgment in his expression when everytime I looked at his shirt I had to supress mass amounts of laughter. He'd just look at me and blink.
His shirt said:
If you lick them, they will come
It's true and funny. I wonder if he knew.
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Wow! How totally bizarre that would seem to an ESL person anyway, even if they did understand the words. Not only would they have to know that "come" meant something different in that context, but the whole "Field of Dreams" reference...well, I don't know. Maybe that's an international sensation that movie--what with James Earl Jones and all.
Anyway, this reminded me of those Japanese shirts you can buy at j-list that feature the character for "Dirty American Devil":
They say, "Guaranteed to get bizarre looks from Japanese co-eds on campus, this stylish shirt is very colorful, and shamelessly puts out its beautiful kanji message for all to see."
According to the pitch, it's a character that was applied to the allied forces during WWII, so, yeah...I could see that getting some attention.
I suppose this might be one of those things that's new to me and old new to everyone else. If so, sorry.
And sorry this is so long.
Shutting up now.
toasty, blather away my dear. As for this Japanese shirt thing being old, new to everyone else....totally new to me. So what you're saying is that the shirt says all of that but in Japanese characters? If so, this is great and I must have one. I will proudly wear Dirty American Devil. It will please all non Americans and their disdain for our retarded president. They can laugh at me thus easing foreign relations..
When I lived in Argentina, the people there would sing along with American songs (Eminem) and have no clue what they were saying. I tried to explain it a few times, but they were already too far gone.
oh yeah,
I always wondered about people that get Chinese characters as tattoos. Are they sure of what they have inked on their body?
I'm with Des. I have a chinese character tattooed on me and I often wonder if it says like "chicken fucker" or something. But I bet that guy knew what his shirt said.
Check out http://engrish.com for some funny shirts. If you've never seen it, it's worth many laughs.
My mother likes to tell the story--perhaps second-hand, can't remember at this point--of a Chinese exchange student wearing a shirt saying:
"KITTENS. NOT EVERYONE CAN HAVE ONE, BUT THEY ARE DELICIOUS."
I think it's entirely possible that the fellow did not know what his shirt said. Especially, if he were an immigrant. I've seen some icredible messages being worn by people who hadn't a clue to the meaning.
Most of these shirts are not bought off the rack or specially ordered. Many are donated, second hand or garage sale bargins. If it looks like a shirt and it acts like a shirt.... you know.
To Misfortune I would like to ask if before she marked herself for life might not she inquire what the Chinese letters stood for?
After the Japanese initiated the Peal Harbor attack and the Bataan Death March I say it's takes a lot of gall for them to print a shirt critizing the "Dirty American Devil".
I meant to say Pearl Harbor and 'criticizing'.
Got a little excited I guess.
Lol, dad. We all get excited when we talk about ole Pearl Harbor.
omg, that's hilarious!
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