17. Some Howlers in English

Prof. Krishnaswamy Natesan, Consultant and Author, Former Professor, CIEFL, Hyderabad delivered a lecture entitled English, Yes, but… during the Fifth International and Forty-first Annual ELT@I  Conference, organized by the Department of English, Anna Adarsh College for Women, Anna Nagar, Chennai from 5^th to 7^th August 2010.

According to Prof. Krishnaswamy, howlers are quite common in India. He recalled an instance of his correcting a paper for the Civil Services Examination, for  the prestigious job in the country: A candidate had written : “ Indian women eat their husbands before they eat themselves. The candidate had obviously meant that the women take food only after serving food to their husbands.

Given below are a few howlers which he came across while visiting different countries:

China :

 At a swimming pool :  “ Fall into water carefully”

 A low roof  bus :  “ Bump your head carefully”

At toilet entrance : “ Free toilet paper, treasure the use”

Norway : At a bar : “ Ladies are not allowed to have  a child in the bar”

Rome: At the entrance of a clinic “ Specialist in women and other diseases”

Japan : At a bar : “ Special cocktail for ladies with nuts”

Poland : At a restaurant : “ Hall preparation in our restaurant personally passed by our chef”