06 September 2010

Precausions

You have to give kudos to Japanese people for every attempt at English they make. I mean, they come from a language that doesn't even have an alphabet (it has 3 syllabaries--thank you BlogPress for telling me how to spell that). It should go without saying that there are amusing mistakes and cultural mistranslations everywhere.
It is lovely, when we get on an airplane, being greeted with broad smiles for Evangeline instead of the guarded, "oh no a BABY!" looks that she gets from American flight attendants. They always have a little trinket of some sort for her (never age-appropriate but it's hard for non-parents to know what is and isn't). Eva was given a toy (a tiny plastic airplane surrounded by cardboard that was somehow supposed to be a book--I can't explain it) on our last flight from Tokyo to Okinawa which came eleven safety warnings. Here are a few choice selections, exactly as written:

To ask your full precausion before assembling

3. Keep away from small children under age3. The tiny parts may be drinked by mistake.
4. Do not use other pieces of this product with care from many projections.
5. For your safety use, do not use if it is broken or deformation.
7. Do not throw or swing this product, in order to avoid an unexpectedaccident.
8. On disposal occasion, please follow your local regulations of waste disposal.
9. Mold sometimes forms by humidity, so when keeping, keep in a well ventilated place.
10. To prevent from unexpected accidents, please keep this product away from children.

I think my favorite is #4 because I can't actually tell what it means.

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