The Marmot’s Hole

21 Comments

1. Bipolar Mindscrew
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 3:18 pm | Permalink

   …I knew this picture looked familiar. Engrish.com beat you and Misha to the punch in 2006.

   http://www.engrish.com/detail......2006-11-15

2. R. Elgin
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 4:24 pm | Permalink

   Yes, but is it really “Engrish”?

3. Alex
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 4:29 pm | Permalink

   Technically, yes it is Engrish, the ellipses make it so.

4. R. Elgin
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 5:33 pm | Permalink

   Alex, if I were from New Jersey, this would be *so* not Engrish. It makes perfect, idiomatic sense, though I would not put such on my awning.

5. Alex
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 6:25 pm | Permalink

   No, the whole semi-sentence without punctuation where the only capitalized word is “Lovely” is Engrish. I guess the definition of Engrish is a lot like the old classic one for porn. “I know it when I see it” (or something like that)

   It’s in the same Engrish dialect as “KTF, have a good time”

6. hardyandtiny
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 6:37 pm | Permalink

   Not Engrish

7. dda
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 7:19 pm | Permalink

   the whole semi-sentence without punctuation where the only capitalized word is “Lovely” is Engrish.

   That would make a large majority of the native speakers of English, and many non-natives too, commenting on this blog, speakers of Engrish, then…

8. Granfalloon
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 7:22 pm | Permalink

   Good heavens, of course it’s Engrish. Leave the grammar and punctuation aside. It’s using the word “fucking” in a context that is completely inappropriate. Unless this is a store that specializes in punk clothing or some other counter-culture product, this sign is way off. This would not be produced by someone with a handle on the English language.

9. R. Elgin
   Posted March 9, 2008 at 7:24 pm | Permalink

   The syntax is still plausible — as per common English usage. If it were broken as, for example: “some one set us up the bomb”, then that would be classic “Engrish”.

   I am amused that someone could use the word “f***” and not run a porn shop.

10. Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog)
    Posted March 9, 2008 at 7:36 pm | Permalink

    It’s using the word “fucking” in a context that is completely inappropriate.

    It’s Itaewon. Consider the local industrial base.

11. jd
    Posted March 9, 2008 at 7:55 pm | Permalink

    I could be wrong, but I think it’s one of those stores in Itaewon that has a mostly “dudes who dress like chicks” customer base. And I’m not talking about the well-heeled dudes who work as bankers, the ones with women’s clothes tastefully hidden under their suits. I mean the ones on the hill. So, the word f@cking does fit the context.

    (Should that be The Hill? The hill? I don’t want to get caught using Engrish.)

12. jd
    Posted March 9, 2008 at 7:59 pm | Permalink

    I was not trying to make the bad word into an email address, but the program running the blog seems to think I was.

13. kwandongbrian
    Posted March 9, 2008 at 8:46 pm | Permalink

    Since we’re quibbling about engrish, can I poke fun at the spelling of Itaewon? The middle syllable is not a drink.

14. cm
    Posted March 9, 2008 at 8:58 pm | Permalink

    The word “fucking” doesn’t have the same stigma attached in Korea. They truly don’t know what they are saying, literally.

15. Arghaeri
    Posted March 9, 2008 at 9:29 pm | Permalink

    It seems like a good example of colloquial English in England. There’s a big difference between that and polite society language. I can well imagine folks back home giving their lady a gift of cosmetics and saying “Go on then, make yourself fucking lovely.” This of course in the romantic period before marriage.

    “Fucking lovely” is a very common adjectival term in england, with little stigma when used in a friendly tone. Also used for the opposite meaning in negative circumstances e.g. on discovering you car tyre has a flat “Oh, fucking lovely”.

    It seems to me, the shop owner knows english perfectly well, and it says exactly what they intended. Albeit, although perfectly normal in everyday speech this would likely not be acceptable as a public shop name.

16. Arghaeri
    Posted March 9, 2008 at 9:38 pm | Permalink

    “I am amused that someone could use the word “f***” and not run a porn shop.”

    If thats your criteria for using the word, there must be a hell of a lot of porn shops in your neck of the woods.

    “It’s using the word “fucking” in a context that is completely inappropriate.”

    The context in terms of usage is completely appropriate, the public location perhaps is a different thing.

17. day4night
    Posted March 11, 2008 at 4:47 am | Permalink

    Arghaeri’s got it. Brits and Irish say “fucking lovely” all fucking day long…

    Examples of common usage:

    1) Sincere

    LIMEY: The way you play that vintage mini Moog synth with the Roland 808 is just fucking lovely, mate.

    2) Sarcastic

    LIMEY 1: A virus has killed everyone in the world except for you, me and a million rabid, flesh-eating zombies.

    LIMEY 2: Fucking lovely, isn’t it?

18. setnaffa
    Posted March 11, 2008 at 6:57 am | Permalink

    Frankly, I find Itaewon a wonderful mix of cultures… Well, maybe not exactly wonderful… The little Casbah of the East actually scares me shiiteless…

19. user-81
    Posted March 11, 2008 at 7:12 am | Permalink

    #18, why? Walk into the Pakistani restaurants along the back alley or the Turkish restaurant below the mosque and they will greet you warmly. Chat with them a little and you will find they are regular people.

20. Benxamin
    Posted March 11, 2008 at 1:02 pm | Permalink

    I wonder if they meant this to be more along the lines of desirable or “fuckable.”

21. nathan
    Posted May 5, 2008 at 12:33 am | Permalink

    The woman who runs the shop was interviewed not too long ago and in the article she said (and I’m paraphrasing as I don’t recall EXACTLY how she said it) that she did not want people to just feel lovely after the left her store, she wanted them to feel FUCKING lovely. #3, those aren’t ellipses, its a heart, and #11, I haven’t seen a lot of men in there, but of course, I’m usually just passing by on my way to the bars.