Lingua Franca: the right place to learn languages

It is illegal for teenagers to walk down Main Street in Fort Qu'Appelle (Canada) with their shoes untied. *** Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate." *** The Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux". *** Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. *** It is illegal to leave your horse in front of the Country Squire Hotel (Fort Qu'Appelle, Canada) without hitching it securely to the hitching post. *** An Alaskan law says its not legal to push a live moose out of a moving airplane. *** Florida men may not be seen publicly in any kind of strapless gown. *** Indiana residents are prohibited from attending a movie house or theater nor can they ride in a public streetcar within at least four hours after eating garlic. *** Iowans may not kiss longer than five minutes. *** Oklahoma females are forbidden from doing their own hair without being licensed by the state. *** A Pennsylvania special cleaning ordinance bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling. *** Pennsylvania men may not purchase alcohol without written consent from his wife. *** Massachusetts taxi drivers are prohibited from making love in the front seat of their taxi during their shifts. *** In King County, in Seattle Washington, it is illegal to sit on a man's lap on a metro bus, unless you are married. *** A Texas city ordinance states that a person cannot go barefoot without first obtaining a special five-dollar permit. *** In Washington all lollipops are banned. *** In baseball, a single can also be called a bagger, base hit, baser,bingle, bingo, one-bagger, one-base hit, one-sacker, safety and solo shot. *** When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." Instead, the company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant". *** An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "Yo vi al Papa" (I saw the Pope), the shirts read "Yo vi la papa" (I saw the potato). *** Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux". *** When Coors Beer threw a slogan, "Turn it loose," referring to the bottle's cap, they translated it intointo Spanish like this: "Aflójala". Many people thought they were referrring to diarrhea. *** Ford Motor couldn't sell its European top-selling car, the Sierra, because General Motors had already patented the brands "Ciera" and "High Sierra", whichare pronounced the same way. Instead, Ford decided to name the car as "Merkur", but this name was so difficult to pronounce that Merkur's sales never took off. *** Did you know that the sound of "Bush" in Mandarin is very close to a sound meaning "clean"? Did you know a Chinese businessman is purposedly using the name of the U.S. President to sell toilet-cleaning products? *** The Ford Company had to solve a last-minute marketing problem in Brazil. After spending millions to introduce its famous suburban car, the Pinto, they found out this word meant "tiny male genitals". After learning this, Ford had to hurriedly pull off the nameplates and rename the car Corcel. *** After spending millions of dollars in advertising, Apple Computer had to change the brand name MacIntosh to the incorrectly spelled (and pronounced) Macintosh. The reason was McIntosh Labs, producers of fine sound equipment for years, said: "No, no; we're not going to share our name". *** The State of Massachussets prohibits snoring unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked. *** In California, community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stopa child from playfully jumping over puddles of water. *** Floridan women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer. The salon owner can be found liable, too. *** An old Massachusetts ordinance declares goatees illegal unless you first pay a special license fee for the privilege of wearing one in public. *** Massachusetts mourners at a wake may not eat more than three sandwiches. *** I'll bet you never knew that in Alabama it's illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle. *** The State of Massachussets prohibits snoring unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked. *** In California, community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stopa child from playfully jumping over puddles of water. *** Floridan women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer. The salon owner can be found liable, too. *** An old Massachusetts ordinance declares goatees illegal unless you first pay a special license fee for theprivilege of wearing one in public. *** Massachusetts mourners at a wake may not eat more than three sandwiches. *** I'll bet you never knew that in Alabama it's illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle. *** Ministers in Pennsylvania cannot perform a marriage ceremony if the bride or groom is drunk. *** When Braniff Airlines tried to promote its "Fly in leather, fly Braniff", the lame Spanish translation they used was "Vuele en cueros, vuele en Braniff". Of course, nobody wanted to travel that light! *** Procter & Gamble, maker of a new shampoo brand had to hurriedly change its name from "Dreck" to "Drene" when they discovered that the first word means "excrement" in German! ***