Monday, January 19, 2009   8:58 PM

Heartless Ridicule

Dear Shinohara Rikuun,

Congratulations - not only have you plastered a non-existent English word on the side of your truck, you have also spelt it incorrectly. Presumably because you couldn't find it in a dictionary. It's certainly in none of mine.

Heartfull Communication

I know it says on your website "限りない挑戦" ("Challenge without limits"), but sometimes you just gotta bow to the inevitable and find many happiness in your daily life without overstretching your linguistic resources.

Admittedly you will find the word on Google, but the first entry is from the mindbogglingly authoritative Urban Dictionary, and of the nine other entries on the first page, five are somehow Japan-related and of the others, two represent touchy-feely arty-farty type websites. Hardly a sign of a word in common circulation in the English-speaking world, I submit.

Actually, let's see what happens if we enter the word into the Heartful Dictionary, the number two result in Google provided by that hotbed of linguistic research, the Toyohashi University of Technology:

Heartful Dictionary

Well, as they say around here, "the twitterings of a lark catching my ear with pleasant sound".


Posted in Engrish
Comments
Restaurant chain "Joyfull" is also guilty of adding the extra "l." Guilty, I say!
Posted by: john turningpin | 2009-01-20 08:17
There was a certain eikaiwa that used that word too. An English school!
Posted by: Tom | 2009-01-20 10:52
That's wonderfull and beauty information from both of you!
Posted by: ThePenguin | 2009-01-21 02:11
Much as I like to smile at the examples of "Engrish" that I see all the time here, I feel I have to be restrained in my piss-taking because it's still better than my Japanese :(
Posted by: David | 2009-01-21 02:47
I'd never make fun of an individual's English, or even say a hand-written temporary notice, but any business which spends time and money plastering misspelt nonsense over their shops, vehicles, packaging etc. is a deserving target - especially in a country which is apparently so keen on learning the language.
Posted by: ThePenguin | 2009-01-21 04:00
I think we have a Unidy of purpose there (see what I did there?)
Posted by: Our Man in Abiko | 2009-01-21 16:29
@ Tom -- That would be AEON, which stamped "Heartful English" on everything from envelopes to stationery. At least they used the one "L" instead of two, but that's not much of a saving grace.

@ Penguin -- I'm glad we could provide wonderfull and beauty information to you. Please making sure you are safety driver.
Posted by: john turningpin | 2009-01-22 10:10
Bingo! I think you should get a prize or something. Maybe an AEON textbook.
Posted by: Tom | 2009-02-01 08:33