I have embarrassed myself in a slew of creative ways over my lifetime. This one time at band camp– Just kidding. Years ago I worked on a branding project for one of my restaurant clients. They had a contract with Whole Foods, <—apparently the nexus of my WTF stories, and they needed a name with packaging design for their sushi-to-go line.
My business partner and I did extensive research to find graphical elements for the labels along with a memorable, action oriented Japanese word for the name. What we neglected to do was consult a native Japanese speaker. (That sense of foreboding you’re feeling is well founded.) The word we came up with was three letters long, catchy and as far as we knew meant “to go.”
We put together a beautiful presentation but upon seeing it the wife of our client turned every shade of red possible, which progressed into purple before she covered her face. You see, the word we’d chosen (and subsequently plastered all over our proposed campaign) didn’t mean to go so much as to come…in a sexual manner.
Ahem. “Well, itadakimasu!” <—Japanese for “let’s eat” or “I happily receive.”
Color me horrified (which I’ve always believed was the color puce. Doesn’t puce sound horrific? BTW it’s the shade our client’s wife had turned, so there was mortification all around.) I’m not sure how we kept our client on board afterward.
Shakespeare’s quip about names wasn’t meant to apply to branding. Sushi by any other name wouldn’t sound as sweet.
In my latest Carina Press release my heroine, Ariana Golde, turns into a giant goof-bucket whenever she’s near the hero, Maks. It makes for some embarrassing although entertaining moments.
Check out Chaos Tryst if you’re looking for an escape filled with modern fantasy, humor and madcap romance.
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NOTE: The moral to the story above is to always use a human translator. For Chaos Tryst I had the help of Joe Bearden. If Maks and his brothers don’t quite capture Russian flair it’s NOT because Joe didn’t do his best with me. He named the magical Roma, came up with the endearment vorovka, and was all around amazing. Thanks, Joe!
Tags: Chaos Tryst, fairy tale retelling, fantasy romance, Shirin Dubbin
Love it, Shirin. Puceness. If Chaos Tryst is half as entertaining as that blog post–instant win.
Congrats on the new release!
Too funny. I’ve had the same problem now and again, trying to apply English logic to Mandarin Chinese… and it worked about as well.
Congrats on your release, which I’m reading as we speak!
OMG! That is too funny! Wish I could have been a fly on the wall in that meeting. LOL. Congrats again on Chaos Tryst! I got my copy today ; ).
@Robert, ooh what about “pucescence”? It has a little putrescence thrown in for extra yuck factor.
Thank you!
@Shawn, I wish I spoke Mandarin so I could hear those flubs. Thanks! I hope you like it. I think it has an anime/manga feel and there’s an homage to Fooly Cooly in there. Let me know what you think…
@Angela, you would have cried laughing. It was so bad. Thank you much! (as my brother used to say).
It’d be good to hear your thoughts on Tryst. I’m working out the plotting for book 2 and there’s a nod to The Princess Bride.
You kept the client? Now, that’s impressive
Yes, I’m impressed you kept the client, too! Congrats on your release; if it’s as funny as this post it ought to be a great read.
@Eleri, @Tia, I think the guys in the room thought it was hilarious. Plus we’d done good work up until that point. Otherwise… ;D Thanks!