Isn't that Shatner in the Twilight Zone episode about seeing something on the wing of the plane? (Sorry, can't remember the name of the episode.)

Heather8875 did you mean Nightmare at 20,000 Feet?

No, I think this is a Priceline Commercial, the outside guy got the overpriced economy seats.

Yes, that's the one I meant. I just went to look it up and correct myself, but you beat me to it.

(I thought it was "nightmare at XXXX feet", but I couldn't remember the number and wanted to look it up to make sure.)

Love the Priceline reference... Made me LOL.

Anybody remember the "Ralph Jameson" track from Bill Cosby's "I Started Out As a Child" LP? Those kids did exactly the same thing!

"*cough*... I can't see!... *cough*... Better light a match..." PHOOMPH

In the early 1990s the evening news co-anchors on Channel 8 in Greensboro (WGHP) were named Cynthia Smoot and Neill McNeill. I always thought of them as "Neill McNeill and Smoot McSmoot".

Smoot has since moved on (I think she's in Tampa, maybe?), so I too have known the rare but exquisite pain of Smootlessness. But, better to have had a Smoot and lost, than never to have had a Smoot at all. (Sweet Jesus, somebody stop me...)

Your first two stories are about idiots from Wisconsin.In fact, I have noticed you seem to pick stories with a Wisconsin idiot very often. I'm sure you have plenty of idiots who have a "local angle". Don't you? Start using them word boy.

All those Swen and Ollie jokes came from somewhere didn't they?

From the plane article: "The approximate 2-foot-long piece used to reduce drag was not a flight safety issue,'' airline spokesman Dean Breest said.

Huh?

It would seem that something designed to reduce drag would make a plane more able to keep up the speeds to stay in the air. While the loss of a 2 ft chunk of metal may not have put the plane in *much* danger, to say it isn't a "flight safety issue" seems a bit, well, understated.

Definately gremlins!

A little sensitive, are we?

I think the WI and MN idiots get equal time here. IMO, the most memorable idiot-story from this week is of the MN guy who had himself gelded.

You know, now that I think of it, Priceline may have missed out on funny commercial using the Twilight Zone Gremlin and Bill Shatner. At the end of the commercial he could run into John Lithgow at the airport.

Yes, there is much humor to be derived from Japanglish. My g/f is from Tokyo and I have been taking lessons for a couple of years. Therefore, I know that "Please be sure to appoint the object commodity of the lapping with the remarks column when ordering. When there was no entry, for verifying there are times when time is required to dispatch" actually means "To avoid delaying your order, please select the code for the proper gift-wrapping in the comments column." 'Nuff said.

Also, I have an issue with the term "18 year old man" being used to describe a couple of idiots igniting themselves with gasoline.

And yes, parts falling off of plane = bad

All your base are belong to us!

http://www.allyourbasearebelongtous.com/flash/

I liked this one, over on the sidebar:

"It is not which delivers the new commodity information and profitable campaign information etc. of with the mail, [ the mail it seems ] large we collect the reader."

If you're a fan of such things, be sure and visit this site.

Lived in Japan for Six Years and a Japanese wife.

I have very mixed feelings about, "Japanese English," and sites like Engrish.com. Yes, the English used can be absurd and bizarre. But is it funny? And if it is funny, why do we find it funny? In other words, are we laughing at the Japanese for their poor English language skills?

Any American who has ever studied Spanish, French, or German knows how difficult it is to translate back and forth between those languages and English. In some cases, it is next to impossible to find an exact translation. And this is despite the fact that languages share some common linguistic roots, and as a people, we share a related history and culture.

Now consider the problem of translating back and forth between English and Japanese. The Japanese language shares no linguistic roots with English and as a people we share nothing as far as a related history and culture. How can one find the right word, let alone the right grammar, when the concept you are attempting to describe is alien to the other culture?

For example, consider the Japanese word, itadakimasu (いただきます).

The word is used before one eats. At the dinner table, after your plate is set before you, and before you dig in, you are supposed say itadakimasu (assuming you are polite and respectful). Depending on the dictionary consulted, the literal translation for this word is, "I receive it," or, "I eat now." On one level, it is on par with saying grace before eating a meal; however, the words lacks all of the associated religious overtones. On another level it is vaguely similar to the French phrase, Bon appetit, however it is said by the person eating the meal.

How does that concept get translated quickly and easily without an absurd number of words or without sounding silly, especially if you do not understand the culture for which you doing the translating?

And it is not just the Japanese who can look silly when trying to speak a foreign language.

I remember my first students in Japan. Cute as a button, more adorable than Hello Kitty, six year old girls. During our second lesson together, one had to go to the bathroom. Of course, I did not get that right away. She kept using different Japanese words, but I could't find these words in my dictionary. Finally, she drew something which looked vaguely like a toilet on the chalkboard. I got it, and I looked up the word toilet in my dictionary. The first word I found—and could pronounce—was the word benjo (べんじょ). So I said the word. A wave of relief washed over her little face, and off she ran.

Yeah! I'd learned a new word. And of course, I put it to use.

Unfortunately, what my dictionary failed to tell me was the connotations associated with that word. In the part of Japan where I lived, the word benjo brought with it connotations of the scariest, dirtiest, most decrepit, outhouse you have ever seen or had the privilege to use. As a result, whenever I used that word, people looked shocked, disgusted, and/or confused. Of course, some laughed at me. (Look at the dorky, country bumpkin from the U.S.A.!)

Thankfully, one day someone took the time to point out the connotations of the word to me, and they provided me with less offensive alternatives.

Needless to say, any pride I felt at learning a new word was replaced with embarrassment.