Have you ever seen a product name that meant something funny in another language?

Question

I'm asking because someone else asked what "chichi" meant in Spanish, and it's a slang term for "boob."

However, "ChiChi's" is also a brand of Mexican-inspired food products/restaurants (I say Mexican-inspired because it's so Americanized it's laughable). They don't sell it in the Texas, where I'm from, so the first time I saw it in a grocery store in upstate NY, where I moved to a year ago, I burst out laughing in the middle of the aisle! I still giggle every time I see it... you'd think they'd have a research department to check that out...

Have you seen something like that?

This website has a ton, it's very funny:
http://www.engrish.com

Answer 1

♡In Japan, there is a coffee creamer called "Creap":
http://www.sylvainbouchard.com/wpblog/wp-content/creap.jpg
it just sounds so strange!
'CRUNKY'
http://rachis.typepad.com/photos/jerks/crunky.jpg
"Collon":
http://floatingworld.typepad.com/photos/rude_food/collon.jpg
"Homo Sausage":
http://theodk.com/wp/wp-content/homosausage_thumb.jpg
A drink called 'Calpis':
http://dcooney.com/blogimages/calpis-banana.jpg
Japan McDonald's has a shrimp burger called the "Ebi Filet-O":
http://blog.zaq.ne.jp/res/more/images/article87.jpg
Naive Shampoo:
http://www.khps.co.jp/lineup/naive/lineup/image/shampoo06.jpg
～I'm an American living in Japan, so most of these sound funny (to me) when I hear the name and see it on the package, especially snacks! Even the Japanese snack "Pocky":
http://www.japaninottawa.ca/kaedeya/images/product/pocky.jpg
sounds a little funny. (*^o^*) Most of these products are VERY good though!♡
☆Oh! Checked your link, some of these are on there. Sorry about that, but they are interesting.

Answer 2

when i first visited belgium in the early 1970s you could still get a soft drink (rather like 7-up) which was named after the sound you got when you unscrewed the cap:

Pschitt.

....

an even more memorable time though was when i lived and taught in lagos, nigeria.

many of the young women have yoruba names there, and one of the most widespread is Abimbola (which for some reason became a popular girls' name after many years of being used mainly by men).

sometimes girls called Abimbola shorten their name to 'bola. but i also regularly found section managers calling into my office (where i did secreterial training) saying things like:

'have you seen my 'Bimbo around here?'

'i have eight staff in my department. and six of them are 'Bimboes'.

....

(notice that the yoruba have special names for twins and children who have twins as siblings. this is because the yoruba have the highest incidence of natural twin-birth of any people on earth - so common that it has become an important feature of their culture).

Answer 3

Well, first, there's a popular line of baked goods in Mexico called "Bimbo"...they have their own soccer team and everything!

My Mexican friend and I were out today and saw a product that was called "Prima Salsa". We just looked at each other. Prima is the word for a female cousin!!

Finally, last week I was browsing the ethnic section of my supermarket and ended up purchasing several packages of "C.o.c.k. Flavored Soup." I KNOW they mean chicken, but just too funny to pass up.

Answer 4

I have a degree in international business, so I saw a lot in my classes in college. The best though, was a tube of toothpaste my professor had bought when he was in Thailand and brought to show the class. It was a yellow tube with a cartoon picture of a boy with a big smile, and it was called "Sh*t Eater Toothpaste". Apparently whoever came up with the name had heard the phrase "sh*t eating grin" in English and knew it meant big, goofy smile; but they didn't know what it literally meant.

Answer 5

In Hungary there is a popular fruit drink. The name of the drink is Siti, which is pronounced exactly like "sh*tty" in English. Since the words "multifruit drink" occur in English below the product name on the label, the label reads (in English) "sh*tty multifruit drink"

Answer 6

I don't remember exactly what I said, but in my Spanish 1 class I said something about riding a turtle and eating a small child.

Answer 7

Is not a product but in italy, the bus drivers are called "autista" , and in spanish that means a person with autism. Is funny.

Answer 8

Not even in another language, but in good 'ol American . . .

Ralphs is a very large grocery market chain on the West coast (in California, etc.)

Well . . . if you're in Boston and have drunk way too much -- like Ted Kennedy -- he RALPHS, for example.

Answer 9

Yeah, sometimes I see a mint in restaurants called "Spi-C-mint"..they are trying to be cute, I suppose..but it really looks like ****-Mint..very rude, no?

Answer 10

the first time i visited france, in 1972, i was amused by the name of their most popular orange juice, "sic".

what about one of england's most prestigious washing powders, persil?

parsley?

for whites that are greener than white!