I spend a lot of time in Japan so I’ve seen firsthand a great deal of the whole “Engrish” phenomenon. I personally have a broader view of what Engrish is than most foreigners perhaps would. For example, some people feel that the term Engrish applies only to t-shirts and signs that contain a garbled blend of English words that make no sense the way the manufacturer has strung them together. This website has fantastic examples of what I’m talking about here.

But I happen to think that the term Engrish can be applied anytime some random English word is used on a product, either as a name or as a description. Take this dog food brand, for example. It’s simply called “Smack,” which probably wouldn’t be considered Engrish by most people because it’s a legitimate word and it’s spelled properly. But I think it’s Engrish because it’s a totally random name for a dog food and doesn’t make much sense. Sure, I guess you can argue that the name “Alpo” makes no sense, but that’s different and doesn’t suit my purposes :). (Photo by JE)

Anyway, I just crack up whenever I see this dog food in the stores. I start thinking of potential commercials or print ads that the company could run, and of course they all depend on the slang meaning of smack. Unfortunately, none of my Japanese friends think this is even remotely funny, even when I explain to them what smack means. Oh, well…

2 Responses to “Is Your Dog Hooked on Smack?”

1. The Krell Says:
   December 11th, 2006 at 5:22 pm

   “smack” = to strike (usually gluteus maxima) with open hand. I am confused

2. Julie Says:
   December 11th, 2006 at 5:23 pm

   “Smack” used to be a pretty common way to refer to heroin. That’s what I was going for here….

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