Tag Archives: brand names

buyern English, the non-language

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Ingrid Piller

Installment #2 in the mini-series on multilingual signage Much of the signage that can be found in contemporary public spaces is commercial. It is a form of advertising, and language choice in commercial signage such as shop names is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & globalization, Recent Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Frontpage of the IT section of the Jam-e Jam newspaper, Iran Transliterated brand names

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Ingrid Piller

I’ve just come across a 2006 University of South Africa MA thesis investigating Saudi fast-food ads. The author, Basem Abbas Al Agha, finds that […] 97% of the respondents believed that the translations are incomprehensible in Arabic. The other 3% stated … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & consumerism, Recent Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Multilingual diversity marketing

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Ingrid Piller

As the UAE is still abuzz with the opening of the Burj Khalifa, I thought a post to mark the occasion might be in order. Seeing that I’m blogging on social aspects of multilingualism and language learning, the Tower of … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & consumerism, Recent Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Halloween Mystery

Posted on November 2, 2009 by Ingrid Piller

This chocolate wrapper turned up in my child’s trick-or-treat bag and now we don’t know which language Prestÿ is! Anyone out there who can help? One dad in our trick-or-treating party figured Prestÿ was German: “Don’t you guys put umlauts … Continue reading →

Posted in Language & consumerism, Recent Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments