File talk:ExcellentRoom.jpg

Can anyone translate what the sign says? I know the first part of the sign(before the -) is in katakana and says ekuserentonore(I think, anyway), then the dash(which I don't think has a phonetic menaing), then mu.--Vercalos 07:38, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

It says "Excellent Room" in katakana.--189.169.11.249 00:08, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Can it really be considered Engrish if the Katakana is correct? 204.191.121.132 09:08, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm thinking that the other person doesn't actually know japanese..--Vercalos 09:37, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but what is an "excellent room"? If it means "prayer room" or "room for the exclusive use of employees" or "party area" or "relaxation lounge" -- all of which I can vaguely imagine might be the meaning of that term -- then a literal translation doesn't help us very much. For example, "rest room" in English is a euphemism, and doesn't really mean a room where you go to rest; if this were translated literally into a language that uses an entirely different metaphor for "toilet" it could be pretty confusing. Seeing that the Japanese seems to be using an English word, "eksurent" it wouldn't surprise me if is had a totally different meaning.  ProhibitOnions  ^(T) 11:58, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, the fact is that the meaning of a lot of words in Japanese change according to context. So it might actually be what the sign says, but not actually the proper interpretation..

I think we established that already. Thinking about it some more, could it be a VIP lounge? If no-one here speaks Japanese, we should perhaps ask for help on the Japanese Wikipedia.  ProhibitOnions  ^(T) 08:18, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Nevermind... It's still there.. The link just seems to be broken for some reason.

Anyway, I misread it, somehow.. It's actually more along the lines of ekuseresotoru-mu... I think it might actually be the Japanese phonetic equivelent of Excellent Room, as when you speak it aloud, it does sound rather similar(especially since katakana is mostly used to spell foreign words).. Much like Isaac gets translated as Isaku.. But I suppose we should probably ask at the Japanese Wikipedia first..--Vercalos 09:22, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

And just a little added note, the little bit of katakana in the upper left corner says Kurafu, approximately matching 'craft'--Vercalos 09:35, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Vercalos, the little katakana says "クラブ" (club; kurabu) not "クラフ" (kurafu). "クラブ" is commonly prefixed at the front of a hostess bar name, as can be seen in the pic at the hostess bar article -- so I assume that this is an entrance to a shop named "Club: Excellent Room". That makes the caption on Engrish incorrect. Dunno why the uploader thought it was a staff-only room... Well yeah, it doesn't look like a shop entrance to me too, but I'm betting pretty much it is. --朝彦 (Asahiko) 05:09, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

This was a staff-only entrance, hence my assumption that "Excellent" was being confused with "exclusive" or "staff only". I still think it's Engrish, as it's a nonsensical English phrase being presented generically on a sign in a railway station without any indication it means something else (ie, not "Staff entrance to the Excellent Room Bar"), similar to the many decorative uses of English in Japan, such as the department store directory signs, on which the only word in English is "Directory". I think it still belongs in the article: it's a baffling Japanese use of English.

Looking on the web, quite a few people have also noticed this sign and you can see the other characters on the sign. This might be from the front door: ; it's the Shinkansen Club. ProhibitOnions ^(T) 11:39, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Okay, so it looks like I was mistaken; my apologies. It was not just "club" but "Fukuoka Shinkansen Club" -- that would never go on a bar name. I wonder what the heck that door's supposed to be... You can put the image back into the article if you like, but just my 2¢, it'd be more convincing as an example of Engrish if we know what that door really is. --朝彦 (Asahiko) 07:03, 25 January 2007 (UTC)