The name of the school is bad enough, probably the worst use of English by an English school since YBM's "Let's SpeaKING." The "Toss Your Way Up" banner might rank among the worst uses of English in the country.
For those of you who get bothered when I post about bad English in Korea, and for the readers who somehow think it unbefitting a teacher to point out ridiculous uses of English here---it's not, by the way---it's stuff like this that bothers me, not Koreans in general struggling with a foreign language. I don't see anything wrong with putting down a goddamn English school that named itself after a slang term for masturbation. Some people will say it's just harmless coincidence, it's one that would have been noticed had a native English speaker been involved in the decision-makig process, and thus it demonstrates yet another case of English being used thoughtlessly in Korea and English being completely divorced from its speakers.
26 comments:
I love this part from that LJ entry:
And on that note, I end with this: If the offended and those happy to ridicule misused and mispronounced English were ever to attempt the Korean language, would they want to be treated with the kind of understanding and patience that they have themselves failed to display? I wouldn't think so.
He's got a point. I think foreigners would much rather be put on national television and made fun of for not speaking the language properly.
I have a longer entry planned in response to that LJ piece.
That's a good point, This is Me Posting. In short, though I do think there are some assholes who are intolerant and impatient with Korean English---critical and dismissive of everything, rather than being more selective in their frustration---on the whole I think we're far more patient and understanding than Koreans are of foreigners' attempts at Korean.
"Let's speaKING" is not so bad.
Compare that with Pagoda's "You Can Do!". Not that bad until you realize they used it for 30 years.
I guess you learn something new every day... I've never heard toss used as a term for masturbation before now.
You're right when you say no native English speakers were involved in Toss- they don't hire them. That's one of the reasons the mothers love Toss- they can call the school and talk directly to the teacher of their child. My husband works at one and from the headquarters in Seoul al the way down to the tiny franchises, it's against the rules to hire foreigners. So, obviously you're going to see some mistakes there!
(And Koreans are really nice to me about my horrid Korean. But I don't spend billions of dollars a year trying to acquire the language...)
I'm with Jon. I've never heard of Toss as a term for masturbation.
I thought it was just another strange Korean thing "Oh! It sounds like a good word let's use it." which doesn't bother me too much or the name of someone who started it.
As for the SpeaKING, I used that to show my kids how to play word games, so I don't have a problem with that at all.
Haha, I've seen one of those schools in Daegu. Great name.
Maybe when they searched for the meaning of the word, they chose the better ones http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/toss, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toss, http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/toss?view=uk.. not some cheap websites like the "urban dictionary".
I was in Masan the other day and noticed that some business was having their, "Grend," opening. And this was on a huge banner that took up half a building.
Try to beat this one.
If you will visit the Confucian Temple School in Gwangju "Gwangju Hyanggyo" (which by the way connotes wisdom and enlightenment) try to read the English translation near the road. It says "Confusion Temple"
not some cheap websites like the "urban dictionary"
You don't use the urban dictionary unless you already know the word in question is vulgar. No one uses it as an actual dictionary. UD doesn't claim to be Webster, and they aren't. It is a dictionary of vulgar vocabulary only.
As for people not knowing the alternate meaning of toss, it all comes down to where you were raised. Most Brits could tell you what it meant, for instance. Same thing goes for names which might cause some sniggering. eg. Roger (to have sex) or Ralph (to throw up) or Jill (Korean for vagina).
Try to beat this one.
Easy. In Hongdae, a certain bar was advertising their drink special with a huge banner sporting 2-foot letters.
The drink special? Whiskey and Cock.
At least you won't have to worry about needing a stir stick.
How about a bakery named Breast?
That YBM slogan always annoyed the hell out of me. "SpeaKING" is fine, even clever, but "Let's speaKING" is a perfect example of reinforcing mistakes instead of correcting them. Paris Baguette can use all the nonsensical English it wants, but an actual English school should not have grammatical errors in its advertisements. It's like a math hagwon advertising with a banner that reads "2+2=37".
I agree with you entirely, Brian -- it's NOT wrong for a teacher to point out ridiculous uses of English, especially within the education industry itself. Learners of a language need to be corrected when they make mistakes; corrected with patience and respect, but corrected nonetheless. And there is a BIG difference between mistakes that occur naturally as part of the learning process, and mistakes that have been institutionalized through incorrect use of English in the media, and in the English ed industry.
Why is everyone skipping over this?
Lea wrote:
As for the SpeaKING, I used that to show my kids how to play word games, so I don't have a problem with that at all.
Okay, okay. Either you can't read, or you can't speak English.
No one is saying that "speaKING" isn't a clever play on words. People are saying "Let's speaKING" is. The problem lies not in the word "speaKING" but in the erroneous sentence "Let's speaKING" which is short for "Let us speaking."
Either you're an English teach who apparently uses "let's speaking" in your everyday conversations, or you're an English teacher that can't distinguish the difference between "speaking" and "let's speaking" or you're an English teacher that doesn't care either way.
If any of the above is correct, you should be fired.
Tosser is a widely used British expression. It's a milder form of 'wanker'. It's what crap is to shit, if you will.
I've never heard of "toss" as a slang term for masturbation either. Maybe "jerk" or "jack," but never "toss."
I'm a New Yorker. Is this exclusively a British usage of the word?
It's used in most of the commonwealth as a term for wanker (I'm not sure about Canada though but definitely the main English speaking ones). It's also in some dictionaries too:
tosser [ˈtɒsə]
n
Brit slang. a stupid or despicable person
[probably from toss off (to masturbate)]
toss off
vb (adverb)
1. (tr) to perform, write, consume, etc.
2. (tr) to drink quickly at one draught
3. (intr) Brit slang to masturbate
Toss is used in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Canada. Plus many other places that would be considered former English colonies. It's not exactly a minor expression.
Just because it doesn't come from America, doesn't mean it's not uncommon.
Toss/tosser is also used amongst native English-speaking South Africans.
Bloody hilarious. Reminds me of the entry in 'World's Worst Signs' for the instructions on a box of rasins:
'Why not try tossing over your favourite cereal?'
Theres appreciation for cornflakes...
Tosser is a British English slang word, very popular in my home town actually.
Very much like the word "wanker", "wank","wanks" and "wanking"
There's also a hakwon around here called Crazy Academy.
I wouldn't want any one of those places on my CV.
I wouldn't agree that tosser is a milder form for the word wanker.If you call somebody any of those words in Manchester then you might as well be asking for a good beat down.
In short - it's a toss-up (I'm a South-African - it's a rather regular word there). When people in the land of broad broadband don't use spellchecks & some of the other amazing language gadgets on the internet and elsewhere before printing English, nevermind printing it so big and bold on Yellow (school) busses, I am blown - ^^
Hey! TOSS is the acronym for " Training On Screen System "
Hey! It's a stupid name for an English school.
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