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Grex > Language > #54: The Maa Item. (Maa is the language of the Samburu tribesmen, Kenya) | |
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srw
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The Maa Item. (Maa is the language of the Samburu tribesmen, Kenya)
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Jan 6 15:17 UTC 1994 |
An article in Forbes magazine reports:
Nike has a television commercial for hiking shoes that was shot in Kenya
using Samburu tribesmen.
The camera closes in on the one tribesman who speaks, in native Maa. As he
speaks, the Nike slogan "Just do it" appears on the screen
Lee Cronk, an anthropologist at the University of Cincinatti, says the
Kenyan is really saying, "I don't want these. Give me big shoes." Says
Nike's Elizabeth Dolan, "We thought nobody in America would know what he
said."
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| 19 responses total. |
davel
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response 1 of 19:
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Jan 6 16:53 UTC 1994 |
If they honestly thought that, they're dumber than I imagined. (If they
thought nobody would *care*, maybe ... )
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danr
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response 2 of 19:
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Jan 7 02:26 UTC 1994 |
That is pretty stupid. Maybe they did it to get some extra, i.e. free,
publicity.
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srw
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response 3 of 19:
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Jan 8 00:22 UTC 1994 |
Since it makes them look so stupid, I have a strong tendency to doubt it.
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rcurl
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response 4 of 19:
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Jan 8 17:31 UTC 1994 |
Somebody say something in Maa.
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srw
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response 5 of 19:
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Jan 9 05:23 UTC 1994 |
We need to get Lee Kronk to log in. Maybe after we turn on incoming telnet.
:-)
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none
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response 6 of 19:
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Apr 23 23:58 UTC 1994 |
Something in Maa
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anne
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response 7 of 19:
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Apr 24 16:50 UTC 1994 |
I've heard this before, and I am still amused by it. Of course similar things
happen when American companies try to translate their slogans into foreign
languages. I remember a few years ago hearing that the Nova car was sent to
S. America, and it wasn't doing so well, finally someone realised that no va
in Spanish essentially means 'doesn't go' who's going to buy a car that means
'doesn't go'? So they took the cars back, changed the name, and sent the
cars back, where they sold decently. (that has nothing to do with slogans- but
I was amused by it)
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orinoco
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response 8 of 19:
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Aug 23 17:41 UTC 1994 |
Or then, coca cola, in some chinese dialect, means bite the wax tadpole.
In the orient, an english name is like a status symbol for your company, so
they end up with 1 heck uv o lotto funny names.
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kami
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response 9 of 19:
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Aug 24 02:40 UTC 1994 |
coca cola brings your ancestors back to life...
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brighn
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response 10 of 19:
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Aug 24 06:44 UTC 1994 |
Re: say something in Maa. Sorry, the closest my reference books
bring me is Hausa, which is in the same branch. How's this:
Kurege Da Bushiya: -- wata rana ana ruwa: bushiya tana yawo, ta zo
bakin raming kurege: ta yi sallama, ta ce 'Kai, ina jin sanyi:
ko da wurin da zam fake?' Kurege ya amsa 'Alhamdu lillahi! To, ga dang
wuri, shigo!' Suka zauna tare: jim kadang kurege ya ce 'Ke bushiya!
Zaman nan namu, da ke, ba shi da dadi, jikingki ya cika tsini. Sai
ki sake wuri!' Bushiya ta ce 'Ashe? Ni kuwa, dadi nike ji: Wanda
wurin nam bai game shi ba, ba shi ya sake wani ba?'
(I've omitted the accent marks because they'd be just too damn hard
to put in.)
Notice the antepenultimate (third to last) word in the second to last
line, the one before "ji: Wanda". Interesting, no?
(dade nike ji, from the translation, means "I enjoyed it", but I don't
know the morphology, so I don't know what nike means.)
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kami
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response 11 of 19:
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Aug 25 06:55 UTC 1994 |
now, are we going to get a translation, or is that a silly question?
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brighn
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response 12 of 19:
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Aug 26 23:12 UTC 1994 |
I was waiting for someone to ask.
Scavenger hunt! I put the translation somewhere else on Grex.
All YOU have to do is find it. (hee, hee, hee).
/
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carson
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response 13 of 19:
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Aug 28 09:58 UTC 1994 |
(wait... I SAW it. I can't remember where!)
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brighn
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response 14 of 19:
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Aug 29 05:11 UTC 1994 |
Maybe it got lost. In the overgrowth. (heeheehee)
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carson
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response 15 of 19:
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Aug 29 05:44 UTC 1994 |
(it's there, and as soon as Grex speeds up, I'll FIND IT.)
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kami
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response 16 of 19:
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Aug 29 20:03 UTC 1994 |
dammit! I hope you didn't stash it in that stupid item in agora bout
lawn lengths. Some of us have the sense to "forget" rubbish like that!
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brighn
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response 17 of 19:
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Aug 29 23:31 UTC 1994 |
Gee, Carson, Kami figured it out without even reading Agora.
O.k., o.k., Kami, briefly:
The hedgehog and the squirrel.
One day a hedgehog was looking for shelter. It was becoming cold, and
he had no place to stay warm. The squirrel invited him to stay at the
squirrel's home, in a tree. After a few weeks, though, the squirrel became
upset because the hedgehog's quills were dangerous and kept the squirrel
from sleeping soundly. So, he said: "This will not do. I am very
uncomfortable. I shall have to ask you to leave." The hedgehog
responded, "I think it is you who should leave. Is it not said,
that he who is unhappy with a place, should leave that place?"
(I'm sure I changed some details; I'm doing it from memory.)
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kami
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response 18 of 19:
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Aug 30 03:49 UTC 1994 |
right. cosmic wisdom. I left...:) See ya!
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carson
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response 19 of 19:
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Aug 30 07:43 UTC 1994 |
<sigh>
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