English is so popular here that it almost doesn’t matter what something says, Koreans will buy it just for the writing. This week’s Say WHAT?! is one of the best examples I can think of to prove my point.
During my first year teaching in Busan, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw one of the most popular 6th grade girls wearing the shirt below.
If you can’t make out the writing, it says…
Life Outside of Texas 
There was a craze a while ago to have chinese writing on t-shirts and tattoo, I often wondered if they said similar things?
That’s funny! I was actually thinking that as I posted this.
Oh wow! That’s quite the shirt, lol, especially for a 6th grader!
Yeah, it was pretty shocking!
So, what does the sign language she was flashing mean? Does it mean “peace” or is it “V” for virgin?
haha Probably virgin. But it’s an old photo.
Hahaha, that t-shirt really made my laugh 🙂 This girl rocks. Does she know what’s on her t-shirt?
I honestly don’t think she understood it because she was a sweet girl. But you never know. Her English was one of the best in our school (but it was a low level school).
Heeheehee … at least the shirt didn’t express the opposite sentiment. 🙂 Now that would’ve been a double “SAY WHAT?!”
… oh my goodness gracious … I just noticed that the “(THIS SHIRT IS OLD)” part is actually written on the shirt. (Sorry, I’m not the sharpest needle in the haystack after a two-hour nap.) I guess her shirt really does say the opposite, without actually SAYING it. Too funny! Thanks for a post-nap laugh. 🙂
Yeah this shirt definitely implied that she is not a virgin. Part of the quirks of teaching in Korea, I guess. I also had a 5th grade boy that wore a “Fashionista” shirt, but I never managed to get a picture.
That is quite a t-shirt. I would have been shocked to see it too. Wow!
I just had my friends send me a few pics of shirts they’ve seen their students wear to school. Check back for more crazy English each Wednesday. Thanks for reading!
I saw a tshirt for sale in Bangkok that had a really cute bunny rabbit on it. Under the bunny was the phrase, “Cancer would get cancer and die.” …
hahaha How bazaar! Please tell me you take photos of these gems! I’d love to have you guest post on Say WHAT?! sometime!
What the? This is crazy. Especially considering how young that girl is. Did you fill her in on what it meant?
She wore the shirt several times and I always thought about it, but I thought telling her would just embarrass her so in the end I decided not to.
Yes, you see some pretty crazy stuff here. One girl came to class with a shirt that had the words “PORN STAR” in bright pink sequins. Can’t make this stuff up.
That’s pretty bad!! If you have any photos of weird or inappropriate English, you can do a guest post for Say WHAT?! Wednesday sometime.
That’s hilarious! I hope her poor mother wasn’t aware of what she was advertising!
The most important thing is that the boys were completely oblivious! 😉
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I feel like this sometimes in Singapore too… although I am sure they know what the shirts say, they just don’t realize how cheesy the sayings are some times. Things like…”life is like a flower if you wish for what you want the bloom opens” or other awful forms of poetry.