With precision and elegance

July 7, 2020 @ 1:49 pm · Filed by under Lost in translation, Signs

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From Victor Steinbok:

The Japanese says:

Toire o kirei ni tsukatte itadaki arigatō gozaimasu.
トイレをきれいに使って頂きありがとうございます。
"Thank you for using the restroom cleanly."

From Nathan Hopson:

The English in the sign is perfect up to "and elegance," which may just be poetic license…

From Frank Chance:

“Thank you for (doing us the favor of) using the toilet cleanly.”

Or perhaps a little less literally:

“Thank you for paying attention to cleanliness when using the toilet.”

Arga bibliotekstanten is very active on various social media platforms.

"Dagens skylt" is Swedish for "Today's sign".

Selected readings

July 7, 2020 @ 1:49 pm · Filed by under Lost in translation, Signs


4 Comments

  1. BillR said,

    July 7, 2020 @ 5:46 pm

    Reminds me of “we aim to please, you aim too, please”

  2. Josh R said,

    July 7, 2020 @ 7:17 pm

    Someone in the building's management company knew a native speaker with a sense of humor and a poetic heart.

  3. Andreas Johansson said,

    July 10, 2020 @ 3:48 am

    I should perhaps add that Arga bibliotekstanten isn't anyone's name, but Swedish for roughly "The Angry Library Lady".

  4. Philip Taylor said,

    July 10, 2020 @ 4:36 am

    As it appears in your comment, Andreas (italicised, with a leading cap. for "Arga") it could also be a Linnæan binomial, possibly a member of the Argophyllaceae family !

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