Eifo eifo eifo ... ha-shufan?
Inspiration for the below courtesy of the good folks at Zabaj.Have you noticed how Israelis take English words, turn them into Hebrew, and then back into English again, but differently?
I was at the cinema just now, and there was a preview for a pretty good-looking movie called "Beaufort". It became בופור in Hebrew, which is perfectly legitimate, but then for the website, it got turned back into English as "Bufor". But it doesn't end there.
Super-Sal, the supermarket chain, clearly got its name from "super" and סל ("basket"). But for its website, it is "shufersal". Like it came from "shofar" or something. But it doesn't even end there.
I got into a taxi in Jerusalem and asked the driver to take me to Chopin St. (רחוב שופן). He had no idea what I was talking about. After a few minutes, and a few attempts to explain where I wanted to go: "Oh ...... you mean Rechov Shufan". Yes, silly me. My favourite Polish composer's name really came from the word for "bunny".
Labels: Language
posted by Daniel @ 4:28 PM
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