T-Shirts and Incorrect English

There is an interesting trend in clothing that I’ve been noticing more and more lately. Apparently, it is a big thing to wear shirts with English phrases. I don’t really get all the hype, but you can find them everywhere.

One thing I can’t keep from laughing at is that many of the shirts have words that are spelled incorrectly. The other day I saw one that said, “Kindom of God,” and this weekend we came across one that said, “Wioming.”

I even saw a shirt that said “soccer” on it! Now that wasn’t spelled incorrectly, but it is just wrong! We are in Brazil for goodness sake – it is futebol. Even as a gringa I would never wear a shirt here that said “soccer.”

I’m not trying to be mean. I just don’t understand why everyone would want to wear shirts with English on them. Why English? And, if they must be sold, why not do some extra spell checking and make corrections before producing and selling it.

Personally, I love shopping for t-shirts from other countries when I travel. I especially like getting t-shirts that have the native language from that specific place on them or shirts with that country or city name as it is in the native language. However, I wouldn’t really think of buying a shirt with German or French on it from home in the U.S.

Now maybe I’ve been made a fool of before, but I usually make sure to know the translation and that the spelling is correct before buying the shirt.

So here, of course, we are always looking for shirts with Portuguese on them, and are always surprised at all the misspelled English phrases we end up finding. Now they aren’t always misspelled, I will admit. Some are just plain funny such as the “I Love Jeans” shirt I saw the other day.

We’ve also come across some pretty vulgar sayings on shirts. There is some pretty explicit content on some and I really hope these kids know what they say before they buy them. I’m talking worse than some people even dare to wear in the States.

I’ll continue to try and find my shirts with Portuguese here where they speak it and make sure I know the translation. Needless to say, I think I’ll save buying my shirts with English sayings for when I’m shopping in the U.S. and other English speaking countries. Given the rate of typos, I’d highly suggest that people around here consider doing the same.