from-ashes.net

When I first came to Kuwait, first thing I did was learn the signs in order to get my bearings. I didn’t want to have to rely on a taxi or friends to get around, so I started paying attention to my surrounding and learning different routes.
One thing I noticed – they need to hire a better translator! Or here – I will loan you my dictionary! I remember seeing a sign while my ever faithful Sri Lankan cab driver was taking my somewhere one afternoon and pointing it out to him. “They have saloons here in Kuwait? But I thought alcohol was illegal?” My cab driver chuckled. “It is a men’s saloon. You know, where they go to get their haircuts and shaves.” he replies. I looked at him, “You mean a men’s salon?” I ask. “Yes, where they go to get haircuts and shaves. A saloon.” I shook my head. The word saloon – in my Western raised mind – brings up images of cowboys, brawls, liquor and women dancing, singing, and profiting from drunkards. I explained it to him and he looked confused, but laughed about it.
There are many signs here that get mispelled on a daily basis – some which can be quite funny. Here’s one for example:

No quite sure where they were trying to go with this one, but this is one of those lost in translation things. “Please bascete here” – this was taken at the Hardees Lon and I always go to for lunch. Right above the trash receptacle is this sign, indicating that they want us to put our “baskets” on top. Granted, they don’t always give us baskets with our food, most of the time it’s just the tray that’s been pockmarked by juvienilles and their smoking habits.
There’s a whole group on Facebook called “Stupid Signs of Kuwait” that has pictures of grammatical errors in both English and Arabic – I love reading that one as well as the “Stupid Cars of Kuwait” – simply because I’ve seen plenty of them here!

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