Lost In Translation... Or Is It?

Living in a non-English speaking country means that there are little surprises everyday in the way of poorly translated merchandise. This last year it has been t-shirts especially that have served as little comedy bombs to brighten my day.

I have seen some real gems, from a t-shirt depicting a pair of chucks labelled "Where Are My Star Shoes?" to this beauty:

Not even joking.

...to a very, VERY obese man in a too small t-shirt that said "TEAM JACOB." (I really wish I had gotten a picture of that last one...)

I never knew when a treasure like this was going to present itself and every time I saw a new addition to my vast collection of oddities the thought always crossed my mind, "Do they know what that means?" In some cases, I really wasn't sure. None of the English on the shirts is terribly complicated and most people can form a few sentences in English at the very least. It's unbelievable that no one is aware of the message they're sporting across their body's billboard.

The reason I bring this up now, after so long without a new post, is to discuss a t-shirt I saw on TV today, on a show called "Downtown." Essentially, the show is the Georgian version of "Friends." It's not very good from what I understand but it's immensely popular. Today the main character was robed in...

What the fuck?

I had never seen this shirt before (I've been lucky based off of how easily I found it in Google images...) and I was pretty shocked to see it on television, even in Georgia. (Interestingly enough, I saw it immediately following a conversation with my Georgian friends about why THE 'N' WORD is unacceptable. That conversation is getting tiresome.) Again, it was one of those moments, "Does he have any idea what he's wearing?" Georgians aren't exactly shy when expressing their opinions on my current president and if people I encounter here don't like him, the reason I am usually given is, and I quote:

"He's a n-----!"

Compelling argument, to be sure.

Anyway, my point is, I want to know if the messages conveyed on these shirts are really misunderstood by the individuals wearing them? I guess I'll never know unless I start asking and, who knows, maybe I'll make some new friends!

P.S. I'm going to attempt to get my hands on some pictures of other amazing shirts encountered here... Stay tuned!