Did you know that Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is famous for its jade? I didn’t, that is, until I encountered all these stores selling Burmese Jade in the not-so-mythical land of Shangri-La in China. And as such is the trend when you have a bunch of stores selling the same product, naming becomes a bit of a challenge. You have to find a way to make your shop unique. Why not throw in a few other products along with the jade? I mean, tourists are gullible and will buy anything fancy looking, right?
Enter, the store you are about to see, which just might have the single most perplexing sign that Say What?? has seen yet. Before I show it to you though, I must apologize for the incredibly poor image quality, but it was simply too good of a sign to pass up.
No, your eyes really aren’t deceived you. The sign really does say “The hair cow product Burma the jade article a bead store.” So, my question to you is, what in the world does this sign say??? Is this a store that sells beads, jade and products from cow hair that are made in Burma? I don’t know.
I had asked you to help me come up with the best translations for the seemingly incoherent sign, and the winning entry in my opinion is Iain Mallory from Mallory on Travel. He said:
“The hair of the cow is better (bigger) than the hair of the dog, but will leave beads of sweat running into you jade coloured eyesโ
Well said Iain! Well said!
Programming Note: Say What?? is moving to a once-a-week format and, starting next week, will be published on Tuesdays. I know, I know, you’ve come to expect Say What?? on Mondays and Fridays, but there are changes afoot here on Aaron’s Worldwide Adventures and you can look for some exciting new features coming later this week.
20 replies on “Say What?? Travel Photo: Jade?”
do cows have hair? but the sign says hair cow products, buma the jade, articles, and a bead store
I think they do. They are mammals after all. Unless you think they mean leather? Thanks for your translation!
I have no clue… That sign really makes NDS (no damn sense). I have read it over & over again and still can’t make anything out. Wow, I wonder who wrote it, I would like to speak with them.
Yeah it really doesn’t make any sense! Any amusing guesses?
The cow hair produce Burma jade & we sell it at the bead store!!!
Thats my guess~
Lol! Nice!
I think they sell hair products made from cow’s milk and jade beads from Burma. ???Maybe???
Hair products made from cow milk? I love it!
Oooh, this is a tough one. My guess it that they’re missing a bunch of commas? Maybe it’s supposed to say ‘Hair cow, product of Burma. Also jade articles and beads.’ Lol… then again, maybe they meant to say that they’re selling Burmese hairy cow, along with Jade and beads.
Hair cow? That sounds kind of gross… What would I want cow hair for? Maybe they run a thriving cow hair wig business?
Maybe they’re referring to something they use to smooth the hair using a special jade comb-like object? ๐
To smooth cow hair? I wonder if this is part of the process in creating Kobe beef? Those cows are so well treated that they must have their hair brushed using a jade comb-like object!
Hi there,
My guess is that the sign would read “The bead store: products of jade strung on cow hair”
At least that’s my guess.
Chef Felisha
Ah, interesting! Thanks for playing!
It says “the hair of the cow is better (bigger) than the hair of the dog, but will leave beads of sweat running into you jade coloured eyes”
thought everybody knew that ๐
IS the hair of a cow bigger than the hair of a dog? Hard to say…I haven’t spent much time around cows… And why is it making you sweat? Because it’s too heavy to be used as a wig?
Still, that’s quite a hilarious answer!
Glad you liked it, don’t you have that phrase for a drink after a hard drinking session……? We call it the hair of the dog, no idea why, but the idea is having wasted yourself the night before a strong ‘pick me up’ the following morning will do exactly that!
Wow! I had no idea! You Brits and your differences in vocabulary… ๐
Excuse me? It is called English for a reason you know :p
Bwahahahaha! My British roommate (or flatmate, according to him) would agree! Then again, flatmate makes far, far more sense than roommate since we don’t actually share rooms!