Trends in Engrish – The Beauty Saloon
I remember seeing my first ‘beauty saloon’ in person when visiting Nara in Japan way back in 1988, and had visions of hot cowgirls playing poker (hey, it’s my dream!). I was later reminded of the old saloon I once spotted when I received and posted this Engrish pic in 2003.
Since then, by way of countless submissions I have learned that the beauty saloon is ubiquitous in the Engrish lexicon, and the phenomenon can be found outside Japan as well. Here are a few variations I have received over the years (trust me there are a lot more):
We start off innocently enough with a few regular “beauty saloons”…
Shiseido seems to have a thing for saloons:
Here’s a nice saloon for hair – when you just want to let it all hang out.
Time we mozy on down to beautify our car…
I am visualizing women in long white dresses tossing their veils back while doing Jagermeister shots…
They tacked on a Paris to this one to make it sound classy (this pic was also taken in Tokyo):
Then I found that hair saloons are not limited to Japan. The Good Choice Hair Saloon is your best choice in Lahore, Pakistan:
Finally the Porn Saloon!
Some Notes:
Porn Saloon – I believe that this last pic was taken in Thailand and “Porn” is the shopkeeper’s name.
Saloon Etymology: It turns out that the word ‘saloon’ is actually derived from the (originally French) word ‘salon’. Today of course a saloon makes one think of a bar in the wild west with swinging doors, and ‘salon’ most often refers to a beauty salon (it can also refer to a reception room or gathering place in a large house).
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Caption It! (7)
The last pic was taken in Malaysia. somewhere in KL’s suburbs, it seems. You can see Malay and Chinese words, and I know the area code in the bottom right of the photo. If it were in Thailand you would’ve seen the distinct Thai alphabet.
If you go to the Middle East, you’ll find Saloons everywhere. The Saloon, though, is where the men go to get their hair cut.
"Salun pendandan rambut" is Malay, so I would assume it's from Malaysia, but that doesn't exclude a Thai owner. The "saloon" misspelling is pretty common.
A little off the top, pardner
It looks pretty intentional to me. Look at those bulbous scissors heading for that V with a slit up the middle. It’s a porn something, whether it’s a saloon or salon.
the last picture is located at Puchong Jaya, Selangor Malaysia…
http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/my/malaysia/353397-a-porn-saloon-in-puchong-
Is it me or do those scissors look like male genitalia?