Here Comes The Fail Boat…

18 Responses to Here Comes The Fail Boat…

1. Carlos Mal Pacheco on August 17th, 2008 at 7:21 am

   Why this is hardly a FAIL…

   Reply
   • Pixel on August 17th, 2008 at 4:41 pm

     Hercules is definitely the more common/accepted spelling. I just googled “hercules” and came up with 39 million results whereas “herkules” came up with only 3.6 million.

     Reply
     • Jack on August 18th, 2008 at 4:57 am

       That it’s “more common” (I ask me what might be the reason for this, when English is the most spoken language…[can somebody find the irony?]) doesn’t mean it’s right. That’s a typical form of Anglocentrism…I hate that. Herkules is definitely right in more languages than Hercules. That’s the point. And wait…:

       FAIL-BLOG-FAAAAIIIILLLL!!!!

       Reply
       • Matt on August 18th, 2008 at 8:54 am

         Okay, it’s not a Greek Fail. Haven’t seen it posted to the Greek Fail blog.

         But it’s definitely an English Fail.

         Reply
         • rrr on August 18th, 2008 at 11:09 am

           How can it be an English fail, if it is not even English? (note ‘if’, it may be an actual misspelling of ‘Hercules’, but since it’s put of context, claiming that it’s a fail is pointless).

2. Brent on August 17th, 2008 at 7:22 am

   Can it be an English fail if the “misspelling” is of a non-English name in a country where an alternate spelling is accepted (such as Germany, IIRC)?

   Reply
3. runa on August 17th, 2008 at 7:31 am

   fail fail

   Reply
4. Bonobo on August 17th, 2008 at 7:59 am

   As Brent and Carlos already said, this may NOT be a fail, depending where you got the photo from.

   Here in Germany “Hercules” is correctly spelled “Herkules” or “Herakles”, with a “k”.

   And I’m sure in Greece it’s spelled in a way many of us can’t even read

   Reply
5. rrr on August 17th, 2008 at 9:22 am

   @Bonobo: Same spellings apply to Poland too.

   Reply
6. Ole on August 17th, 2008 at 9:43 am

   In Norway, too, it is spelled “Herkules”, if that is what is supposed to be the big fail in this picture.

   Reply
7. Tien on August 17th, 2008 at 10:59 am

   This is the first time where englishfailblog.com has failed me

   Reply
8. L on August 17th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

   Fail boat fail. (That sounds like a children’s book.)

   Reply
9. Nightstallion on August 18th, 2008 at 7:07 am

   Sorry, but that’s not a fail, that’s the correct transscription if you want to be precise, not to mention it’s the usual spelling in most of the non-English world.

   Reply
10. Elizabeth on August 18th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Whether or not a certain common spelling of a name changes from country to country (which of course it does), the wider point is that you can’t really misspell a name that you’re giving something–not in the strict sense, anyway. If I want to call my boat (or my daughter) “Gessyka” instead of “Jessica” I may be an odd duck, but you can’t really argue that I’ve spelled it wrong. In fact, if you refer it as “Jessica,” YOU have spelled it wrong.

    Reply
11. metalnoir on August 21st, 2008 at 7:19 am

    I didn’t consider this a fail either.

    Reply
12. deusg on October 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 am

    I just want to let you know that also in Czech Republic and Slovakia this is the correct spelling.

    Reply
13. Lou on October 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm

    englishfailblog.com FAIL

    Reply
14. Carlos Mal on October 6th, 2008 at 11:28 pm

    So, when will English Fail Blog recognize this as not being a FAIL? (I’m the guy who opened the discussion).

    Reply