I can't help but laugh every time I see the sign: "Dünyada ilk defa 30 çesit çorba bir arada." For the first time in the world, 30 assorted soups in one place! Really? You've called all the soup places in all of the world's 190+ countries and none of them serve more than 29 different soups? (I also highly suspect that at any given time, at least half of Çorbacı's soups have kalmadı, but that's another story altogether.)
The same sweeping and dramatic statement is very common in Turkish advertising, with the "ilk" (first) often coupled with "tek" (only). I'd say it might have something to do with the seeming penchant among richer Turks for valuing something's exclusiveness or status value over its actual quality, but if so, those utilizing the strategy must be hoping for some kind of trickle-down effect to the masses who patronize soup shops and buy frozen peas.
Yep, frozen peas: "Türkiye'de ilk ve tek! Aç kapa paket" -- the first and only open-close package in Turkey. Never mind that the package of lavash (flatbread) in my refrigerator has the exact same ziploc-style re-sealable top. If it's the "first and only" frozen-pea package with one, that's surely good enough for an ilk ve tek.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Dünyada ilk ve tek!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
7 comments:
I am also quite fond of the habit of describing things (in English) as "perfect". Never "good" or "nice" but PERFECT. I am always happy to hear that my carpet is perfect or that someone is going to give me perfect cheese/fruit/olives (usually from The Village. Where is this village? I wanna go there!)
I was walking to lunch with a colleague in that neighborhood last month, and we laughed at that very sign. We debated quitting our jobs and opening up a soup restaurant across the street with 31 types of soup. =D
Hannah, that's hilarious! And opening one almost-identical thing right next to another would be so typical. Kelly, I haven't really noticed the "perfect" thing yet, but will have to keep an eye out for it. And I want to go to The Village too!
Nice post.
The "perfect" thing comes from the use of the word "mükemmel" -- which literally means perfect but is used much more like "excellent".
Thanks! Good to know about mükemmel - that's a word I hadn't learned yet.
There are so many examples of such signs in the world, specially in the US. If I would ever take pictures of all those biggest, largest, tallest, highest, one & only signs on my road trips, I could have a full blog out of it ;)
I think "biggest" is more popular in the U.S. than "first and only." It's the little differences...
Post a Comment