Support4Change Blog

August 22, 2007

Categories: Q-and-A Club, Expanding Your Horizons

By Arlene Harder, MA, MFT

Since the only language I know, unfortunately, is English, I appreciate travelling in countries where they speak my language so I can read the signs. That doesn’t mean I always understand what they say, which was sometimes the case in Australia and New Zealand, where we visited this past winter. In fact, I plan to shortly write a blog about traffic signs and menu items that confused us “Down Under,” for although we may have a “common language,” translations were often needed.

However, for today I just want to share a few of the names of restaurants that caught our attention in Queenstown, New Zealand. One was Joe’s Garage, where we ate breakfast a couple times on the patio which was next to the alley. And I couldn’t resist taking a picture of “The Loaded Hog”.

I first noticed the license at the left and wondered what it meant. Then I looked at the restaurant in front of which the car was parked and the sign on the door (shown on the right) said, “@Thai.” Clever. According to a report on the web, two people (50% of reviewers) said it was “Outstanding” and two people (the other 50%) said it was “Very Good.” Not a large sample, but even though we didn’t eat there, I’d rate it “Excellent” in the grab-your-attention category.

Here are some other restaurant and pub names that caught my attention:

• The Drunkin’ Duck
• The Flippin Pancakes
• The Hot Toddy
• The Harry Lemon
• The Grumpy Mole Saloon
• Sticky Fingers
• Two Fat Indians and Buddha Bar
• Whole Enchilada
• Six Chairs Missing Restaurant
• Winnie Bagoes

Q-AND-A CLUB QUESTIONS FOR EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS

What restaurant, bar or pub name would you rank the best for getting a customer’s attention? [If you send a non-English name, please include a translation.]

If you were to name a restaurant, what would you call it?

Assuming you could use any of the symbols on the keyboard, which ones would you incorporate into the name?

REMEMBER: These questions are available for no charge if you want to use them for your blog, newsletter, website, or discussion group, but you must (1) attribute the questions to the Q-and-A Club and me, Arlene Harder, (2) provide a link to Support4Change, and (3) include both the introduction and the questions.

Enjoy your travels.