Engrish Tuesday
This sign is from a yaki niku (fried meat) restaurant in Okinawa. It is an obvious reminder of one of the greatest difficulties for students learning language. Homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings) are difficult to explain and difficult to help students learn. Aside from memorization or repeated experience, there is simply no easy and systematic way to learn homophones.
Even though homophones are notoriously difficult, I am always a little surprised when a simple mistake like this is emblazoned in such a permanent way. A quick glance at “meet” in the dictionary and the creators of the sign would have realized that they had the wrong word. It is not a difficult problem to solve.
I recognize this Yaki Niku restaurant (Viking Try). It is on Route 58 across from Camp Foster. It is one of my favorite places to go when in Okinawa. All you can eat Yaki Niku joints are quickly becoming a thing of the past.
You’re comment about using the correct word is spot on. It is fairly common in Japan that (English) words get used the wrong way, in signs, on T-shirts, etc.