You Suck at Craigslist

YSaC, Vol. 214: It’s a good thing the bear wasn’t German.

Written by

drmk

in

Perfect last min. V-day present (BRAND NEW AND STILL IN BOX) – $30

Vermont Teddy Bear. BRAND NEW AND STILL IN BOX!! Its a cream colored bear with bow tie w a heart in the middle that says “Ti Amo” (that is I love You in French just in case you didnt know) If you were to buy one off the net it would cost more than $50. So if you are still needing a Valentines Day present I have you covered, SHE WILL LOVE IT!!!! You can reach me at xxx-xxx-xxxx or by email.

214

That must be how you say I love you in French Prudential, since (as we’ve recently learned), French Prudential furniture is made by a guy named Al Italian.

Sorry this is a little late to help those of you who were struggling to find gifts. I tried to help you, I really did. I’m sure that a “French”-speaking bear with severed hands would have been exactly the thing you needed.

Edited to add: Some sleuthing by Courtney reveals that the suck-o-meter goes up to 11 on this one. Apparently the tag doesn’t even say “Ti amo” — it says “¡Te amo!” … which, of course, isn’t French either — it’s “I love you” in Spanish. So somewhere between looking at the bear (presumably sitting in front of her) and typing it in, the poster got the actual words AND the language wrong.

Sent in by Lecia — thanks!

Comments

28 responses to “YSaC, Vol. 214: It’s a good thing the bear wasn’t German.”

  1. . Avatar
    .

    Isn’t “Ti amo” Italian?

  2. drmk Avatar
    drmk

    Um, yes. That was my point.

  3. cmc Avatar
    cmc

    If someone is this late on a Valentine’s day gift, I don’t think a partially-dismembered language-confused bear is going to cut it. I mean…I’m just sayin’.

  4. drmk Avatar
    drmk

    To be fair, the ad was posted on February 13th. I’m the one that’s late posting it.

  5. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    I feel so inadequate. You’d think since I had a French minor in college I would know that’s how you say I love you in French. Guess I didn’t learn much at all.

  6. Jess Avatar
    Jess

    hahaha… @ andrea…its je t’aime. not even that close.

  7. candace Avatar
    candace

    The point is, what girl/woman over the age of 12 REALLY wants a teddy bear for a present? Sure it’s cute, but I’d rather have some French-Prudential cuisine. Or an Italian-style foot massage.

  8. drmk Avatar
    drmk

    @Candace: From someone with a talking bird?

  9. Courtney Avatar
    Courtney

    Out of curiosity, I went to see if this is a real Vermont Teddy Bear (very expensive collector bears). The bow tie doesn’t even say “Ti Amo,” it says *Te* Amo which is I love you in SPANISH. As far as I can tell, VTB didn’t make one with the Italian expression. Unless this is some sort of Italian knock off of a Vermont Teddy Bear – probably made by Al.

  10. drmk Avatar
    drmk

    I was wondering about that! The picture was small enough that I couldn’t quite tell, but suspected that it was “Te amo”. It looked a little too round to be a “Ti”. Thanks for the sleuthing!

  11. Courtney Avatar
    Courtney

    There also appeared to be an inverted exclamation point (or something) before the “T” – which I think is exclusive to Spanish (but I’m not sure having never taken any other language). I wondered why it would be in Italian when there’s not a big unassimilated Italian population in this country these days. None of it made sense. The good news is, though, that it appears to be an authentic Vermont Teddy Bear – in which case $30 is a deal. As long as you weren’t hoping for a French-Italian speaking bear and are OK with plain old Spanish.

  12. candace Avatar
    candace

    @drmk – Yes, exactly, lol.

    And BTW, I feel so enlightened. I never met a bilingual teddy bear before today – Italian OR Spanish! And from Vermont, too! Who knew.

    Oh, and here was another great place to get Valentine’s items..

    http://s93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/cancanwoo/?action=view&current=9d913fb7.jpg

  13. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Isn’t it supposed to be in a box?

  14. Callisto Avatar
    Callisto

    It’s a sad life a bear leads, whose ears are larger than its arms.

  15. Courtney Avatar
    Courtney

    Anon – the picture was ripped off from the Vermont Teddy Bear page. Right next to the description which says that the bowtie says “¡Te Amo!”, and underneath the category which reads “Latino Teddy Bears.”
    It’s hard to make that many mistakes…..

  16. Courtney Avatar
    Courtney

    Sorry, it says “Latino Valentine’s Day Bears.” LOL, oops. I didn’t go back to double check before I posted. But I remembered the important part – got the language and ethnicity of the bear right. lol.

  17. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    My husband got me a Vermont Teddy Bear for our first Valentine’s day in college. I didn’t know what the hell to do with the thing. I’d rather a book, or even just a card.

    13 years since, he has learned.

  18. Zashkaser Avatar
    Zashkaser

    Hey, if I were currently immersed in writing a book explaining set theory, it would have sounded like that to me too, I’m sure.

  19. Jill Avatar
    Jill

    Whenever people would leave comments on blogs saying things like “LMAO I just spit coffee all over my keyboard,” I’d think, really? REALLY? You literally did a spit-take just from reading something? But here I am with water droplets on my monitor from reading this post while taking a drink. Thanks to you and your amazingly hilarious site, I can no longer feel superior to the coffee-spitters.

  20. Shane-For-Wax Avatar
    Shane-For-Wax

    Is that what cream looks like in Spain?

    1. kate Avatar
      kate

      Looks more like Dulce de Leche. (caramel)

      Well, if they couldn’t get the words right, we shouldn’t expect them to get the color right either.

  21. HamCan Avatar
    HamCan

    Oh, bother.

  22. penguin Avatar
    penguin

    Nobody expects (nor survives) the Spanish Inquisition – even teddy bears in Vermont.

    1. ghostcat Avatar
      ghostcat

      Given Sparky’s track record for fact-checking, the armless bear was probably made in Colorado.

  23. Dave and Ferret Tribe Avatar
    Dave and Ferret Tribe

    ¡Qué barbaridad! That’s Swiss for “My goodness, Sparky, what a well written ad.”*

    *Not all of this is true.

    1. Windrose Avatar
      Windrose

      Dave, either you or the ferrets keep getting two words confused, all and any. 8)

  24. Aphid Avatar
    Aphid

    When I ask great uncle Google, he says that V-Day usually refers to the day World War II ended. His neighbor Wikipedia also says that it can refer to a global movement to end violence against women, or a political campaign in Italy.

    So the Llamanun isn’t late (either now or in 2009), she is three months early for Memorial Day.

  25. Windrose Avatar
    Windrose

    Tankerbell, I am pleased to present you with this limited edition Presidents’ Day Punchity Punch Punch!

    Good Morning, Society for the Right to Arm Bears!

Leave a Reply

More posts