I was in a mall a few days ago and a jewelry store had a bunch of English phrases framed behind the counters. It seems Japan is fond of using English as decoration in much the same way the West uses kanji decoratively.

So I approached the saleswoman and said (in what I am discovering is my god-awful Japanese) 「それはアメリカのみなみのいいならわしですよね。」, meaning “Those are southern American idioms.” I pulled out my phone, switched it to camera mode, and asked 「カメラはだいじょうぶですか。」(“Is camera OK?”).

I asked because I know from previous experience that taking pictures of shops in Japan is kind of a no-no. In this case the saleswoman also seemed reluctant, so to prove my intentions I put on my most southern accent, pointed at a frame and read “Hey ya’ll!” Then another, “Bless yer hart.”

That won her over and she gave me permission to photo just the frames.