Myanmar Times apologizes for featuring ‘vagina snack’ in food article

Oh lord, we love newspaper corrections. Especially when they involve dirty words. Which, let’s face it, isn’t very often.

So imagine our joy opening today’s Myanmar Times to find this curious apology on page seven:

“Myanmar Times chief executive Tony Child apologizes for the choice of snack on page six of The Supplement on October 16 which is described by an indecent word in the Myanmar language.”

In a feature in last weekend’s edition that listed street foods with bizarre English translations (yep, there’s officially nothing new to be written about Myanmar street food) the Times promoted ar pon, a sort of rice cake.

In local slang, ar pon can also mean vagina.

The paper used the slang, translating the cakes as ‘vagina snack’ and listing them alongside pancakes (‘scarf snack’) and a palm sugar dish (‘toddy fruit snack’).

“Don’t let the less-than-appetizing translations put you off,” they implored. “These traditional street treats are not to be missed.”

Oh, no we won’t. Thanks for making our day, MM Times.