IKEA China and ASUS team on gaming products, resist urge to call them FRÄG

If you’ve ever felt that IKEA lacks a sense of humour, here’s proof: the company’s new collection of gaming furniture and accessories produced in collaboration with ASUS is not called “FRÄG”. The tax-shy furniture giant and ASUS’ Republic of Gamers offshoot have instead given us the “UPPSPEL” range of furniture that includes a …

[Cuddles]

Humour?

Overpriced "gaming" branded kit sold under the name Up-sell? Not sure it's that fair to complain they're lacking a sense of humour.

[Anonymous Coward]

"[...] the name Up-sell?

It is loosely "Up-Play".

[BestTurtle]

Up-play

It means something more like "agitation", which is reminiscent of RAGE (something we all know belongs in games)

[Pascal Monett]

superior products that “increase performance”

A desk, a cup holder, a mug. The mug could eventually increase performance, but that will depend on what you pour into it.

The only thing that might be remotely interesting is the motorized table. If you can switch from sitting to standing and back, then that might be something worth having. Maybe.

[ThatOne]

Re: superior products that “increase performance”

> motorized table

I have the vision of a roaring table speeding through the house while a slightly overweight gamer is desperately running after it... Yes, that could be useful.

[Lars]

FRÄG, is that British humour then and what does it mean.

[Anonymous Coward]

A good question.

[Luke Worm]

I came here to ask the same question. I'm fluent in Swedish and didn't get the joke.

[Starkoman]

FRÄG • Fräg

In combat games, when you kill your enemies or they explode, you “frag” them: “Frag that ugly bastard!”.

Past tense: They got “fragged”, “We fragged the last of them”, etc.

It’s an aberration of military fragmentation grenades (the effects of which are terminal): “He was fucking fragged (fragmented) — bad style!” (aka: eviscerated — preferably with plenty of flying blood).

Because IKEA is Swedish, the humour is in the sly, subtle Scandinavian-style spelling of fräg (FRÄG).

The old axiom which says: jokes, when spelt out, just aren’t funny — remains true.

[Anonymous Coward]

*facepalm*

I've heard German jokes translated into English and I understand why Germans have no humour...can we have an example of a Swedish joke translated literally, I had higher expectations of the Swedes.

Let me just strap on my joke lederhosen. Here's a German one.

German:

Zwei Zahnstocher wandern durch den Wald. Plötzlich läuft ein Igel an ihnen vorbei. Der eine Zahnstocher sagt zum anderen: "Mann, hättest du mir nicht sagen können, dass der Bus hier fährt?"

Translated:

Two toothpicks are walking through the woods. Suddenly, a hedgehog runs past them. The first toothpick says to the other, "Man, couldn't you have told me that the bus runs through here?"

To the Germans here...You're welcome.

To the English speakers with furrowed brows...I know, I know.

[Anonymous Coward]

This joke is bad even for Germans! Actually German humour is not very different from the British one, which is why Germans generally love British humour.

[Anonymous Coward]

The English are more like the Germans than any other Europeans.

For instance, they love to play German officers, they never have enough of that, and the reason is that they are so exactly the same. The same play with their feet and boots, the same stiff upper lip, exactly the same. No way to compare them to the Italians or French or Russians at all.

But you cannot be British or German to grasp it.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

von Richthoven: How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing. For us, it is a mundane and functional item. For you, the basis of an entire culture.

[Anonymous Coward]

Cmon FRÄG??

I'd like to see a CYKA chair and BLYÄTT desk to put my NÜB mouse mat on.