Koreans love wearing t-shirts with English words on them. Seen a few days ago by City Hall a young couple, presumably on a date. His shirt bore the words: "You'd be better off without me".
Now, this expression usually means "I'd be better off without you", but the speaker tries to soften the blow by putting it round the other way.
I've been entertaining some of the possible scenarios here:
(1) Neither of them understands what it means - it's just cute English words to decorate a shirt.
(2) He is wearing it as a hint for her. She hasn't taken the hint because (a) she doesn't understand what the shirt is saying, or, (b) she does understand it but she thinks he can't - therefore she's taking no notice of it. He is thinking women are very hard to understand.
(3) She gave it to him as a hint. The hint backfired because he doesn't understand it. He is just so happy to have a t-shirt his girlfriend gave him. Perhaps he can understand it a little but construes it with an opposite meaning. She is going quietly mad over the whole stupid business.
(4) Most positively, they both understand it, but their relationship is strong enough to take it all as a joke, or maybe as an ironic comment on modern life.
(5) Perhaps "You'd be better off without me" is the name of a rock group.
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