Engrish refers to poor-quality attempts to create English words and phrases, from phonetic Japanese.

The word "Engrish" comes from the accidental mispronunciation of the word "English", common to Japanese and Korean speakers, who have difficulty distinguishing the "l" and "r" sounds common to English.

"Engrish" is often seen in poor counterfeit cards, "Fansubs" of Japanese anime episodes, and translations of Japanese card texts and rulings.

Engrish is also included in some OCG card names, including some erroneously placed English used for flavor in OCG card names, as well as in the original releases of the manga (which were, however, fixed in the bunkoban releases). Some of the poor English used in the OCG remains in the TCG or is sometimes even more awkwardly translated in TCG cards, especially with translations in the early 5Ds -related sets that occurred when UDE gave worldwide ownership over to Konami, and Konami was still making decisions in relation to their translating habits.

An example of Engrish as a result of poor translation was the name Gill Randsborg, who in the Japanese version was named Jill deLauncebeaux. Those who study Japanese may know that R's and L's are often switched in Japanese to English translations, and may understand how this translation choice came about.