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BS: bad translations
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: robomatic Date: 30 Apr 04 - 02:11 PM When I was at school in California, the toilet lids were labeled with the name of the dormitary in which they were initially installed: "Devoro". My friend Marta thought it was hilarious because it was Spanish for "I devour". |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: izzy Date: 30 Apr 04 - 09:27 PM We have a bottle of Bordeaux on the table on the back of which it says "This wine has a delightful warm fruity nose". I don't know about you but that reminds me of a dog... |
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Subject: bloopers & bad translations of business signs From: Genie Date: 08 Oct 09 - 08:52 PM From a Singapore construction zone sign: ERECTION IN PROGRESS (One o' Bobert's floozettes walking by, no doubt.) From another construction site in Singapore: ANGER: KEEP OUT (She ignored their wolf whistles, maybe?) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Ed T Date: 08 Oct 09 - 09:26 PM "jam and eggs", I saw on a breakfast menu in Caracus |
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Subject: RE: BS: Badly Translated Business Signs From: Genie Date: 08 Oct 09 - 10:46 PM Restaurant sign in Shanghai, China - Smart Noshery Makes You Slobber (Specialty of the house is pablum perhaps?) I especially like this sign from China - (Sure, people may talk trash on their cell phones, but "poopie" is a bit harsh.) and you've gotta see the sign on this recycling machine in Seoul, S. Korea: CANS / BOTTLES / P E T S ("Recycling" program run by the restaurant next door, no doubt.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Oct 09 - 01:36 AM Not exactly a translation: but a similar sort of misapprehension. My mother-in-law's village church had been decorated at the height of the Arts&Crafts revival, with fancy archaic-style lettering, including the long-s [ſ], for the Biblical slogans: which caused both my wife and me to read their version of "For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven" as "For of fuck is the Kingdom of Heaven" — a sentiment we would have been happy to endorse. (We did not mention this to her mother, who would not have been amused.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Mr Happy Date: 09 Oct 09 - 09:05 AM Was there an archaic letter 'h' which resembled a modern letter 'k'? |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 09 Oct 09 - 09:59 AM MtheGM, the problem there was a misunderstanding of that letter form. It's called "the medial S", because it's to be used only in the middle of a word. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Oct 09 - 12:01 PM Yes, I knew that - tho I think at certain periods it could begin a word, tho could never come at end. Yes, Mr Happy, the 'h' was given a sort of curlicue to its right hand tail which made it look like a script 'k': have searched my Character Palette without finding precise analogue; but think the l.c, 'h' on the Jokerman or AppleChancery typefaces might not be a million miles from it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Gurney Date: 09 Oct 09 - 03:42 PM I was just watching the DVD 'The Buena Vista Social Club.' I loved the passionate music, but I felt there was something lost in the translations to English. Or perhaps you CAN"T translate it with the appropriate animation. Examples. "I'm just going down to the port to unload my truck, and then I'm finished for the week." "(Somebody) went to bed and left the candle burning. The bedroom is on fire! Call the fire brigade!" |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: SINSULL Date: 09 Oct 09 - 04:11 PM I am reading Love In The Time Of Cholera. Most of it is beautifully translated but too often him/her and he/she get mixed up making a total mess of the dialog. Very frustrating. |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Donuel Date: 09 Oct 09 - 05:26 PM I loved the Carson comedy sketch of President Reagan being briefed on his meeting with Chairman Hoo. It turned into a whos on first classic. A far fetched sketch of Schwartzenegger as president being translated so badly that a nuclear war was in the balance. There are many forms whose cheif job is to avoid the unfortunate cognates in a foreign language. |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: MGM·Lion Date: 09 Oct 09 - 09:21 PM Anyone recall a rather charming French film of the mid-40s called Edouard Et Caroline? They quarrel, of course. At one point, the phone rings, & Caroline, erroneously thinking it's Edouard calling, picks it up & yells "Merde merde merde merde merde!", thoughtfully rendered by the subtitler as "Blank blank blank blank blank!" Later on, she meets the man who was actually calling: "Tu m'as dit 'merde!'" he tells her: subtitled as "You spoke to me in 'blank' verse'!" Ah, for such innocent days back again! Not! |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: HuwG Date: 10 Oct 09 - 03:56 AM I have worked on a number of computer projects where the language tables for the core product was professionally translated but the unfortunate developers had to provide the translations for new features themselves. I don't know what the marketing people who boasted of their command of foreign languages were doing, but it was certain they never dared handle translation tables. I contrived to tell users of an ATM that "Your card has breathed out". Well, the dictionary gave that word for "expired". |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Monique Date: 10 Oct 09 - 04:00 AM There's a book called L'anglais, it is not the joy with lots of bad translations (if someone wants to buy it, I recommend Amazon.fr -€6.50= CND$10- against Amazon.ca -CDN$64 -not available on the other Amazon sites. The author is a French teacher of English and she gathered them all in her students' works -or so she says. I once went to Gerona (Catalonia, Spain) and the menu was full of these, whether in English or French and you had to translate back into Spanish or Catalan word by word to find what it was about. I just remember "skipped shrimps". |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Paul Burke Date: 10 Oct 09 - 05:29 AM Not a mistranslation really, but an Indian restaurant menu once offered me "Bindy Ghost". |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Monique Date: 10 Oct 09 - 07:50 AM Sp."Caracoles de mar" = Cat. "Cargols de mar" = Fr. "Escargots de mer", lit. "sea snails" = murex but they usually look like that Btw, "skipped shrimps" meant "sauteed shrimps" |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Monique Date: 10 Oct 09 - 08:12 AM Guest, I suggest you read Mudcat Guest Posting Policy thread and pick a consistent name or your posts might be deleted. |
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Subject: Badly Translated Business Signs From: Genie Date: 10 Oct 09 - 09:27 AM A few more wonderful examples that can result from "literal" word-for-word translation. (Commentary mine): In a Tokyo hotel: IS FORBITTEN TO STEAL HOTEL TOWELS PLEASE. IF YOU ARE NOT THE PERSON TO DO SUCH THINGS PLEASE DO NOT READ NOTICE. (If you already read it, you're obviously that kind of person and should be ashamed of yourself.) In a Bucharest hotel lobby: THE LIFT IS BEING FIXED FOR THE NEXT DAY. DURING THAT TIME, WE REGRET THAT YOU WILL BE UNBEARABLE.. (Please stay in your room until you think you're ready to act like a civilized adult.) In a Japanese hotel: YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID. (Please to tip her extra generously, as this not included in hotel bill.) In a Yugoslavian hotel: THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID. (If you've been pleasured by the chambermaid, your shorts probably need flattening.) In a Belgrade hotel elevator: TO MOVE THE CABIN, PUSH BUTTON FOR WISHING FLOOR. IF THE CABIN SHOULD ENTER MORE PERSONS, EACH ONE SHOULD PRESS A NUMBER OF WISHING FLOOR. DRIVING IS THEN GOING ALPHABETICALLY BY NATIONAL ORDER. (Guests from Yemen or Zimbabwe may prefer to take stairs when hotel is full.) In a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY. (Dead ones, mostly - plus the odd political dissident. But we take Thursday off from burying them. ) |
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Subject: Badly Translated Business Signs From: Genie Date: 10 Oct 09 - 09:45 AM In a Roman doctor's office: SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES (Obviously a carryover from the early patriarchal days of medicine.) Sign on "Mama's Boy" restaurant in Japan - "In a shop based on white, the space of healing spreads out. ... Because I thoroughly can enjoy the taste of the mom slowly in that, both the heart and the stomach are satisfied. Welcome." (Well, we all used to enjoy the taste of the mom, but, Freud notwithstanding, some of us grew up.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: MGM·Lion Date: 10 Oct 09 - 10:55 AM At an Italian motorway service area, we were once enjoined by a notice to "Avoid abusive retailers." Would it have been OK if it had been a wholesaler who denounced us as a Busful·of·Brit·Boobies? (In fact, of course, "abusivi" for "unauthorised" makes perfectly good sense - in Italian.) |
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Subject: badly Translated and misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 10 Oct 09 - 07:30 PM Some of these mistranslations are obvious spelling errors but just as funny. Found in Tokyo: THIS RESTROOM IS FOR MEN ONLY. THERE IS THE WOMENS IN THE LEFT DEPTHS. PLEASE USE IT. (I.e., for the ladies "There Is A Bathroom On The Left -- In the cellar.) Toothpaste ad from China: WHITENING CLEARING HEAT ANTI MOTH TOOTHPASTE (For bikers after those thrilling bugs-in-your-teeth road trips.) From Kyoto, Japan: RELOCATION BRAIN SYSTEM. (Come here, Igor. I need you in the lab.) |
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Subject: badly Translated and misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 10 Oct 09 - 07:43 PM DRASTIC THE BAGGAGE Label on a child's toy package in Shanghai: SKIPPING RAPE. (Good advice. I usually do.) Product Made In China: MANICURE SET (Glad they didn't call it a Do-It-Yourself Surgery Kit.) On a cap and hat vendor's kiosk in Chaing Mai Thailand "Big C" Superstore. NEW CAP & HEAD (For when you've got a really nasty hangover!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: MGM·Lion Date: 10 Oct 09 - 10:26 PM Have tennis fans among you, watching the French Open, ever noticed the French for Women's Singles?:· SIMPLE DAMES :~) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Tug the Cox Date: 11 Oct 09 - 07:38 AM Two really bad translations that have led to suffering for hundreds of years Greek 'Harmartia' a term derived from archery. To miss the mark, translated in the King James Bible as 'Sin'. Of course we all miss the mark, to say that we are all sinners has far more baleful connotations. Greek. Metanoia....to see as new, to have clearer view ( so that it is easier to hit the mark) again, in KJB, translated as 'repentance'. So instead of acquiring wisdom ( clearer sight) he have donned sackcloth and ashes, or worse. Unspeakable. |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Mr Happy Date: 11 Oct 09 - 10:34 AM Stoppit, yer makin' me ribs ache!! 8-) |
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Subject: badly Translated and misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 11 Oct 09 - 09:41 PM Tug, the King James is full of unfortunate translations like that. Those are two prime examples (albeit not very funny). Here are a few more translation-typos that'll make Mr. Happy's ribs ache: Sign on seafood display case in Korean grocery store in US: CLEAN BLUE CRAP $3.49/LB (Oh, well, if it's clean and BLUE, it's probably worth the price.) This sign was up in Duluth, GA for about a week before being it was replaced: SAM'S CRAP HOUSE (They get their seafood from that Korean grocery store, no doubt?) Sign on restaurant in Guangdong Province, China: MAIN HALL OF SEAFOOL RESTAURANT (Best place to serve that clean, blue crap, probably.) From a restaurant menu in Osaka, Japan: SALAD & SOAP (Hey, we're SERIOUS about preventing e coli and salmonella here! Especially after preparing that clean, blue crap.) |
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Subject: badly Translated and misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 12 Oct 09 - 02:05 AM Sign on ticket machine for gondola ride in Hakone, Japan: GETTING OFF IS POSSIBLE ON THE WAY (We'll take 10 tickets, please.) |
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Subject: Badly translated & misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 12 Oct 09 - 01:49 PM More strangeness from the restaurant world: From a menu in Jodhpur, India: DESSERTS: Banana Pancake Honey Pancake Lemon Sugar Pancake Chocolate Pancake Banana Custard Rice Pooping (Made with brown rice, no doubt.) From a coffee house menu in Kyoto, Japan: Rough Influence Sausage and It is "waffle" revokable. the toast. (Well, I get the sausage. "Influence" may be the threat of turning you into one? But I don't know if I even want to think about what "revoking" the waffle to make toast might mean.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: GUEST,Arthur Stiffy Date: 12 Oct 09 - 08:25 PM 1980's Japanese jazz band "Norio Maeda & Wind-Breakers" |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Genie Date: 12 Oct 09 - 09:54 PM Is that a bad translation or a deliberate double entendre? *g* |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: GUEST,Arthur Stiffy Date: 12 Oct 09 - 10:31 PM "Norio Maeda was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1934. Highly esteemed not only as a pianist but also as a brilliant arranger. He was garnered the "Award for Best Arrangement" at The Tokyo Music Festival in 1981, the "Award for Best Arrangement" at The Japan Record Awards in 1983, and "Fumio Nanri Awards", the highest award in the world of Jazz hosted by Swing Journal Magazines. ..he formed "The Windbreakers" with greatest pianists in Japan, and "Triple Piano" with Masahiko Sato and Kentaro Haneda in 1988.He is an acclaimed pianist as well as composer/arranger, a representative figure of Japan, widely accepted from all quarters. He celebrates his 24th anniversary for his own group, "The Windbreakers" .. well no accounting for Japanese sense of humour, But Mr Maeda would seem to be a serious musician of some cultural significance.. Hmm.. from a Western point of equivalence.. Stan Kenton and Arsequakes Buddy Rich and the Trouser Blasts Count Basie and the Bottom Burps.. dunno.. somehow I'd suspect bad translation over intentional smutty muso in-joke.. ? |
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Subject: Badly translated & misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 12 Oct 09 - 11:38 PM From Tokyo, Japan (apparently a smoking section sign): So that smoke should not go outside It smokes in the obituary of the area. Please continue your favors toward cooperation. (Hey, we knew smoking was hazardous to our health, but … ) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Uncle_DaveO Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:13 AM Genie, maybe the reference of "Windbreakers" is to the light, wind-tight sports jacket of that name. Another possibility is a reference to the bicyclist who takes his turn at the front of the pack, so others can draft. Neither of which is as funny as what we all thought. Dave Oesterreich |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Acorn4 Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:30 AM A School I once worked at used to produce a daily set of notices and one day there was a notice supposed to read:- "A nice old lady in the village would like some help with her garden." It read:- "A nice old lay in the village would like some help with her garden." |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: wysiwyg Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:35 AM "Watch carefully your step." ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Mr Happy Date: 13 Oct 09 - 10:55 AM Not a translation, I know - more of an interpretation, Notice in office kitchen 'Do not pour tea leaves down the sink, as they block the drains. Please adhere to this notice'! |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Jos Date: 13 Oct 09 - 11:11 AM Then rinse out the teapot and stand upside down in the sink. (Sorry - couldn't resist.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Mr Happy Date: 13 Oct 09 - 11:52 AM Jos, LOL!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Genie Date: 13 Oct 09 - 12:59 PM Well, Uncle David, that's what I meant by "wind-breakers" maybe being a double entendre." Except that I guess it's really a triple entendre. Whether intentional or not, I find it pretty funny (though probably not really a mis-translation). |
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Subject: Badly translated & misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 13 Oct 09 - 01:01 PM Sign in Chinese hotel for happy url="http://"hour%20-%20<a%20href="http://www.engrish.com//wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Delicious-Snakes.jpg""%20target="_blank">" ... Delicious snakes are served for free. ... "/a (If you're not a reptile, you have to pay?) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: GUEST,Arthur Stiffy Date: 13 Oct 09 - 02:00 PM Photographic evidence: Do this grim looking mob look like they have a subversive sense of humour ? http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/5bd1k_3IAoZzW3lhNTsJjw?feat=embedwebsite .. maybe if you can transcribe from the original Japanese...? my hunch is "Winbreakers" may be referencing some Japanese myth or spirit, and by extension a possible pun regarding the brass section of the band... All very innocuous in Japanese, but lethal in the hands of a mischeivous international record label translator. ps.. for extra value puerile mirth.. track 2 is "What Is This Thing Called Love" |
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Subject: Badly translated & misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 13 Oct 09 - 02:29 PM Oops! That last post should have been like this: Sign in Chinese hotel for happy hour: " ... Delicious snakes are served for free. ... (If you're not a reptile, you have to pay?) Then there's this sign on department store in Hiroshima, Japan: SALE - Summer Barge in (Uh-oh. I see one of those after-Christmas sale type stampedes in the making!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Genie Date: 13 Oct 09 - 05:12 PM T-shirt seen in Okinawa: CHOCO Lab. PERSON'S SPORTS What I like recently is to take a walk in the seaside. It is good at playing with the frying disk! (Just, please, don't ask your doggie to catch one of those skillets when you throw it!) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Genie Date: 13 Oct 09 - 05:52 PM On package label found in a ToysRUs in Japan: Kigurumix are very cute dancers. Please watch their dance when you are depressed or hard. You will surely very happy feeling! (I think toys like this were just banned in the state of Arkansas.) |
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Subject: Badly translated & misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 13 Oct 09 - 09:14 PM In a Rome laundry: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time. (Now, where are we supposed to go for that good time sans clothing? Oh, wait ... it's Rome!!) Sign on Korean-owned laundry in Saipan: DROP OFF YOUR LAUNDRY AND GET IT ON (Probably run by the same guys who own that laundromat in Rome.) |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Leadfingers Date: 13 Oct 09 - 09:30 PM And of course there are things with TOTALLY different meanings in British English and American English ! |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Leadfingers Date: 13 Oct 09 - 09:31 PM 100 |
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Subject: RE: BS: bad translations From: Genie Date: 14 Oct 09 - 12:21 AM You mean like when you knocked up all those women in the morning at the 2008 Getaway, Terry? ; D |
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Subject: Badly translated & misspelled Business Signs From: Genie Date: 14 Oct 09 - 03:23 PM On the menu of a Seoul, S. Korea, restaurant: Lacquer poison chicken broth with ginseng (Well, as long as it's got GINSENG too … ) Label under picture of a dish on menu in Beijing, China: Private bench legs (Super high in fiber, no doubt.) On menu in Japan: French Flies Sausages with French Flies Peanut Small Salad (Only one peanut? Guess they figure those flies are very filling.) Restaurant sign in China: New style muslin main curses (Especially if the food's too hot?) |
