Translation - art & business » Lighter side of trans/interp »
Off topic: Confession time: My biggest blunders
Thread poster: Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 07:35
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
Oct 31

I have forgotten almost all projects that have come to me over the years, but I still remember some blunders I noticed too late. Fortunately these were overlooked by my clients too, or at least I did not receive any feedback about them.
One of my first translations was about the Porkkala peninsula, from Finnish to German. In the Finnish source read, the area was rented to the Soviet Union after WWII, Finnish 'vuokra-alue'. I translated German 'vermietet', but the right term should have bee... See more
I have forgotten almost all projects that have come to me over the years, but I still remember some blunders I noticed too late. Fortunately these were overlooked by my clients too, or at least I did not receive any feedback about them.
One of my first translations was about the Porkkala peninsula, from Finnish to German. In the Finnish source read, the area was rented to the Soviet Union after WWII, Finnish 'vuokra-alue'. I translated German 'vermietet', but the right term should have been 'verpachtet', when the subject is a land area, not a building.
Much later again a project of tourism. The bay between Finland and Sweden is called Pohjanlahti in Finnish, meaning 'bottom bay'. In German I invented the term Bottnische Bucht, when the real term is Bottnischer Meerbusen. If I only had looked at a map.
Then a third blunder stands out. Again tourism stuff. For tourist there had to be translated info-posters along a water way. There were a lot of rapids along the path, in Finnish 'koski', which can mean water fall or rapid. I should have translated Stromschnelle, but used Wasserfall, which is misleading. I have not yet have the opportunity to visit the place to see, if my false translation is there to see.
Probably I have made much mistakes during the last 23 years in translation, but these are the ones that stand out in my memory. ▲ Collapse


Ying-Ju Fang
 
Novian Cahyadi
Novian Cahyadi  Identity Verified
Indonesia
Local time: 12:35
Member (Apr 2024)
English to Indonesian
Blunder Oct 31

This thread feels like a blunder.

Lieven Malaise
Daryo
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
NancyLynn[Call to this topic]
Laureana Pavon[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Confession time: My biggest blunders






Protemos translation business management system
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!

The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.

More info »
Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »