| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | Off topic: Atrocious translations! (G>E) Thread poster: Mary Worby
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Mary Worby 
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:18
German to English
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Every time I go abroad, I never cease to be amazed by the number of dodgy, shoddy and just plain atrocious translations there are out there!
But the one that took the biscuit this time was the translation of \'Abräumwagen\' in the self-service café at Hahn airport. Even knowing the German it took a while to work it out! In a genius piece of dictionary translation, it has been rendered as a \'clear-dare\' in English! On properly printed signs ... doesn\'t say much for their... See more Every time I go abroad, I never cease to be amazed by the number of dodgy, shoddy and just plain atrocious translations there are out there!
But the one that took the biscuit this time was the translation of \'Abräumwagen\' in the self-service café at Hahn airport. Even knowing the German it took a while to work it out! In a genius piece of dictionary translation, it has been rendered as a \'clear-dare\' in English! On properly printed signs ... doesn\'t say much for their QA process.
Pity I didn\'t have a black marker pen with me. Maybe I should take one in future 
FWIW
Mary
[ This Message was edited by:MaryRon2003-03-16 09:19] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 03:18
Spanish to English
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| Assorted prickles | Mar 16, 2003 |
This one came from the menu of the Fine Arts Circle, where the recent Madrid pow-wow took place last week. The original was \"surtido de pinchos\" (toothpick canapés).
| | | | Jalapeno
Local time: 03:18
English to German
| Not so much a bad translation... | Mar 16, 2003 |
...but a humiliating typo. The city of Munich recently bought I don\'t know how many new S-Bahn (urban railway) cars. In each of these cars there are something like 8 doors. On each of these doors, there is a sticker, warning the passengers to be careful when they exit the train, because sometimes the platform is rather low. What the English version says, on a few hundred stickers, is \"caution with hight of floor\". Either I don\'t know that word, or somehow they missed an \"e\" and nobody noti... See more ...but a humiliating typo. The city of Munich recently bought I don\'t know how many new S-Bahn (urban railway) cars. In each of these cars there are something like 8 doors. On each of these doors, there is a sticker, warning the passengers to be careful when they exit the train, because sometimes the platform is rather low. What the English version says, on a few hundred stickers, is \"caution with hight of floor\". Either I don\'t know that word, or somehow they missed an \"e\" and nobody noticed. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Abfall and Abriss | Mar 16, 2003 |
I love it! It takes a rare kind of genius to come up with that!
I remember seeing rubbish bins at a motorway service area in Germany with heavy iron lids, on which was embossed the legend: \"ABFALL - FALL OFF\"! I dread to think how much it had cost to cast and manufacture them!
And at the East Side Gallery in Berlin they have a \"translation\" on a photo of the Wall which reads: \"Berlin Wall, Construction 1961, Draft 1989\"
But t... See more I love it! It takes a rare kind of genius to come up with that!
I remember seeing rubbish bins at a motorway service area in Germany with heavy iron lids, on which was embossed the legend: \"ABFALL - FALL OFF\"! I dread to think how much it had cost to cast and manufacture them!
And at the East Side Gallery in Berlin they have a \"translation\" on a photo of the Wall which reads: \"Berlin Wall, Construction 1961, Draft 1989\"
But the thing that gets me every time I stay in German hotels is the myriad of different English versions of the \"Please put your towels on the floor if you want them changing\" notice - all of them wrong! I keep meaning to compile a collection of them... ▲ Collapse
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Ralf Lemster
Germany
Local time: 03:18
English to German
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| Arrested for a ski pass... | Mar 16, 2003 |
We spent a week at a hotel in Austria a few years ago - they had the following notice regarding the use of reusable ski passes which you could re-charge:
Quote:
Skipässe sind an der Rezeption gegen Kaution von ATS ... erhältlich.
Ski passes are available at reception against ATS ... bail.
When I p... See more We spent a week at a hotel in Austria a few years ago - they had the following notice regarding the use of reusable ski passes which you could re-charge:
Quote:
Skipässe sind an der Rezeption gegen Kaution von ATS ... erhältlich.
Ski passes are available at reception against ATS ... bail.
When I pointed out the mistake, the lady at reception told me they had it done by a local translator...
Happy translating, Ralf ▲ Collapse
| | | | | One of my favorites is still the popular tree | Mar 17, 2003 |
We encountered a classic translation while we were on holiday last year - the \"Pappelbaum\" rendered as the \"Popular tree\". 
Alison
| | | | | And what about... | Mar 17, 2003 |
the brand new car lines of Nissan and Mazda?. One is \"Laputa\" (which in spanish is equivalent to \"Thewhore\") and \"Moco\" (\"snot\" in plain Spanish). And guess what... the \"Moco\" comes in green colour too! (it´s actually the marketing official product photograph).
I believe it´s done on purpose, to have people comment on it... the possibility of a true mistake is to much to consider.
Cheers,
Rossana
| | | | James Calder
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:18
Spanish to English
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| Intrepid seafood | Mar 17, 2003 |
From a menu in Gijón, northern Spain:
almejas a la marinera - seafaring clams
Pure genius.
jcal
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sylver
Local time: 10:18
English to French
| Could be worse... | Mar 17, 2003 |
Quote:
On 2003-03-17 15:02, jcal wrote:
From a menu in Gijón, northern Spain:
almejas a la marinera - seafaring clams
Pure genius.
jcal
Imagine \"clam in the marines\". Actually, I am becoming oblivious to bloopers. Here, that\'s day in day out.
But one of my all time favorites is in the reception of a thai l... See more Quote:
On 2003-03-17 15:02, jcal wrote:
From a menu in Gijón, northern Spain:
almejas a la marinera - seafaring clams
Pure genius.
jcal
Imagine \"clam in the marines\". Actually, I am becoming oblivious to bloopers. Here, that\'s day in day out.
But one of my all time favorites is in the reception of a thai laundry service. It reads \"Drop your pants here for more pleasure.\". Oups.  ▲ Collapse
| | | | Andy Watkinson
Spain
Local time: 03:18
Member
Catalan to English
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There used to be a small bar going down the Ramblas (Barcelona) on the right-hand side with the day\'s \"specialities\" written on a slate.
In addition to such delicacies as \"slab chicken\" \"slab veal\" its star attraction (for foreigners at least) was, in Spanish \"callos\" (tripe).......on the slate it was called simply :
\"GUTS\"
Bon apetit.
| | | | Yuri Geifman
Canada
Local time: 21:18
English to Russian
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| somebody sent me a whole bunch of translation bloopers... | Mar 18, 2003 |
Here\'s one of my favorites:
In a Nairobi restaurant:
CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.
| | | | Dan_Brennan
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:18
Russian to English
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that reminds me of a menu note assuring diners that \"all of the water served here has been personally passed by the manager\"
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| Keeping on the restaurant theme | Mar 18, 2003 |
I saw a menu item in a restaurant that read \"Tobacco Chicken\". Luckily for the owners the patrons were mostly Russian, who knew that this did not mean chicken meat stewed with cigarette butts or served in an ashtray but a dish form the cuisine of Caucasus Mountains.
| | | | Dan_Brennan
United Kingdom
Local time: 02:18
Russian to English
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| tobacco chicken | Mar 18, 2003 |
judging by a kudoz question for that very dish, i think i may know who translated that menu. she moves among us.
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 04:18
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| tobacco cuisine | Mar 19, 2003 |
Well, tobacco is actually used as a spice too!
Well, most of those blunders are circulating already since the 1980\'s, when I got a compilation including the \"drop your trousers here...\"
I we ridicule people who communicate in foreign languages with tourists we are unjust. Are native English speakers immune against typos and other mistakes?
I am always delighted, when I see typos in Finnish newspapers and advertisements. They assure me, that the \"natives\" make m... See more Well, tobacco is actually used as a spice too!
Well, most of those blunders are circulating already since the 1980\'s, when I got a compilation including the \"drop your trousers here...\"
I we ridicule people who communicate in foreign languages with tourists we are unjust. Are native English speakers immune against typos and other mistakes?
I am always delighted, when I see typos in Finnish newspapers and advertisements. They assure me, that the \"natives\" make mistakes too. ▲ Collapse
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