| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | Off topic: Have you ever seen a translation so bad it made you cringe? Thread poster: Didi18
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 22:43
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Chris S wrote:
If you visited that restaurant, would you order whatever (and the rest) just to find out? I know I would.
No, it would make me sick.
I would order urgently a reliable translator instead, and sue that restaurant for "poisoning" the English language!
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Brilliant! I saw "cold ass tendon" on a menu in China, but couldn't quite summon up the courage to try it.
I did enjoy my "saliva chicken", though.
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 22:43
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Certain swearwords seem to be carefully chosen | Sep 9, 2020 |
Philip Lees wrote:
Brilliant! I saw "cold ass tendon" on a menu in China, but couldn't quite summon up the courage to try it.
I did enjoy my "saliva chicken", though.
I don't why, but words like "ass" and "butt" are constantly included on the menus... "Pringles ass flavour"; "Ice cream in the ass"; "Butt sweets shop": https://www.boredpanda.com/translation-fails/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
There is surely a funny intention in using these terms.
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X) 
Spain
Local time: 23:43
Spanish to English
+ ...
| In case of fire | Sep 14, 2020 |
Cringe, no, but after so many years seeing it and thinking For Pete's Sake, I may as well come out of the closet and say it: is it me, or does that sign on lifts "Do not use in case of fire" sound strange to others too? I'd say "Do not use during a fire" or "Do not use in the event of a fire", but this sounds like you should never ever use the thing, just in case a fire breaks out. In Spanish it's "en caso de", so I can see where it comes from there at least, but there's something about it that ... See more Cringe, no, but after so many years seeing it and thinking For Pete's Sake, I may as well come out of the closet and say it: is it me, or does that sign on lifts "Do not use in case of fire" sound strange to others too? I'd say "Do not use during a fire" or "Do not use in the event of a fire", but this sounds like you should never ever use the thing, just in case a fire breaks out. In Spanish it's "en caso de", so I can see where it comes from there at least, but there's something about it that bothers me.
[Edited at 2020-09-14 10:32 GMT]
[Edited at 2020-09-14 10:37 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 22:43
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| Speaking for myself | Sep 14, 2020 |
Mervyn Henderson wrote:
Cringe, no, but after so many years seeing it and thinking For Pete's Sake, I may as well come out of the closet and say it: is it me, or does that sign on lifts "Do not use in case of fire" sound strange to others too? I'd say "Do not use during a fire" or "Do not use in the event of a fire", but this sounds like you should never ever use the thing, just in case a fire breaks out. In Spanish it's "en caso de", so I can see where it comes from there at least, but there's something about it that bothers me.
[Edited at 2020-09-14 10:32 GMT]
[Edited at 2020-09-14 10:37 GMT]
For my Romance ears, "in case of" and "in the event of" are synonyms, but I can see a slight difference: the first one means "if" it should occur, while the second means "if" or "when" something happens.
The first one can mean to be prepared for something unexpectable and the second one to be prepared if something unexpectable arises. It is not easy to find a difference although my native language has both expressions...
That is my humble opinion.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:43
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Near where I used to live in Florence, an enterprising young fellow decided to open a bar selling coffee, drinks, and snacks, and to make it more exciting he decided to call it something English (Italians are impressed by things in English).
Over several days I saw him up a ladder, painting the new sign above his shop. Then one day it was finished. It read
SNATCH BAR
I never went in there.
[Edited at 2020-09-14 15:21 GMT]
| | | | Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:43
Serbian to English
+ ...
| Did see few of them, unfortunately it was no laughing matter | Sep 14, 2020 |
as I happened to be the poor sod who had to turn them into something palatable.
Few times that I had to check / redact other people's translations before they were sent out.
Some of them were so bad I've simply redone them from scratch - (and it wasn't MT output ...).
On a positive note, few decades ago I was watching a French movie and I was positively shocked by the subtitles in Serbian! Shocked by how good they are - I've never seen such a good translat... See more as I happened to be the poor sod who had to turn them into something palatable.
Few times that I had to check / redact other people's translations before they were sent out.
Some of them were so bad I've simply redone them from scratch - (and it wasn't MT output ...).
On a positive note, few decades ago I was watching a French movie and I was positively shocked by the subtitles in Serbian! Shocked by how good they are - I've never seen such a good translation.
So at the end I paid attention to the rolling credits - and the mystery got explained - these subtitles were the collective work of bunch of kids from a Belgrade college specialised in languages. So much for "years of experience ..."
[Edited at 2020-09-14 17:33 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Tom in London wrote:
Near where I used to live in Florence, an enterprising young fellow decided to open a bar selling coffee, drinks, and snacks, and to make it more exciting he decided to call it something English (Italians are impressed by things in English).
Over several days I saw him up a ladder, painting the new sign above his shop. Then one day it was finished. It read
SNATCH BAR
I never went in there.
[Edited at 2020-09-14 15:21 GMT]
Why not?
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In reponse to your question, your pet peeve is also my pet peeve for exactly the reasons you mentioned. To me: "Do not use in case of fire" means that, if you use it, you may cause a fire. It is therefore nonsense.
I've been bleating on about this for years (it is the same in French as in Spanish: en cas de / en caso de) and probably the mistake has the same origin.
It's one of the things I have often mentioned to students.
As to other examples of bad translations, I cou... See more In reponse to your question, your pet peeve is also my pet peeve for exactly the reasons you mentioned. To me: "Do not use in case of fire" means that, if you use it, you may cause a fire. It is therefore nonsense.
I've been bleating on about this for years (it is the same in French as in Spanish: en cas de / en caso de) and probably the mistake has the same origin.
It's one of the things I have often mentioned to students.
As to other examples of bad translations, I could write a book on the subject. Some are frankly funny ("cru" on a French menu being translated as "believed" rather than "raw") and others are just proof of the translator's ignorance and, at times, stupidity (saying one thing on one page and something contradictory on the next without seeing the illogicality on reading through and, at the very last, asking for an explanation). But I'll save the other stories for the day I get round to writing that book. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 23:43
Spanish to English
+ ...
I'm assuming it was a snack bar. If he had a menu in English inside the place, hopefully he got the eats right, and it gave a choice of "Hot snacks" and "Cold snacks".
[Edited at 2020-09-15 14:01 GMT]
[Edited at 2020-09-15 14:01 GMT]
Perhaps we should be asking translators in Florence if "Snatch Bar" is still there. To my shame, I searched for it, but all I could find was "The Snatch - Lo strappo alla regola" which, as everyone knows, means A walk on the wild side. ... See more I'm assuming it was a snack bar. If he had a menu in English inside the place, hopefully he got the eats right, and it gave a choice of "Hot snacks" and "Cold snacks".
[Edited at 2020-09-15 14:01 GMT]
[Edited at 2020-09-15 14:01 GMT]
Perhaps we should be asking translators in Florence if "Snatch Bar" is still there. To my shame, I searched for it, but all I could find was "The Snatch - Lo strappo alla regola" which, as everyone knows, means A walk on the wild side.
There is also a Snatch Coffee & Booze Bar in Athens, in case anyone wants to check it out.
[Edited at 2020-09-15 14:17 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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When I were a lad, my walk to Narrich bus station after school took me past a shop called Knobs and Knockers. I never went in there, but that was only because an eight-year-old rarely needs to purchase door hardware.
It also took me past a Private Shop, which I didn’t go into either, seeing as it wasn’t open to the public. But I did go into WHSmith and nick something pretty much daily.
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.... but this one comes to mind. In Peru, a shoemaker: "Componemos zapatos" (freely translated = We are composing shoes). Wonder how they sounded?
[Edited at 2020-09-15 19:49 GMT]
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expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 22:43
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| It came to my mind | Sep 16, 2020 |
Tom in London wrote:
Near where I used to live in Florence, an enterprising young fellow decided to open a bar selling coffee, drinks, and snacks, and to make it more exciting he decided to call it something English (Italians are impressed by things in English).
Over several days I saw him up a ladder, painting the new sign above his shop. Then one day it was finished. It read
SNATCH BAR
I never went in there.
[Edited at 2020-09-14 15:21 GMT]
In Canada, Montreal, there's a restaurant called "Zibo": https://www.restaurantszibo.com/en/restaurant/centre-ville/
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=zib
This example is only a localisation issue. I don't consider it a bad translation, but a bad choice.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:43
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Unfortunate surname | Sep 17, 2020 |
I once worked in an office that I shared with a guy called Facchinetti.
I advised him never to visit London.
If you hold out your hand and introduce yourself formally to an English person - especially a Londoner - with just your surname "Facchinetti", it sounds as if you're gratuitously saying something extremely rude, without warning or reason.
[Edited at 2020-09-17 10:17 GMT]
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 22:43
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
| I can only guess | Sep 17, 2020 |
Tom in London wrote:
I once worked in an office that I shared with a guy called Facchinetti.
I advised him never to visit London.
If you hold out your hand and introduce yourself formally to an English person - especially a Londoner - with just your surname "Facchinetti", it sounds as if you're gratuitously saying something extremely rude, without warning or reason.
[Edited at 2020-09-17 10:17 GMT]
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