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
| Paul Dixon Brazil Local time: 03:42 Portuguese to English + ...
I remember in a film hearing 'I'm going to sue my boss' and the subtitle 'Vou suar com o chefe' which literally means 'I'm going to sweat with the boss'. | | | Michele Fauble United States Local time: 23:42 Member (2006) Norwegian to English + ... Ambiguity in language | Aug 12, 2020 |
Rachel Fell wrote: Kay-Viktor Stegemann wrote: Didi18 wrote: I recently came across this one: "Serve a child-size portion" translated as "Serve a portion of children" Have you ever seen a translation so bad it made you wonder if the translator actually knew the target language? In your case, the source is also not really convincing. I think a portion of the size of a child would be quite a serving. And I have often seen source texts where I wondered if the author actually knew the source language. It's just English, and a not uncommon expression. Semantically ambiguous, but usage and common sense provide the correct interpretation.
[Edited at 2020-08-12 17:30 GMT] | | | Didi18 United States Local time: 23:42 English to Spanish + ... TOPIC STARTER Thanks for sharing and thanks for the laughs | Aug 13, 2020 |
Thank you for sharing these lovely mistranslations. They were so funny I couldn't stop laughing. In the US, we say "child-size" to describe the size of something that is smaller than the normal, adult-size version. (The adult-size version is not the size of an adult, by the way). We know what it means and we don't make the mistake of thinking it means something else. However, not everybody in the world uses "child-size" to describe something that is "of a size suitable for a child".... See more Thank you for sharing these lovely mistranslations. They were so funny I couldn't stop laughing. In the US, we say "child-size" to describe the size of something that is smaller than the normal, adult-size version. (The adult-size version is not the size of an adult, by the way). We know what it means and we don't make the mistake of thinking it means something else. However, not everybody in the world uses "child-size" to describe something that is "of a size suitable for a child". So, if translated by someone who doesn't know how to translate the meaning (and only translates the words) the result can be hilariously horrifying. I can't imagine a world without translators. ▲ Collapse | | | Mistranslation | Aug 13, 2020 |
Didi18 wrote: Thank you for sharing these lovely mistranslations. They were so funny I couldn't stop laughing. In the US, we say "child-size" to describe the size of something that is smaller than the normal, adult-size version. (The adult-size version is not the size of an adult, by the way). We know what it means and we don't make the mistake of thinking it means something else. However, not everybody in the world uses "child-size" to describe something that is "of a size suitable for a child". So, if translated by someone who doesn't know how to translate the meaning (and only translates the words) the result can be hilariously horrifying. I can't imagine a world without translators. That's true. I totally agree with you.
[Edited at 2020-08-13 07:33 GMT] | |
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Futurama was notorious for its terrible translation. At the very beginning of the very first episode, the translator translated "Doomsayers cautiously upbeat" with "Weltuntergangspropheten behutsam verprügelt" (Doomsayers beat up cautiously). They did fix that later on the DVDs, though. | | |
A local hospital has a "Hostility Services" department (instead of Hospitality). | | | MollyRose United States Local time: 01:42 English to Spanish + ...
Years ago I saw a Spanish "fire plan" sign at the health department that was horrendous! I don´t remember much of it now, but almost everything about it was wrong except for the drawing and arrows. I sure am glad they´ve never had to use it. Here is what I remember: The title was Fire Plan: Plan de Disparo (Shooting Plan) They translated the names of the intersecting streets, telling patients to go out to Alta Calle instead of High Street. Sala de Bañ... See more Years ago I saw a Spanish "fire plan" sign at the health department that was horrendous! I don´t remember much of it now, but almost everything about it was wrong except for the drawing and arrows. I sure am glad they´ve never had to use it. Here is what I remember: The title was Fire Plan: Plan de Disparo (Shooting Plan) They translated the names of the intersecting streets, telling patients to go out to Alta Calle instead of High Street. Sala de Baño (Bath Room) They used something crazy for fire extinguisher, using the word "disparo." They never used a correct word for "fire" on the whole thing. I couldn´t stand it, so I kindly asked for permission to retranslate it for them because "it had some errors and Spanish speakers would not understand it." They said ok, and I painstakingly made a photocopy, covered the words with white paper and tape, made a few copies of that, redrew some lines that I had to cover, and then redid it as neatly as I could with a correct translation. After I gave it to them, I never saw it up on the wall. They just kept the stupid old one! I don´t know what they did with mine. They should have put it up because they knew that I could communicate well in Spanish. I think whoever did it just looked up the words in a bilingual dictionary. ▲ Collapse | | | James Plastow United Kingdom Local time: 07:42 Member (2020) Japanese to English
This is probably my favourite example from Japan, from a car rental brochure "When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage, then tootle him with vigour." Quite a nice collection here https://www.alphadictionary.com/fun/mistranslation.html A power strip in... See more This is probably my favourite example from Japan, from a car rental brochure "When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage, then tootle him with vigour." Quite a nice collection here https://www.alphadictionary.com/fun/mistranslation.html A power strip in Japanese is literally called "Octopus legs" and I have actually seen it translated that way...
[Edited at 2020-08-14 23:42 GMT] ▲ Collapse | |
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Lincoln Hui Hong Kong Local time: 14:42 Member Chinese to English + ...
I have never cringed at a translation. I have been shocked, I have laughed, but usually it's "ugh", sigh, look at the camera and say, "It's a living." | | | Didi18 United States Local time: 23:42 English to Spanish + ... TOPIC STARTER Another Spanish horror translation | Aug 15, 2020 |
MollyRose wrote: Years ago I saw a Spanish "fire plan" sign at the health department that was horrendous! I don´t remember much of it now, but almost everything about it was wrong except for the drawing and arrows. I sure am glad they´ve never had to use it. Here is what I remember: The title was Fire Plan: Plan de Disparo (Shooting Plan) They translated the names of the intersecting streets, telling patients to go out to Alta Calle instead of High Street. Sala de Baño (Bath Room) They used something crazy for fire extinguisher, using the word "disparo." They never used a correct word for "fire" on the whole thing. I couldn´t stand it, so I kindly asked for permission to retranslate it for them because "it had some errors and Spanish speakers would not understand it." They said ok, and I painstakingly made a photocopy, covered the words with white paper and tape, made a few copies of that, redrew some lines that I had to cover, and then redid it as neatly as I could with a correct translation. After I gave it to them, I never saw it up on the wall. They just kept the stupid old one! I don´t know what they did with mine. They should have put it up because they knew that I could communicate well in Spanish. I think whoever did it just looked up the words in a bilingual dictionary. I saw a preschool flyer that was from Spanish to English, and one paragraph was about not bothering the children during nap time. Unfortunately, in Spanish "to bother" is "molestar", so it was translated as "don't molest the children when they're sleeping". | | | S_G_C Romania Local time: 09:42 English to Romanian
LEXpert wrote: -"Always give an unconscious victim fluids by mouth". Actual meaning: *Never* give an unconscious victim *anything* by mouth. I've had this one in an EN to RO project where I was supposed to only translate the new entries (old entries = locked segments). I did inform the client about it, and about others like it. | | | S_G_C Romania Local time: 09:42 English to Romanian
A couple of years ago, my daughter was admitted to a hospital in Bucharest, Romania, for a week, and I accompanied her. While pacing the halls, I noticed the fire exit diagram, the instructions were bilingual, English and Romanian. Except "beams" had become "beans"... Also, I have seen this note stuck on the window of a local mini-bus (now they've replaced them with regular buses): "price of calatory". "calatory" was supposed to mean "fare" or "ride". And there has been... See more A couple of years ago, my daughter was admitted to a hospital in Bucharest, Romania, for a week, and I accompanied her. While pacing the halls, I noticed the fire exit diagram, the instructions were bilingual, English and Romanian. Except "beams" had become "beans"... Also, I have seen this note stuck on the window of a local mini-bus (now they've replaced them with regular buses): "price of calatory". "calatory" was supposed to mean "fare" or "ride". And there has been a time when I was in Selgros with my daughter, looking for olive oil. And there was this label on one of the bottles, I'm so sorry I didn't keep the picture, the text was a mishmash of Italian and Romanian, like two words in Italian, three in Romanian, and so on. ▲ Collapse | |
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WS McCallum New Zealand Local time: 18:42 French to English East and West | Aug 17, 2020 |
Yes, I have seen many over the years. Here are two: The translation of a leaflet from English by a Japanese translation agency for a scenic flights company that was sent to the NZ translation agency I worked with for checking (and layout work, as I recall). We had to contact the aviation company and tell them why their leaflet's heading "Take a walk at 23,000 feet" would not be very appealing to anyone except possibly members of the Yakuza looking for cheap body disposal. ... See more Yes, I have seen many over the years. Here are two: The translation of a leaflet from English by a Japanese translation agency for a scenic flights company that was sent to the NZ translation agency I worked with for checking (and layout work, as I recall). We had to contact the aviation company and tell them why their leaflet's heading "Take a walk at 23,000 feet" would not be very appealing to anyone except possibly members of the Yakuza looking for cheap body disposal. And a famously arrogant Frenchwoman in Wellington I had to work with who translated "Best Western Hotels" as "Les meilleurs hôtels de l'ouest" and then simply would not listen when I told her it was the name of a hotel chain, not a trade description. She tried to put me in my place in front of the director of the translation company we worked for at the time. My reply: "Well, there's a Best Western Hotel on Willis Street - it's 5 minutes' walk from here. You can go and have a look if you don't believe me."
[Edited at 2020-08-19 09:01 GMT] ▲ Collapse | | | expressisverbis Portugal Local time: 07:42 Member (2015) English to Portuguese + ... |
If you visited that restaurant, would you order whatever (and the rest) just to find out? I know I would. | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Have you ever seen a translation so bad it made you cringe? TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
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