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Off topic: Mis-translations and cross-cultural howlers
Thread poster: Libero_Lang_Lab
FreePro
FreePro
Local time: 17:26
English to German
+ ...
"Italian" brand name for a toilet paper Jan 20, 2004

Jack Doughty wrote:

When I was in Cologne in the RAF in 1959, there was a brand of German toilet paper named "BUM" on sale there. Some people who visited us for a holiday bought several rolls of it to give to their friends in England.


Jack, that was lovely! Many a time, I was considering to write a a collection of all the hilarious names product managers sometimes come up with. I used to do a lot of translations of brand names (or finding new ones) for English companies launching new products in other markets. My favourite one in Italy (I live in Florence meanwhile) is a name they have given to a toilet paper. It is called "Grand Finale".


 
FreePro
FreePro
Local time: 17:26
English to German
+ ...
Movie translations Jan 20, 2004

murat karahan wrote:

4-5 years ago I did the editing of dubbing translations of movies and converted them into subtitle format. Here are some disasters I can never forget.
Movie: Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, Uma Thurman
The cowgirls gather pejote cactus (which has narcotic effects) and feed the cactus meat to cranes who then prefer to fly high on the ground. The "translator" sees the explanation of pejote in the script and the latin name is given which is Lophophora williamsü. After doing some thinking he/she translates pejote as leopard and pejote as leopard meat!! Since the movie was being broadcast in the dubbed version and pejote appeared at at least 40 scenes in the movie we had to redo the dubbing.
Movie Hannibal
Somehow the "translator" decided to translate Hannibal the Cannibal as Hannibal the Vegetarian.


I commiserate with you
About 15 years ago, there was a US documentary to be put on German TV I was to evaluate for a client... The subject matter: "Moonshine" (in the US this is the illegally produced alcohol, especially in the "Hillbilly" country "back yonder". I used to live in the 'Lone Star' State Texas for a few years and thus knew all about that little side business, ha-ha. Anyway, the original translator had obviously no idea what Moonshine was and confused it with Moonlighting (which in German is "Schwarzarbeit". Again, something illegal, but so far removed from the original!)
I had a real fun time reading the script, since it contained the equivalent of moonlighting every time the "moonshine" was mentioned. If this had been aired in the way it was, I seriously doubt any viewer would have understood the documentary at all. The reaction would have been "Ah, these Americans, strange people!"


 
nyamuk
nyamuk
United States
Local time: 10:26
Indonesian to English
+ ...
poo poo platter Feb 2, 2004

http://www.proz.com/glossary/612040

"What I'm translating is quite funny. It's a company in Germany that offers ads in toilet papers! They claim that because of the high "contact numbers" (contact between human and paper), they can guarantee a high degree of exposure...or in their case, eye-to-skin contact."

I hope someone bothered to inform this fellow that braille is read w
... See more
http://www.proz.com/glossary/612040

"What I'm translating is quite funny. It's a company in Germany that offers ads in toilet papers! They claim that because of the high "contact numbers" (contact between human and paper), they can guarantee a high degree of exposure...or in their case, eye-to-skin contact."

I hope someone bothered to inform this fellow that braille is read with the fingers and not the bum.

A delivery van in Singapore with the company name:
'Tak Sing Enterprise'

A no littering sign in Indonesia planted in a traffic island near independence square:
'Please don't throw away garbage here, put it correctly in this place.'
`correctly in this place' should have been 'in its proper place'

On a sign for a barber shop in Ubud, Bali:
'Thank you for your come'

In Indonesia the mini van drivers pull out all the stops decorating their carriages. On the road from Jakarta to Sukabumi there is one with a little piece sign and the word 'PISS' painted on front back and both sides windows. While I know that ID "i" = EN "ee" the fact that the lettering was bright yellow left doubts in my mind.

In Charlottesville Virginia (USA) a menu entry:
'Happy burning family'

Could they mean the poo-poo platter?

Did anyone mention the ever popular American Chevy Nova? Also a huge success in Mexico when marketed there. Locals understand 'No va' to mean 'doesn't go' oops!

When I was a child my grandfather used to pinch my nose and then showing me his thumb protruding from the index finger and middle finger would say "here it is!" My daughter tried it on her grandfather, who is an Indonesian. The pinch went okay but then when she gave him the universal (in Indonesia) sign for f*ck you and said "Here it is!" he was deeply impressed. I reassured him that there where no mistakes that weren't accidental mistakes.

The following happened in my family when I was a child but didn't get passed the moderator here last time I posted it:

When I was young we used to do a Trans Atlantic house swap. One day we got a call from the mother of the family staying in our house. She had heard the across the street neighbour call out to his daughter: "Young lady get in here right now! When I get done with you your fanny will be black and blue!"
My mother didn't help matters by reassuring the caller:"oh don't worry he's just like that."




[Edited at 2004-02-02 03:09]
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Irene Caporale (X)
Irene Caporale (X)
Local time: 17:26
Spanish to Italian
+ ...
thanks for the laugh! Feb 29, 2004

Rachel Vanarsdall wrote:

Years ago someone gave me this little item which apparently appeared in the Toronto Star:

\"An English-language driver\'s manual in Italy gives this advice on dealing with pedestrians: \'When a passenger on the hoof hove in sight, tootle the horn, trumpet him, melodiously at first. If she still obstacle you passage, tootle him with vigor and vim, expressing by words of mouth in warning.\'

\"And a tourist guide to the island of Capri offers this introduction: \'We hope this little book will be really insinuating, in the proper sense of the word. It weighs nothing and has no pretences, and we hope it will be kept in the handbag of elegant ladies and in the wallet of their husbands, on the desk of the important business man or in the cigarette case of the young snob.\'\"

I have no idea if these are genuine but I love the part about \"tootle him with vigor and vim!\"




Hahahahaha! That\'s quite true actually!

Amancio Iglesias wrote:

For example, pollo con pasas was called \"chicken with you happen\" in a restaurant near my town.


I saw something identical on a menu in Barcelona! I bet they used the same tool to translate it!


 
izy
izy  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:26
English to German
+ ...
not to forget.. Feb 29, 2004

"Bimbo Bread
(bimbo = a woman of loose morals"


..the 'Moron' driving school (also seen in Spain)!

[Edited at 2004-02-29 19:24]


 
Marie-Hélène Hayles
Marie-Hélène Hayles  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:26
Italian to English
+ ...
Why shouldn't you walk on the grass in Rome? Apr 13, 2004

Well, in Piazza Bologna, if you do, you'll be
"PERSECUTED ACCORDING TO THE LAW"


 
Katherine Zei
Katherine Zei  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 11:26
Italian to English
+ ...
Words fail me May 3, 2004

Angela Arnone wrote:



"Life with Alessi design. Italian wind to colour japanese life"






Who knows, maybe Italian wind is a valuable commodity in Japan! Particularly the wind that is produced after an Italian has eaten multiple servings of cazzoeula!
That is hilarious; I can't believe a globally well known company like Alessi made such a huge international boo-boo.


 
Maria Belarra
Maria Belarra  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 17:26
French to Spanish
+ ...
Not possible!! May 9, 2004

Dan Brennan wrote:



Cafe Bonka - the Spanish coffee that does wonders for your libido...

(to bonk = to have sex)



particular when washing down a slice or two of, that other Spanish favorite:



Bimbo Bread

(bimbo = a woman of loose morals)







You just ruined my breakfast!!



[Edited at 2004-05-09 22:51]


 
tectranslate ITS GmbH
tectranslate ITS GmbH
Local time: 17:26
German
+ ...
It doesn't always have to be the translations... Jul 27, 2004

German toilet paper manufacturers are quite inventive when it comes to naming their "babies": Another brand of TP is called "Danke" ("Thank you") - ugh. ;D

 
Nathalie Altman
Nathalie Altman
Canada
Local time: 12:26
English to French
More from Canada Oct 26, 2004

Hello everyone,

I just read all the messages in this forum and thank you for your contributions! Thank God for humor.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

A butcher shop in Toronto's Chinatown is called "Happy Meat Market". I always wondered about the "happy meat" part...

And of course there are wonders like

Made in Turkey / Fabriqué en Dinde (which I actually saw)

and

Folding Baby Stroller / Poussette pour
... See more
Hello everyone,

I just read all the messages in this forum and thank you for your contributions! Thank God for humor.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

A butcher shop in Toronto's Chinatown is called "Happy Meat Market". I always wondered about the "happy meat" part...

And of course there are wonders like

Made in Turkey / Fabriqué en Dinde (which I actually saw)

and

Folding Baby Stroller / Poussette pour bébé pliant


Cheers!

Nathalie
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Gayle Wallimann
Gayle Wallimann  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:26
Member (2004)
French to English
+ ...
Restaurant menu to make you sick (or die laughing!) Jan 15, 2005

Too long to write it out for you now,(deadline) but take a look at this menu translation:

http://www.paris-lights.com/english/epubs/erestau/e_juliette.html



 
awilliams
awilliams
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:26
Italian to English
+ ...
:-) Jan 15, 2005

Gayle - you've had me rolling on the floor. The entire site seems to be (I hope!) a machine translation.

My personal favourites from other restaurants on the site:

Tartare to the two salmons
Plate frozen in the agenaise

...not forgetting the name of one restaurant, Le BOUCHON du MARAIS, which loses something in translation: "The CORK of the Swamp".

Excellent.


 
NancyLynn
NancyLynn
Canada
Local time: 12:26
Member (2002)
French to English
+ ...

Moderator of this forum
LOL Jan 15, 2005

I liked The Restoration is from 12:00 o'clock to 15:00 o'clock

And here I thought the Restoration took place in 1660

Too funny, Gayle, thanks!

Nancy


 
Lingo Pros
Lingo Pros
United States
Local time: 12:26
Persian (Farsi) to English
+ ...
Iranian BARF washing powder Feb 24, 2005

PAS wrote:

I have the packaging from an Iranian laundry detergent that went by the catchy name of \"Barf\"...



It was imported to Poland in the late communist or perhaps early capitalist days, so probably that fine example of Persian marketing went unnoticed by most.



Pawel


'Barf' means 'Snow' in Persian. I remember the product. The company meant the foam created by using the washing powder was as gentle as snow flakes or something like that.

'Tide'came later. I guess "The periodic, rhythmic rise and fall of the sea surface that results from the gravity of the moon and sun acting on the rotating Earth" washed the 'Barf' out of the market.


[Edited at 2005-02-24 12:32]


 
NancyLynn
NancyLynn
Canada
Local time: 12:26
Member (2002)
French to English
+ ...

Moderator of this forum
BARF - the detergent for mothers of newborns Feb 24, 2005

what? I thought that was perfect


Nancy


 
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