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Welcome to the Translators’ Hall of Shame: Part III

August 10, 2016 -By: -In: In the News / Awards - Comments Off on Welcome to the Translators’ Hall of Shame: Part III

Are you ready for some ridiculous translation? Bad translation as spotted by consumers and Internet users can be so funny it hurts. Unless they’re talking about your business, of course, and then it just, well, hurts.

Sit back and enjoy the latest roundup of translation no-nos!

These Chinese Restaurant Menus Will Make You Lose Your Appetite

I can tell you that there are plenty of wacky translations to be found on restaurant menus around the world, but a recent Daily Mail article features more than a few cases where you would probably prefer to skip dinner. In some Chinese restaurants, you can feast on such delicacies as: “F**k the Duck Until Exploded,” “The Self-Restraint Does the Intestines,” “Chicken Rude and Unreasonable,” “Dishes with Human Pickles,” “The Black Fryings the Breeze Ball,” “Cowboy Leg,” “Whatever,” and my favorite, the inexplicable “Stir-Fried Wikipedia.”

Apparently the United States Moved to a Home and Garden Store in Wales

The B&Q store in Llanbadarn, Wales closed, so naturally the company wanted to direct customers to their nearest open location. But unfortunately, there was a problem with the banner the home and garden store used. As the Cambrian News reports, it seems an English to Welsh translation error is responsible for the suggestion that the United States can now be found at another B&Q.

Auto-Translation Software Strikes Again!

Here on the blog I previously wrote about a Spanish town’s erroneously named Clitoris Festival (when trying to celebrate a local vegetable) courtesy of Google Translate. But recently the BBC had their own words of wisdom about the perils of auto-translation like Google Translate and Skype’s real-time translation software: “Before you think auto-translation is on the verge of perfection, think again.” One example cited Skype’s translation of “It’s nice to talk to you” into offensive Chinese, as reported by the photographer shooting Skype’s commercial.

The Good News

Now if you’re ready for some quality translation, I can help you at 646-847-3309 or [email protected].