Off topic: Hilarious(and quite public) translation mishap!
Autor de la hebra: Michael Grant
Michael Grant
Michael Grant
Japón
Local time: 16:39
japonés al inglés
Jul 22, 2011

Hi all,

My colleague sent me a link to this hilarious article on the BBC Web site about a missed translation...if you read Welsh, you'll get it right away, if not, here is a hint:

The article is entitled E-mail error ends up on road sign ...
How embarrassing!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7702913.stm

MGrant


 
Vikas Chaturvedi
Vikas Chaturvedi
Local time: 13:09
urdu al inglés
+ ...
Oh.. really Embarrassing.. Jul 22, 2011

This indeed embarrassing..

 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
España
Local time: 09:39
Miembro 2005
inglés al español
+ ...
OK, who pays? Jul 22, 2011

I think it would be good to know how much correcting the sign will cost. The cost should be deducted from the salary of the person who made the mistake, instead of the taxpayer footing the bill.

 
RobinB
RobinB  Identity Verified
Estados Unidos
Local time: 02:39
alemán al inglés
This has been doing the rounds for some time now Jul 22, 2011

And to prove there's nothing new under the sun, something similar happened around 1700 years ago which illustrates that even back then, ignorance about a language (in this case Latin) can have unintended humourous consequences. A grave inscription from the late Roman/early Middle Ages period unearthed in Annaba, Algeria, reads:

HIC IACET CORPUS PUERI NOMINANDI

which translates as "Here lies the body of a boy, insert name"

It's assumed that both the stonemas
... See more
And to prove there's nothing new under the sun, something similar happened around 1700 years ago which illustrates that even back then, ignorance about a language (in this case Latin) can have unintended humourous consequences. A grave inscription from the late Roman/early Middle Ages period unearthed in Annaba, Algeria, reads:

HIC IACET CORPUS PUERI NOMINANDI

which translates as "Here lies the body of a boy, insert name"

It's assumed that both the stonemason (and probably the persons commissioning the inscription) didn't actually know any Latin, but just copied it out from a Latin source.
Collapse


 
Krzysztof Kajetanowicz (X)
Krzysztof Kajetanowicz (X)  Identity Verified
Polonia
Local time: 09:39
inglés al polaco
+ ...
misconception about translation Jul 22, 2011

This struck me as odd:

"Everything these days seems to be written first in English and then translated.

"Ideally, they should be written separately in both languages."


Are people so used to bad (i.e. odd-sounding) translations that they now consider them a standard? That they think translation is something else than writing the source text in the target language?


 
matt robinson
matt robinson  Identity Verified
España
Local time: 09:39
Miembro 2010
español al inglés
Honest mistake Jul 23, 2011

Tomás, you sound like you're still smarting from your latest tax declaration!


[Edited at 2011-07-23 19:59 GMT]


 


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Hilarious(and quite public) translation mishap!






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