Funny translation errors.

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Every language got its own subtleties. At times it might cause fun translation errors, such as:

- Thank you from the mountain.
Correct version: "Thank you in advance". In Polish "from mountain" and "in advance" are exactly the same: "z góry".

- They started dating and became a steam.
Correct version: "They started dating and became a couple.". Both "steam" and "couple" are translated as "para" in Polish.

- Let's pray to the God in the sky!
Correct version: "Let's pray to the God in heaven!". Both "sky" and "heaven" are "niebo" in Polish.

- My fathers tongue is polish.
Correct version: "My native language is Polish". We use "ojczysty" as "native" which is an adjective word coming from "father", not "mother" when we tell about our native language. The words "tongue" and "language" are both "język" in Polish. And we don't spell language names using caps which is a fun combo when you consider the meaning of "polish" in English.

Your turn.

I don't know if it's true these days, but until recently, one often spoke of speaking in a certain "tongue," meaning language.

“Blind Idiot” Translation. Note the quotes!—the name “blind idiot” doesn’t describe the translator, though you’d get essentially the same picture interpreting it that way “Blind idiot” is, in fact, a double “blind idiot” translation of “out of sight, out of mind” into Chinese and back into English.

My every day language is French and one of the funniest translation errors I've seen was on a bathing suit I bought, which was "made in Turkey". Instead of writing "fait en Turquie" (the country), they wrote "fait en dinde" (the bird!). Every time I wore it, I chuckled at the thought that my bathing suit had feathers and wings and could be accessorized with green peas. lol

That's akin to a safety notice in Spanish---well, sort of---on some poisonous product, which, to instruct the user about what to do if they accidentally swallowed the fluid, began with "sí golondrina", a rather nonsensical phrase that, as spelled, translates as "yes swallow" (the bird, not the action of pulling something down your throat). The proper spelling of the first word is easy to guess: si, without the accent, means 'if'. On the other hand, a Spanish speaker is very unlikely to realize that what the author meant should have been expressed with the verb tragar ('to swallow'), rather than the noun golondrina ('swallow', the bird), unless they know English at a fairly decent level, and come up with the idea of mentally translating the two words into English and back into Spanish, revealing the "blind idiot" translation.

Ford's Pinto car failed to sell in Brazil. The company found out that the reason for this was that the word "pinto" is Brazilian slang for something that men and boys have. I'll leave that up to your imagination.

Here's a conversational exchange I remember from the mid 1970s:

My Brother: "What's that you're reading?"

Me: "Le Malade Imaginaire" (By Molière)

My Brother: "What does that mean? The Bad Imagination?"


Well, I thought it was funny......

"Norskorna och danskorna" ("Norwegians and Danes") gets mangled in Google Translate. It comes out as "Norwegians and dancing cows".

凡骨 < Mongolian muffin o_o Probably the worse translation error I've ever seen.

There are some in this old thread: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=106334

There's a Tagalog translation joke involves this phrase:
"Mahal kita, babe"
But...
"Mahal" means 'Love', but it also means 'Expensive'
"Kita" means 'You', but that also means 'Salary'
Babe is also what it is in English: "Babe" like a "Lover", or 'Infant'

Figure it out.

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My sister overheard a fellow American talking to some Spanish speaking workmen, and said that the American person "translated" the name of lady named "Penny" into the word "centavo" (a one cent coin) causing the Spanish speaking guys to laugh. Probably one of the dumbest acts of translation ever!

There are at least two fountains in different parts of Spain with sculptures representing the Roman goddess Diana. Naturally enough, each of them is called Fuente de Diana ('Fountain of Diana') in Spanish.

The goddess's name is also Diana in Portuguese, and the correct way to refer to one of the above-mentioned fountains in this language is Fonte de Diana. However, you often see it translated from Spanish as Fonte de Alvo. What's going on here?

Simple: as a common noun, Spanish diana means 'target', and this translates into Portuguese as alvo. Welcome to the Fountain of Target!

An old friends of mine's mother is well traveled. I think she said she was in France when this happened. She didn't know the language very well. She went to a store and tried to ask "Do you have any rulers?" but it came out as "Do you have any menstruations?". Apparently ruler and menstruation sound similar when translated.