I was shocked to see this beginners’ translation blunder at Gatwick airport. This picture shows a box inviting passengers to donate their spare currency. The largest word on the box says Change. Presumably, this is the original English word. No doubt, the intended message is that passengers should give over their remaining small change. The…… Continue reading Translation gaffe at Gatwick
Tag: Mistranslation
German and English Academic Usage and academic translation
I have just started reading German and English Academic Usage and Academic Translation (2021), by Dirk Siepmann. This starts with an exercise of translating a short passage of German academic text. It is only one paragraph, though quite a long one: Seit Mitte der 1980er Jahre hat Michel Espagne sukzessive das Themenfeld des interkulturellen Transfers…… Continue reading German and English Academic Usage and academic translation
Menu again
This restaurant in Madrid in 2017 served some unexpected translation delights. Here’s the first delicacy. “Dorada a la Bilbaina”‘ translated as “goldfish to the Bilbaina”.1. I love the thought of a restaurant serving goldfish. But dorada is gilt-head bream.2. “a la X” of course means “X style”. “to the” is a peculiarly poor literal translation.3.…… Continue reading Menu again
Translation and food packaging
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that UK retailer Tesco mis-translated chocolate powder into Czech. Tesco had translated it as čokoládový prašek (‘chocolate powder’) but the official Czech version of the EU Cocoa and Chocolate Products Directive uses čokoláda v prašku (‘chocolate in powder‘). The Czech authorities prosecuted Tesco and after…… Continue reading Translation and food packaging
Treats from Dubrovnik
One for my restaurant English collection, from Dubrovnik: “Mussels at the Dalmation”. If “a la” is good enough for the French, “at the” is good enough for us. … and another one. “With fresh rocked leaves”. Rucola or just well tossed lettuce? Dubrovnik, 2014
Bovine meat and swine ham
Several entries for best restaurant translation of the year. Bovine raw meat, anyone? Or Romagnola’s moorish swine breed ham? Turns out Mora Romagnola is a rare pig breed, but there are only 18 of them left according to http://ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/swine/moraromagnola/index.htm Ristorante Bolognese via Boldrini Bologna, 2013
Unappetising dishes in Liguria
Didn’t fancy eating a Ligurian, not even fish baked. Somehow the verdure sound less healthy in English. Also, not sure why they are fried in English but rustic in Italian. Pictures taken in 2013 (in Liguria, of course)
What is that aioi?
An unusual translation error. This English translation contains the mysterious word “aioi”. Context, some guesswork and a quick google of the Spanish original (coartada) indicate that this is a misprint for “alibi”. Picture taken in 2017 at Centro de Interpretación Judería de Sevilla
Taletellers
Another entry for the big book of menu translations. Who guessed that the English for tagliatelle is taletellers? Hotel Lido – Torri Del Benaco. Lake Garda, Italy. August 2016
Eat for Germany
A mistranslation, this time from Mandarin. Apparently this means “to eat is a blessing, to save is a virtue”, but the translation says “to eat is a blessing to save Germany”. Source: Language Log » To save Germany (upenn.edu) The reference to Germany isn’t random. The last character means virtue and is pronounced De. (the…… Continue reading Eat for Germany