| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] | Off topic: Mis-translations and cross-cultural howlers Thread poster: Dan_Brennan
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Can Altinbay 
Local time: 19:24
Japanese to English
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In memoriam | You think that's bad? | Mar 14, 2005 |
danya wrote:
my students at the Uni screamed of laughter and refused to read aloud O'Henry's story. One of the characters was called Con O'Lantry.
The first language the girls studied was French, and they read the name as {Kong}. Afterwards they told me it means "male member" in French. It made my day 
But then I asked them, what they would think of King Kong then. It made theirs.
PS how do they say in the US, for example, "Dick Chaney" and not laugh?
| | | | NancyLynn
Canada
Local time: 19:24
French to English
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Moderator of this forum
Mishaps
From EE Times, October 8, 1996. In case you were wondering if you were the only ones having trouble coming up with a suitable product name, consider these ill-fated foreign products whose names didn't make it through the translation quite right (compiled by Charles Brymer of Interbrand Corporation):
Ass Glue Blood tonic from donkey parts; China
Colon Plus Liquid detergent; Spain
Fockink Liqueur; the Netherlands
Green Piles Lawn fertiliser; Japan <... See more Mishaps
From EE Times, October 8, 1996. In case you were wondering if you were the only ones having trouble coming up with a suitable product name, consider these ill-fated foreign products whose names didn't make it through the translation quite right (compiled by Charles Brymer of Interbrand Corporation):
Ass Glue Blood tonic from donkey parts; China
Colon Plus Liquid detergent; Spain
Fockink Liqueur; the Netherlands
Green Piles Lawn fertiliser; Japan
Homo Sausage Beef jerky; Japan
Hornyphon Video recorder; Austria
Krapp Toilet paper; Sweden
Last Climax Paper tissues; Japan
Mucos Soft drink; Japan
Pansy Men's underwear; China
Pipi Orangeade; Yugoslavia
Plopp Chocolate bar; Sweden
Polio Detergent; Czechoslovakia
Pshitt Soft drink; France
Shitto Hot spiced pepper sauce; Ghana
Skinababe Baby cleanser; Japan
Superglans Car wax; the Netherlands
Zit Lemon-lime soft drink; Greece
In many countries, Microsoft has kept the original name of the company, but in China they decided to translate it. Unfortunately, the translation was direct instead of figurative, and came out as "small and flaccid." Obviously, they decided to not go with that name. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Back from Buenos Aires | May 18, 2005 |
I just came back from Buenos Aires.
One restaurant offered "revolting eggs" (meaning "huevos revueltos/scrambled eggs").
There was a line of children's clothing called "Mr Cock" and a store selling guns and ammo called "My Friends".
| | | | JH Trads
United States
Local time: 19:24
Member (2007)
English to French
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among the wrong uses of French words in English, I find very funny the way elegant companies catering to the rich create a new class of services/costumers, the "concierge" category...with all due respect to this profession, a French ambitious nouveau riche could be appalled if told he achieved the "concierge" status
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| aus Haftungsgründen | Mar 27, 2016 |
Just came across this one in a legal text:
"For adhesion reasons"
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 05:54
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
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SITE LOCALIZER
This must be one of the longest living threads of this site.
An expensive car that used to be marketed in India had the brand name Laura. In Hindi, the "r" often gets pronounced as "d", making this name Lauda for many Hindi-speakers.
Lauda in Hindi means something like dick.
You can still see cars carrying this name on the Indian streets, although its production has now stopped and newer, and more sensibly named, models have taken its place.
| | | | | | SirReaL
Germany
Local time: 01:24
English to Russian
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A_Lilie
Germany
Local time: 01:24
Japanese to German
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| My favorites | Jun 25, 2019 |
I know this thread is really old, but I just discovered it during my lunch break and honestly had a blast, so I want to add some of my favorites, too.
When I was in Tokyo, I saw a shop called "E hyphen world". Apparenty some real label, but still sounds like some mistranslation to me 
A kind of electrolyte water in Japan called Pocari Sweat, which is funny in and of itself, has a subbrand for animals called... See more I know this thread is really old, but I just discovered it during my lunch break and honestly had a blast, so I want to add some of my favorites, too.
When I was in Tokyo, I saw a shop called "E hyphen world". Apparenty some real label, but still sounds like some mistranslation to me
A kind of electrolyte water in Japan called Pocari Sweat, which is funny in and of itself, has a subbrand for animals called "Pet Sweat", sold in 500 ml bottles like any other drink.
And one common coffe creamer over there is called "Creap", which always made me think of Radiohead
Last one is a proof reading project I worked on a few weeks ago, in which the translator meant to write "Mitstreiter" (in that case allies), but wrote "Mistreiter" (manure riders). Definitely made work easier that day, reading "We need more manure riders!" a few times  ▲ Collapse
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