Badly translated signs in English

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Badly translated signs in English - 6/24/2007 6:55:15 AM

stella40

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From: London, UK
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We have worms
(at a convenience store sign for lunch)

Help yourself to a fight
(sign in London, UK)

I speaks very good England
(sign of Kazakstan English translator)

Help yourself to the waitress
(sign in Greek kebab shop)

Don't sit at a table without consummation
(sign in Italian cafe)

No sooking please
(sign at Kabul Airport, Afghanistan)

We take your bags and send them in all directions.
(sign in Copenhagen airline office)

Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists
(sign in Hong Kong dentist)

Ladies may have a fit upstairs.
(sign in Hong Kong tailors)

The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.
(sign in Yugoslav hotel)

Drop your trousers here for best results.
(Bangkok dry cleaners)

"Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion."
(menu in Polish hotel)

Feel yourself at home.
(sign in Irish pub in Poland)

"You are welcome to visit the cemetary where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists and writers are buried daily except Thursdays."
(sign in lobby of Moscow hotel near Orthodox monastery)

Dresses for street walking.
(sign outside Paris boutique)

Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.
(sign in a Tokyo bar)

The manager has personally passed all the water served here.
(sign in hotel in Acapulco)

The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.
(sign in Bucharest hotel lobby)

If you write bad checks, we will prostitute.
(sign in convenience store)

It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.
(sign in Germany's Black Forest)

English well speaking.
Here speeching American.
(two signs outside shop in Majorca)

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RE: Badly translated signs in English - 6/24/2007 7:38:43 AM

Saratov

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The sad thing is one could see similar signs in the USA these days.

Might even have been written by people born here.... maybe 'schooled' here. [high school graduates

]

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RE: Badly translated signs in English - 6/24/2007 10:20:32 AM

MiladyElaine

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Those were good - thanks for posting!

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RE: Badly translated signs in English - 6/24/2007 10:43:44 AM

Lordandmaster

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I collect unidiomatic English signs--mainly because they can be uproariously funny. I have to say, though, I have some doubts about these, because I haven't been able to find any PICTURES of them. There are plenty of pictures of bad English signs available on the internet (just Google "Chinglish" or "Chinglish signs," click on "Images" at the top, and sit back and enjoy), so the fact that no one has ever posted a picture of them makes me wonder.

There are all kinds of famous ones that you hear about. "Please feel free to take advantage of the chambermaid" (supposedly a Tokyo hotel). "If this is your first time in the U.S.S.R. you are welcome to it" (supposedly a Moscow hotel). I suspect many of these are clever hoaxes.

< Message edited by Lordandmaster -- 6/24/2007 10:44:15 AM >

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RE: Badly translated signs in English - 6/24/2007 11:45:57 PM

Termyn8or

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If y'all like this you might like a visit to

engrish.com

Just type it in Google.

T

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RE: Badly translated signs in English - 6/26/2007 1:13:59 PM

MagiksSlave

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((giggles)) OK now that is funny

Magik's slave

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don't slow down
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you might get out
before the devil even knows your there.

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RE: Badly translated signs in English - 6/28/2007 5:55:40 AM

Shanghaid

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Hell I see crazy English signs every day (in China for 7 years now). I typically take a quick pic of them with my phone camera & share 'em with local expat friends.

Too bad they don't allow us to post pics here otherwise I could upload a LOT.

As an example, something that I've seen quite a few times is a menu item that typically reads 'Fuck the Pork', 'Fuck the Beef' or (less frequently) 'Fuck the Chicken'.

When I first got here, I thought it was a cruel joke played by an English speaker on a hapless restauranteur. Only after my Chinese began to improve did I realize it was another translation for 'dried'. As in 'Dried Beef' etc...

Apparently, in most Chinese-English dictionaries, they neglect to attach warnings to some translations.

Quite the eye-opener.

SH'd

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RE: Badly translated signs in English - 6/28/2007 5:59:59 AM

Shanghaid

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Oh yeah, the Bangkok one -

Drop your trousers here for best results.
(Bangkok dry cleaners)

- was meant to be witty, not a poor translation.

Their English is generally too good for that - and Bangkok is too notorious for carnal sport. It ain't all kickboxing.

SH'd

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RE: Badly translated signs in English - 6/28/2007 9:07:11 AM

Lordandmaster

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That's basically right, but it's more complicated (and interesting) than that. The culprit is the simplified writing system. In the traditional writing system, gan meaning "dry" and gan meaning "to do" are clearly differentiated: 乾 vs. 干. They're pronounced with different tones, too: gan1 vs. gan4. But both are, very stupidly, represented by a single simplified character: 干. Now one slang meaning of gan4, which means "to do" is, not too surprisingly, "to fuck." Somewhere along the line someone must have looked up gan1 干, meaning "dry," in a PRC dictionary and found "to fuck" listed under the meanings for the OTHER gan. How on earth this mistake got to be so common, I have no idea. But if you Google "Chinglish fuck" and then click Images, you'll get a ton of examples.

Edited to add: Oh, you might have to make sure that your Google content filter is turned off.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shanghaid

As an example, something that I've seen quite a few times is a menu item that typically reads 'Fuck the Pork', 'Fuck the Beef' or (less frequently) 'Fuck the Chicken'.

When I first got here, I thought it was a cruel joke played by an English speaker on a hapless restauranteur. Only after my Chinese began to improve did I realize it was another translation for 'dried'. As in 'Dried Beef' etc...

Apparently, in most Chinese-English dictionaries, they neglect to attach warnings to some translations.

Quite the eye-opener.