Even Google Translate knows that the best translation for “Dulce de leche” is caramel, but oh well…
Today in Awkward Translations…
Tag: translations
When English Translations and Mexico City Collide
Speaking of my homecountry –and awesome translations– I give you this CDMX pesero, whose owner has earned a spot on this blog for being exactly what he claims to be: The More Dick –presumably “El más verga.” Go ahead and find me a better translation. I’ll wait.
Image via Reddit
Texas Water Agency Thinks this Poster Is in Spanish
A small brouhaha erupted this week on Twitter after @LeChanclé posted this image (left) and tagged the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTWD) with the following message:
“With so many Spanish speaking people in Texas, the @ntmwd thinks it’s better to google translate their campaign than hiring someone to do the job. This ad makes no sense in Spanish.”
And he’s right. The text MAKES NO SENSE whatsoever, but to make matters worse, the agency quickly responded by saying the message had been translated from English by an advertising agency and that, well, “translations into other languages are never exact.”
Really NTMWD? One thing is to take some liberties to help the message get across but Agua Tejano? Mantenerlo en el grifo? I’m not even going to go into the whole “agua is feminine” and all that, but get your act together. Fire your agency or something and help us save water –and a good human translator!
Today in Awesome Mexican Translations…
Chicken BBQ –presumably.
Via: Reddit
Today in Awesome Google Translations…
This Zumba Establishment Wants you to Lose your ‘Bolas’
From the always-creative #SpanishFail Texas signs and advertisements, comes the “Corazon [sic] Latino Dance Fitness” in Austin, where you can go dance until you lose not one, nor two, but 20 “bolas!”…
Or, did they mean “bolsas?” 🤔
#ItsLbsNotBls
Hat tip: @SaraChicaD
Today in Awesome English to Spanish Translations…
The above sign was spotted at a posh resort, but I’m pretty sure they did not use Google to translate the text into Spanish. I literally just pasted the English text into my Google Translate app, and it came up with a pretty decent Por favor, apague las duchas cuando haya terminado.
[See below]
So here’s a piece of advice for English-speaking hotel owners out there: If you must choose between your high-school Spanish and Google Translate… Go with the latter.
¡GRACIAS!
French Café Google Translates Menu. Hilarity Ensues
The owners of the Café Cordial in Paris’ Opera District are very nice people. Not only do they make sure to mumble some English words for the crowds of American visitors who show up there everyday without speaking a word of French; but they even go out of their way to translate their menu not in one but in two languages.
While some of the English translations in their menu is OK (I just said “OK,”) it is clear that they got lost in the [Google] Spanish translation.
Here are some hilarious examples.
BLOGGER’S NOTE: Apologies to the monolingual crowd; this is funny only if you understand both English and Spanish.
1. Croissant = The thing that grows
There’s the translation for croissant as “1 que crece” (literally: one thing that grows) and toast as “brindis,” as in the toast to happiness….
2. Smoked Salmon = The salmon who had too much to smoke
3. The Horny Goat that is served over a salutation
There are several more yet to be highlighted… Be my guest and find them yourselves, will you? I’m too busy dealing with the country’s Happy Hours.
Photos: Laura Martínez, Paris 2015
This Church Claims God is Having Sexual Pleasure with you
No, the devil is not in the details; the devil is in the bad translations.
Take St. Ignatius, an Austin-based catholic parish, which — in an effort to lure more Hispanics — decided to translate its holy message into Spanish.
However, St. Ignatius’ publicists would have been well advised to know that “God Delights in you” shouldn’t be translated as God se goza contigo, which is Spanish for, ahem, ahem… “God is having sexual pleasure with you.”
I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a very uncomfortable proposition –and one that does not make me want to attend church any time soon.
hat tip: Le Chanclé
I Want to be Friends with Whoever Translated this Thing
After almost eight years of blogging about the wonderful world of Spanish-language media, marketing and pop culture, I’ve come across all kinds of weird, poor, lazy, bad and terrible translations from English to Spanish and viceversa.
Some are plain silly, others are just hilarious. But this one above (whose origin is still shady) takes the cake -or should I say ‘se lleva el pastel?’
NOTE: In all honesty, I think the above might just be a case of very witty Photoshop. But… oh, how I wish it were true!
Hat tip: @tropicarlitos
Here’s a Property I Won’t be Allowed in. For Sure.
The owners of this private condo in Ixtapa, Mexico surely don’t want people like me hanging around their property.
Oh, well.
Hat tip: Bego Lozano
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