Chinese Restaurant Suffers Large Translation Error 364
linuxwrangler writes "Preparing for English-speaking visitors, a restaurant in China recently ran its name through an online translator, took the result, then purchased and mounted a large sign displaying the English version of their name: Translate Server Error." This one has been around for a couple of weeks but it's destined to become a classic.
Cookie (Score:5, Funny)
In the words of the immortal Jimmy James (Score:5, Funny)
The original title of this book was 'Jimmy James, Capitalist Lion Tamer' but I see now that it's... 'Jimmy James, Macho Business Donkey Wrestler'... you know what it is... I had the book translated in to Japanese then back in again into English. Macho Business Donkey Wrestler... well there you go... it's got kind of a ring to it don't it? Anyway, I wanted to read from chapter three... which is the story of my first rise to financial prominence... I had a small house of brokerage on Wall Street... many days no business come to my hut... my hut... but Jimmy has fear? A thousand times no. I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey strong bowels were girded with strength like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo... dung. ...Glorious sunset of my heart was fading. Soon the super karate monkey death car would park in my space. But Jimmy has fancy plans... and pants to match. The monkey clown horrible karate round and yummy like cute small baby chick would beat the donkey.
My Personal Favorite (Score:5, Funny)
The grandmother of an extremely attractive young lady in Toronto used Chinese characters in a design she embroidered on one of the girl's shirts. Somebody in Chinatown eventually pointed out to her that the characters said, "This dish is inexpensive but delicious."
Great, but it is not... (Score:5, Funny)
It is not a gaff like, Chevy Nova in South America, No va meaning No go, but that could be truth in advertising. Or, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken" being translated into, "It takes a hard man to make a chicken aroused."
Some others:
"It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." translating into "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.
The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the Wax Tadpole"
"Fuck goods" (Score:5, Funny)
Another classic that you may or may not have heard of is "fuck goods [google.com]".
Due to simplification of Chinese characters, the words "dry" and a "do" merged into one single simplified Chinese character. In slang, "do" can mean copulation. The correct translation is "dried goods". You can see the rest yourself.
let's have some fun (Score:5, Funny)
From a printer in Mexico... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, and if you live in San Diego and you come to a car dealership where they give you a "Leash Agreement" instead of a Lease one, tell them I said hi!
Re:let's have some fun (Score:5, Funny)
A moderation that doesn't add anything to my karma in exchange for causing a major international incident? Sold!
Re:Great, but it is not... (Score:5, Funny)
You remind me of KFC's "We do chicken right" being translated (by others, not official, I think) to "We are prostitutes and that's right!" ("chicken" being the slang for prostitutes).
Re:From a printer in Mexico... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, and if you live in San Diego and you come to a car dealership where they give you a "Leash Agreement" instead of a Lease one, tell them I said hi!
Maybe they do more than sell cars?
Interesting nomenclature... (Score:5, Funny)
I have a street map of Kyoto with a legend translating the Japanese for "WC" into English - "Cornhole Palace".
Something tells me that wasn't entirely accidental.
Re:Tattoos (Score:2, Funny)
Hint: It begins with sucking and ends with cock :-)
Re:Developer failure (Score:5, Funny)
Mine are all in Spanish, the official and future language of the United States, and therefore, all of the world. It's the Spanish exposition.
Re:Developer failure (Score:5, Funny)
Nobody expects the Spanish exposition!
(But admit it, you were all expecting that line, weren't you.)
Re:Cookie (Score:5, Funny)
How do we know its a resturant?
I thought it would be more likely a computer repair shop.
Re:Developer failure (Score:4, Funny)
Re:My Personal Favorite (Score:5, Funny)
Good thing it wasn't a tattoo.
New York City?! (Score:5, Funny)
Get the rope.
Re:Cheap-ass Chinese (Score:5, Funny)
No Ad Men On /. Obviously That restaraunt is sitting on a fortune if they are smart enough NOT to take that sign down. The word is out, on slashdot no less, the world will flock to them.
I have spoken
Re:Developer failure (Score:3, Funny)
'better' is something to do with the women, right?
Re:Great, but it is not... (Score:4, Funny)
A girlfriend of my sister once asked somebody for a light in Spain on vacation. Not knowing the Spanish word, she used the German "Feuer?" which pronounces almost exactly like "follar", which means "to fuck." Hilarity ensued.
Re:My Personal Favorite (Score:5, Funny)
Shit happens:
http://offbeatink.com/tattoo-designs/chinese-tattoos-gone-wrong/ [offbeatink.com]
Re:Cookie (Score:2, Funny)
I can't wait to read the fortune cookies.
Rat Pesticide: Do Not Eat
Re:Developer failure (Score:1, Funny)
That's because Spanish gossip is better. Have you ever listened to a few old Spanish women discussing the foibles of their children? Soap opera writers should sit and take notes, especially of the Cubans. Any country where the president has had his sister trying to get the CIA to assassinate him, for 40 years, and actually got them to try several times, is a country that knows how to do a family argument.
Re:Cookie (Score:1, Funny)
This fortune cookie is delicious! --more--
It has a scrap of paper inside that says: --more--
Help! I'm trapped in a Slashdot commenting factory!
Re:Great, but it is not... (Score:2, Funny)
Hard to beat Electrolux and its vacuum cleaners: Nothings sucks like Electrolux:
Wiki ref [wikipedia.org]
Re:In the words of the immortal Jimmy James (Score:2, Funny)
s/Great/Galactic/
Hey, don't blame him - he just put his post through a web translation service.
Re:Developer failure (Score:3, Funny)
You just exposited the Spanish expectation.
Re:let's have some fun (Score:3, Funny)
+1 Funny to the first one who can use DNS cache poisoning [slashdot.org] to trick a Beijing restaurant into calling itself the "Free Tibet Cafe".
Wouldn't that just describe a monastery that gives away coffee?
Re:Great, but it is not... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Great, but it is not... (Score:2, Funny)
Chinese is like Perl,
NOW, i get it.
don't waste bits like that. everything else appeared as blur, so i was wondering.
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:My Personal Favorite (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Great, but it is not... (Score:5, Funny)
Not a translation error per se, but something akin. Appartently someone at the Swedish property management company Locum came up with the idea to turn the 'o' in to a heart, to make the logo look trendy. The 'L' in the logo being lowercase, the logo read
I [heart] cum
Re:In the words of the immortal Jimmy James (Score:1, Funny)
Madness? This Is Spar-... China!
Re:My Personal Favorite (Score:2, Funny)
"The grandmother of an extremely attractive young lady in Toronto used Chinese characters in a design she embroidered on one of the girl's shirts. Somebody in Chinatown eventually pointed out to her that the characters said, "This dish is inexpensive but delicious.""
Maybe she knew what it said and knowing her granddaughter, wanted great-grandchildren. I've seen grandmothers do crazier things to increase the size of the family.
Re:My Personal Favorite (Score:1, Funny)
According to my neighbors, they have no idea.
Re:Cheap-ass Chinese (Score:3, Funny)
A year ago, I spent a few weeks in Hanoi. Both "carp" and "crab" were commonly available in the restaurants, but both were frequently spelled "crap" on the menu.