About the book: Translation is a task that is rather difficult, even for fluent

About this booklet: Translation is not a simple task. You cant just translate words
literally; idioms, synonyms, homophones, grammar, etc. are different for each
language. Between languages that are very different, translation is more of an art
form than anything else. Therefore, I have compiled a study of several incorrect
translations, and what went wrong in the translation process.

Disclaimer: This book contains mistranslations that are meant to be humorous, not
insulting. English speakers are definitely guilty of mistranslations as well, but I
only included two mistranslations from English to another language, since most
people who will read this booklet only speak English. That being said, here is a
coffee mug from China, where English phrases, even grammatically incorrect ones,
are gaining popularity.



Correct translation: Fire extinguisher

Why the confusion? means eliminate and means fire.
Someone thought it meant eliminate by fire instead of
eliminate the fire. A simple error can cause a lot of confusion!








Correct translation: Be careful not to slip and fall

Why the confusion? The word order in this sentence places the
combination of the verb to be careful () before the
characters to slip and to fall. There is not a word to make
this sentence negative, so translating it to English is especially
difficult. The word order makes sense in Chinese, though.


Correct translation: Swimming Pool

Why the confusion? There is really no equivalent of the letter
L in the Chinese language. Chinese has a sound that is like a
cross between an R, an L, and a D, and it is Romanized as
R. Therefore, its very common to see the Ls replaced with
Rs in Chinese to English translations.

Correct translation: Hazardous waste

Why the confusion: In Chinese, the characters for poisonous and
evil/harmful ( and ) together mean hazardous. They were
simply mistranslated as separate words.



Correct translation: Tienda de los Muebles del Hotel

Why the confusion? They meant to say that it was an outlet
store, but there is no equivalent word in Spanish. The correct
word to use is tienda (store, shop). However, they used the word
enchufe, which does mean an outlet an electrical outlet, that is!


Correct translation: Vuela en cuero or Vuela en gamuza

Why the confusion? This is an American Airlines advertisement
that the company used when they expanded business to Spanish-
speaking countries. As separate words, en and cuero mean
in leather. When en and cuero are joined together to form
one word, though, they translate to naked. The advertisement
should have separated the two words, or used another word for
leather, such as gamuza.



Correct translation: Spaghetti sauted with chicken

Why the confusion? The verb saltar means to jump, which
is why the translator thought that saltado meant jumped in
English. The connection comes from the fact that, when food is
sauted, it is thrown up into the air. However, jumped has an
entirely different meaning in English.








Correct translation: Dont fight me over a cookie

Why the confusion? The first translation, although it is correct,
is German slang. To go someone is slang that means to fight
them. Its actually very similar to the English saying, You
wanna go? which means Do you want to fight?











Correct translation: I think I am crazy.

Why the confusion? Spinne means to spin/weave, and it was
mistakenly translated as spider because of the fact that there is
another verb before it in the sentence. However, ich spinne
can also mean Im crazy, since, when a person gets
disoriented and their head is spinning, its almost as if theyre a
little crazy. This phrase is actually an idiom that means
something similar to the English phrase I cant believe what I
am seeing.



Correct translation: Please pay at the front desk.

Why the confusion? This is a sign in a French hotel. In English,
the word values can refer to the value of money as well as to
morals, so it is important to distinguish which one you are
referring to. In French, though, the word valeur mainly refers
to a sum of wealth. This was translated literally, without thought
to English homonyms.



















By Margaret Moran
Waxahachie Global High School
Capstone Class