Waiter! There's an insect of the order Diptera in my soup!
by Lingo24, 21st October, 2004
We explain what happens when translation goes wrong ...
The following genuine examples are an amusing reminder of what can happen when you don't use a professional translation company… On menu of Swiss restaurant: "Our wines leave you nothing to hope for." On the door of a Moscow hotel room - "If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it!" Useful advice on how to drive Tokyo style: "When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigour." Bucharest hotel lobby: "The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable." In Austrian ski resort: "Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension." Shop entrance in Majorca: "English well talking. Here speeching American." In a Paris hotel elevator: "Please leave your values at the front desk." In a Bangkok dry cleaner's: "Drop your trousers here for best results." On menu of Polish restaurant: "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." [Wonder if they ever caught the duck?!] All goes to show - when it comes to translation, you need the professionals!
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