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Admin
The big no sign just reminded me of my trip to Italy when I was a kid. We went to a bank to exchange some currency, and there was a whole row of "big red no" signs. Standard stuff: no smoking, no dogs, etc. The last one was "no robbing the bank". It had a hamburglar looking figure holding up the teller, with a big red no symbol around it.
I took a picture, but lost it somewhere along the years.
Admin
I couldn't figure out what was so WTFy about the bottom image of the "Trim Gauge" a multipurpose tool. Took a bit to realize it was an advert. and not part of the lineup.
A friend of mine teaches a forklift safety course. He tells me people are always killing themselves doing dumb stuff with with those sort of devices.
Admin
When I was growing up, my mom put up a "No windsurfing" sign in our loo. We soon forgot about it, but it amused guests.
Admin
TRWTF is that it looks like someone went in to fix one of the paragraphs but stopped before even finishing that one.
Admin
The Enrichment Center promises to always provide safe testing environments. In dangerous testing environments, the Enrichment Center promises to always provide useful advice. For instance, the floor here will kill you. Try to avoid it.
Admin
Made in China?
Translated in China!
Admin
Made in China?
Translated in China!
Admin
I gotta get one of those ear Michaelrophones so I can speak Engrish while play favorite game with the friend chat. For great justice!
Admin
I'm a freelance tech editor, and it really does amaze me how bad the translations of some of this stuff is. I make $35-50/hr, and for something as short on the ad copy on that packaging, it would probably take me maybe an hour or two of going back and forth with a Chinese speaker who is semi-competent in English and who has access to the original text to fix. So it would cost them $100, $150 tops not to look like morons -- and no doubt significantly less if they instead just hire one of the I'm sure many people in China who are fluent in English.
Admin
Er, translations of some of this stuff are ... OK, I'm off duty this morning.
Admin
Press galaxy to drive away...
I love those translations...
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I have found my new desktop wallpaper. Must remember to avoid falling.
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I can picture a robber, clad in his balaclava, going up to that bank reading to rob it. Only to notice the "NO ROBBING US!" sign, slumping his shoulders and sulking away, feet dragging, big sigh.
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"Curses, foiled AGAIN!!"
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I have a Xbox 360 headset and I'm sorry but there's no way it can replace "good friend contact." It just doesn't keep me warm at night and do...other things the way a good friend does.
Admin
In the local zoo they have a huge rock that kids constantly climb on. In order to prevent lawsuits the zoo placed a warning sign next to it.
"No slipping from this rock"
With an explanation that slipping and falling would get you kicked out of the zoo....
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I once went to China to explain to them that those online translator websites are not as good as they think.
I couldn't get anyone to understand me though...
Admin
Another great warning sign was at the Raleigh-Durham airport, which showed all the things you could not bring into an airplane. Among the images was a lit bomb. The sign helpfully concluded "these items should be left at home".
Admin
"The Enrichment Center promises to always provide safe testing environments. In dangerous testing environments, the Enrichment Center promises to always provide useful advice. For instance, the floor here will kill you. Try to avoid it."
Admin
All your XBox are belong to us!
Admin
It's not the fall that kills you; it's the sudden stop when you impact with the ground!
The sign should have a crossed out image of someone going splat next to the lift!
Admin
Virginia Tech always had gay/lesbian/bi "safe zone" stickers on doors to a ton of the buildings. Never quite knew what those were for either.
I always pictured a big herd of rednecks chasing some gay guy through Blacksburg with torches and pitchforks, but stopping and shaking their fists when he runs into the door of Squires Student Center.
It would also work well as a Mentos commercial.
Admin
"I can picture a robber, clad in his balaclava, going up to that bank reading to rob it. Only to notice the "NO ROBBING US!" sign, slumping his shoulders and sulking away, feet dragging, big sigh."
Go ahead, laugh, but there are many legislators in the US who really do believe that a picture of a pistol with a circle and slash on it will have exactly this effect.
Admin
Actually, it is not the sudden stop that kills you, it is the sudden stop of some parts of you, combined with the other parts of you that don't stop as suddenly.
Admin
I wonder, with all the bad translation of Chinese into English that we laugh at, are there bad English to Chinese translations that the Chinese laugh at? Are their Chinese websites dedicated to bad English -> Chinese translation?
There was, for instance, the story of Coca Cola's first launch in China as "Bite the wax tadpole" (http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/tadpole.asp)
Admin
Fuck the Microphone into the plug
http://chinglish.pages.googlepages.com/index.html
Admin
http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesome/catdozer.asp
[image]Addendum (2008-01-11 11:18): Hmm... apparently, the folks at Snopes get downright possessive about their images.
Admin
Yes, they actually said "this sidewalk". Apparently, parking on other sidewalks is allowed.
Admin
(No va = "it doesn't go")
Admin
Note to side the with microphone telly. Inside box phone micro ear ringer speak into micro. Plug to controller for personal communication work career.
Admin
That XBox 360 headphone looks like a cheap knock-off and not the genuine product.
Still hilarious. :)
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The last one reminds me of http://www.engrish.com/
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Yes, but there always is the chair.
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But you can fall through the floor.
Admin
My personal favorite comes courtesy of Dell. You can thank them for these warnings...
The original... [image]
and the updated... [image]
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Well clearly you have never been drunk enough!
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I immediately understood the Ear Michael thing.
The text originally said "ear mike" and they did a global search-and-replace. Don't know why they did it on the back of a package, but there you go.
Admin
In San Francisco, there are lots of signs that say "Bus Stop - No Standing".
What, we're supposed to sit on the curb at the bus stop? Or hop up and down? We can't just stand there?
I found out that "standing" means sitting in your car while the car is idling. I didn't know that.
Still, "Bus Stop - No Standing" is a stupid sign.
Admin
I've also heard of a Coca-Cola slogan being translated to Japanese as something like "Coca-Cola raises your ancestors from the dead".
My spanish teacher used to tell me about how poorly the Chevy Nova sold in South America because "no va" means "doesn't go" in spanish.
Admin
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It seems like he tried to drive the vehicle off the flatbed but its high center of mass caused it to turn over.
Admin
A McDonald's "restaurant" here in Switzerland also had, for a time, a bright yellow disclaimer near the counter: "The money is located in a safe. It can only be opened in the presence of the money courier."
Admin
Yeah--it looks like they used the Altavista Babelfish to translate it to English.
Admin
A roommate claimed to have been in a French class in which a student aiming to describe "piles of snow" incautiously chose the wrong "piles" entry in the dictionary. But I assume he never got as far as drafting product information.
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