- 24 November 2011
- 2:23pm
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Lost in translation: our top 20 picks
Andy MurdockLonely Planet author
Lonely Planet’s Lost in Translation photo contest, where travellers submitted pictures of funny and confusing translations, closed recently. And let me tell you, selecting the winner has been a difficult process – mostly because it’s really hard to make any progress in the midst of fits of laughter with tears streaming down your face.
When we launched the contest, we knew that travellers would dig up funny translations we couldn’t begin to predict, and we weren’t disappointed. Not only did we get funny translations, we also received all sorts of other confusing situations – some without a single word involved – that would cause a traveller to scratch their head and wonder what on earth they were looking at.
With over 1200 entries, nearly all of which were some form of funny, paring them down to our favourites was not an easy task. The following 20 are the best of the best (in no particular order), one of which will be announced the winner shortly (watch this space). Many of these are the fan picks from Facebook, while others are pulled from deeper in the submission stack and caught the judges’ eyes:
1. What kind of food can cause pregnancy? Taken at a restaurant next to Hill Tribe Museum, Chiang Rai, Thailand. – Mei Y.
2. Lunch in China….are you feeling lucky? – Paul D.
3. Sweet! @Beijing – Ana C.
4. Really? At the lift??? – Nadx S.
5. Thanx for explanation ;) – Trish H.
6. How I got a new free suitcase over in China… – Klara U.
7. Spicy Grandma? I’d rather not. Beijing. – John W.
8. I think I just lost my appetite. – Ed S.
9. What kind of orphans are we talking here? Taken in Nairobi, Kenya – Jesse O.
10. Keep Off The Grass in Shanghai – Karen M.
11. Welcome to “Translate serve error” restaurant. Wait!! maybe they should try another translate machine. – Pattie L
12. Take back those teenage mistakes – Chris S.
13. Girl picking up HOT GRAVY at Shanghai Airport, China – Maude C.
14. Your vehicle. He is not responsible for it. – Michael H.
15. Very catchy food they serve in Egypt – Claire Z.
16. The cutest translation I’ve ever seen. Hangzhou Botanical Gardens, China – Rebecca C
17. Obviously this is place to do… what? – Pasi R.
18. Who knew dog-ends were so dangerous… – Alyssa B.
19. The best place to park your camel – Kate M.
20. The sort of madness you see in the capital of China… – Carinne A.
Have a favourite of your own? We’ll be announcing the winner here shortly.
Never get lost in translation again with Lonely Planet’s new Offline Translator apps for iPhone, iPad and Android.
Here are some of my favorites from my life in Cuba:
https://hereishavana.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/lost-in-cuban-translation/
good post.
I could not get my camera out in time to snap a photo of a large official sign beside the busy highway from Shanghai to Suzhou that read:
Donut Drink and Drive
At a restaurant on Montmartre we saw a dish translated as Good Looking Net of Pig in the Mustard… Not sure what exactly that is, but at least it did mention two food items.
–Holly
http://www.rollthemaps.com
The weird thing about “Fish Dance Music Training Place” is that it’s actually a 100% correct translation of フィッシュダンス音楽練習場!
The sign I saw in Slovenia had no translation. No clue what they were trying to tell us: http://twitpic.com/1v55m4
Actually, the sign “i fart” is not a translation but means “in motion” in danish :)
Several years ago the Hard Rock Cafe Beijing celebrated its anniversary with special cocktails. One of them was called: “Special Cocktail for ladies with nuts”.
My favourite from Beijing recently was “Heart cerebral disease sufferer ascend the Great Wall to please watch for”
They stopped at the crucial point.
We vote for “Ass hair salon”.
We’re still laughing…
Netwire (translation services) team
There is a really good Chinese restaurant in Berkeley, CA that serves a dish called “Sauteed Happy Family”. (It contains seafood and vegetables, if anyone was wondering…)
Too late for the competition, but this post on my blog as a few funnies from Beijing restaurants. I’ve also got a couple more funny word pictures on later posts too: http://thefurtheradventuresofbennett.wordpress.com/2011/11/07/some-possible-interesting-words-and-a-scooter-update/
Number 4 is Danish and not a translation. The lift signs means “in motion” and “stops here”. However, when Queen Elisabeth II was on an official visit to Denmark in the late 1970s, a government hospitality crew painstakingly covered all lift signs Her Majesty might encounter, lest the royal sensibilities should be unamused. :-)
@bfrangipane: Pictograms should be self-explanatory. A guess at the meaning of the question mark on the road sign in your photo, as it is placed just before a turn on a downhill mountain road, would be:
“Ask yourself questions, like:
Do I know what’s coming at me around the corner?
Is my speed such, that I can make this turn at all and stay on the road?”
In other countries, you might have met a turn-your-brain-off-and-obey-order sign, like “Caution. Road turns. No passing. Max 30 km/h”.
And before you have read all this and reacted to it, you have fallen off the road or collided with an oncoming vehicle, or with a slow or stopped vehicle or with some other obstacle out of view.
I think it’s an excellent sign!