Humor

Sommige vertalingen zijn –helaas onbedoeld- niet gespeend van de nodige dosis humor. Hieronder een aantal grappige voorbeelden die tonen hoe het dus NIET moet:

Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."

In a Tokyo bar: "Special today for the ladies with nuts."

In a Rome laundry: "Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time."

In a hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily.

Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest: It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.

The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem-Feeling Free", was translated into the Japanese market as "When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty".

Ford had a problem in Brazil when the Pinto flopped. The company discovered that the word Pinto was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals".

In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions.

On the door of a Moscow hotel room: If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.

In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: "Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar."

When Kentucky Fried Chicken entered the Chinese market, they discovered that their slogan "finger lickin' good" was translated as "eat your fingers off".

In a Budapest zoo: Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.

In the office of a Roman doctor: Specialist in women and other diseases.

In an Acapulco hotel: The manager has personally passed all the water served here.

Tokyo hotel's rules: Guests are requested not to smoke and do other disgusting behaviors in bed.

The sign at the concierge's desk in an Athen's hotel: "If You Consider Our Help Impolite, You Should See The Manager".

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