1. Faulty Translations

     

    **When Braniff translated a slogan touting its upholstery, "Fly in leather", it came out in Spanish as "Fly naked".

    **Coors put its slogan  "Turn it loose" into Spanish, where it read as "Suffer from diarrhea".

    **Chicken magnate Frank Perdue´s line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken", sounds much more interesting in Spanish, "It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate".

    **When Vicks introduced its cough drops on the German market, they were  chagrined to learn that the German pronunciation of "v" is "f" - which in German is the F-word!

    **Not to be outdone, Puffs tissues tried later to introduce its product, only to learn that "Puff" pronounced "poof" in German is a colloquial term for a whorehouse. The English weren´t too fond of the name either, as it´s a highly derogatory term for a homosexual.

    **The Chevy Nova bever sold well in Spanish speaking countries. "No va"  means "it doesn´t go" in Spanish.

    **When Pepsi started marketing its  products in China a few years back, they translated their slogan "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life" pretty literally. The slogan in Chinese really meant "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave".

    **When Coca-Cola first shipped to China, they named the product something that when pronounced sounded like "Coca-Cola". The only problem was that the characters used meant "Bite the wax pole". They later changed to a set of characters that mean "Happiness in the mouth".

    **A hair products company, Clairol, introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into Germany only to find out that "mist" is manure. Not too many people had use for the manure stick.

    **When Gerber first started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as here in the USA - with the cute baby on the label. Later they found out that in Africa companies routinely put pcitures  on the label of what´s inside since most people can´t read.  

     

    Foreign Sings

                            **In a Tokyo hotel: "Is forbidden to steal hotel towels please. If you are not person to do such thing is please not read notis."

                            **In another hotel lobby: " Please to bathe inside the tub."

                           **In a Bukarest hotel lobby: "The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret you will be unbearable."

                            **In Leipzig elevator: "Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when lit up."

                            **In a Belgrade hotel elevator: " To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order."

                            **In a Paris hotel elevator: " Please leave your values at the front desk."

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

                           **In a Yogoslavian hotel: " The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chaimbermaid."

                         **In a Japanese hotel: " You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid."

                        **In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from the Russian Orthodox monastery: "You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russina composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday."

                        **In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers: " Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension."

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

                         **On the menu of a Polish hotel: " 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."

                       **In a Hong Kong supermarket: " For your convenience, we recommend coureous, efficient self-service."

                     **Outside a Bangkok dry cleaner´s: " Drop your trousers here for best results."

                     **Outside a Paris dress hop: " Dresses for street walking."

                    **In a Rhodes tailor shop: " Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation."

                   **Similarly, from the Soviet Weekly: "There will be a Moscow Exhibition of Arts by 15,000 Soviet Republic painters and sculptors. These were executed over the past tow years."

                   **In an East African newspaper. "A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers."

                  **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."

                  **In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: " Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists."

                 **In Zurich hotel: " Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose."

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

                 **Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand: "Would you like to ride on your own ass?"

                 **In the window of a Swedish furruier: "Fur coats made for ladies from their own skin."

                 **In Bagkok temple: "It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man."

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

Special thanks to: teflfarmchat@onelist.com


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