Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Lost in Translation

Every time I venture to a foreign country (and/or 5 minutes away from campus and end up in either Mexico, India, or Sudan), I always notice the often mistaken English language translations. I'm pretty sure everyone has noticed this, the same as mostly everyone notices when something on a dinner menu is spelled incorrectly at a restaurant (i.e. Braised Pork with Sweat Potatoes). Here are just a few things I have recorded in my brain or sometimes a tiny notebook because my memory is crowded:

1) Angus Meet Balls. This was on a menu in Puerto Vallarta to describe spaghetti bolognese. I was unaware that Angus had to actually meet Balls.
2) Jingle's Bells. My senior year of high school, I went with 4 boys to a Theravada Buddhist temple for a world religions project. We figured we'd stay for 30 minutes or so and then leave, but no. They made us gift baskets that they tempted us with if we converted (it was difficult to resist the strong pull of a large, multi-colored streamer and several cakes that appeared to be made out of a crude mixture of play-doh and dead ducks). They fed us "lunch packs", also known as apple juice boxes. They told our fortunes to us, which was nice for the guys until I got one that said I am as dried up as the roots of an old tree and will grow old alone and bitter. And finally, they asked us if we would join them in a round of Christmas carols (it was October), starting with the old classic "Jingle's Bells", accompanied by Pancho, yes, Pancho, the Theravada Buddhist monk, on the bongos and myself on the tambourine. The lyrics were written on a dry erase board and said: "Jingle's Bells, Jingle's Bells, Jingle's got a way. Over what fun it is to drive a one horse open hay. Hay!"
3) Chicken Pepe Will Play With Your Children. I saw this sign in Mehico as an advertisement for a playplace at a fast food restaurant called Chicken Pepe's. I guess it meant that the mascot was in the playplace waiting to goof off with your kids, but frankly, I wouldn't really let my children go into an area where a middle-aged man dressed as a chicken would play with them.
4) "Piece of chicken". A friend of mine is a personal trainer and was teaching this asian lady how to work the leg press. When asked if the weight was too heavy, the lady replied "No, it's easy! Piece of chicken!" I think she might have meant piece of cake. We may never know.
5) Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts. I saw this sign outside a Korean bar in Hawaii. I believe it was intended to say that there were special prices for women AND there were nuts at the bar. But you never can be sure.

I'll post more of these later, I just wanted to go ahead and write down the few that I can remember before I forget. Have a nice day and don't go near Chicken Pepe.