As a linguist, I get a real kick out of the unintended consequences of translating text from one language to another. (One of my favorite books is ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE, an amazing tome written some centuries ago by two Portuguese gentlemen who spoke no English, but possessed a lot of faith in their technique of using a Portuguese-French dictionary, then a French-English dictionary, to come up with... ta daa! An English primer for Portuguese speakers. It's been a long time since I read the book, but I do fondly recall the expression "address you to your hairs" being offered up in place of "comb your hair" and the mysterious phrase "to craunch the marmoset.")
In that spirit, I'd like to offer up a lovely list from moronland.net: the Top 13 Worst Slogan Translations Ever. My favorite concerns the nature of the relationship between Frank Perdue and his chickens.
Comments (5)
Dear Jeanne,
I wanted to let you know that I'm an avid reader of your books. I posted a lovely review of I, Mona Lisa on my blog:
http://historicalnovelreviews.blogspot.com
I've included your links and a direct link to purchase your book from Amazon.
I am a medieval author who likes to concentrate her work on Italy, so you can understand just why I love your books.
Take care and keep writing!
Mirella Patzer
www.mirellapatzer.com
Posted by Mirella Patzer - Author | September 26, 2007 1:23 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 13:23
Hi, Mirella,
Thanks so much for visiting... and for the kind words and kind review.
Posted by Jeanne Kalogridis | September 26, 2007 2:39 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 14:39
Since Jeanne is mentioning languages, she is an excellent and fluent speaker of Russian. Because of Jeanne, I now know what Ensign Chekov has been saying on STAR TREK all these years!
Posted by John Allen | September 26, 2007 3:35 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 15:35
Hey, John, my Russian is SO rusty it hurts -- I can barely understand it anymore. I just had a real need to learn how to say "I'm not crazy." ;)
Posted by Jeanne Kalogridis | September 26, 2007 7:44 PM
Posted on September 26, 2007 19:44
That translations link was so funny I think I lost a little pee.
Posted by Becky | October 2, 2007 8:34 AM
Posted on October 2, 2007 08:34