Translated phrases or idioms have long been a source of amusement or embarrassment, for travelers.
For example, a diner translating “I am full” literally from English to French is basically saying “I am pregnant.” (The French would simply say “I have had enough.”)
Even countries with ostensibly the same language can have issues. For example, an English hotel owner might say to about a potential wakeup call “Would you like me to knock you up?”
Some of the best signs I have personally seen are in China a few years back, although I have forgotten most of the deals, a favorite were the bins in Beijing, marked “Recycling” and “Unrecycling.” (And the unintentionally funny mail boxes, with scheduled pickups at for example, 10:24 a.m. and 5:16 p.m. Yes, to the minute.)
But this week I might have found a new high, or rather low, curiously enough on the website of the deluxe Royal Plaza Hotel in Singapore. (Mind you, the Royal Plaza is so focused on U.S. business that they have hired a sales representative to go around the country to promote their hotel.)
Whatever translation software they are using, is not quite perfect This is an actual quote from the site about Carousel, their award-winning dinner buffet restaurant –
“Be mesmerized by the enormous spread of seafood and expect succulent and tender flesh. “
No doubt some Consumer Traveler readers can match or top this. So how about it on a holiday weekend. If you can remember more of these “lost in translation” phrases or signs, please amuse other readers by adding them in comments.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
