Calle Lanzarote
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Archive for the ‘Translations’ Category

When translations go wrong: battered octopus rings

Sunday, October 28th, 2007

Another menu that has gone slightly wrong, seen in Puerto del Carmen.

It should read “Tintenfischringe in Backteig” – ie. octopus rings in batter . The German word “Ausbackteig” doesn’t exist, but for me it implies something more like baking a cake than the batter mix that it is meant to be.

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More bad chicken translations

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007

Remember that half-baked chicken? Here are some more examples from the same menu, seen in Puerto del Carmen:

uns_geflugel.jpg

hahnchen.jpg

cordon_blue.jpg

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When translations go wrong: parking

Sunday, October 21st, 2007

Here is another example of a translation into German that appears to have gone slightly wrong:

bitte_nicht_parkieren.jpg

What it wants to do is to ask you politely not to park in front of the entrance, but it should read “Bitte vor diesem Eingang nicht parkieren”.

Or should it?

“Parkieren” sounds funny to the native German – but why? Is it because it appears to be wrong, or even because it appears to be an attempt to translate “to park” into German (as in “to walk” being “spazieren“?)

Actually, in this case, the translation is technically correct – in Swiss German the verb would be “parkieren”. The sign was seen on the entrace to a complex on Lanzarote – perhaps they have a lot of Swiss park in front of the gate?

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