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If you’ve ever been to a restaurant in Greece, chances are you’ve seen lamp on the menu. The spelling mistake is about as ubiquitous as nude sunbathers on the beach in Mykonos. It’s less likely, however, that you’ve seen my favorite mistranslated sign at Delphi, which reads: “No introducing animals and food on the path.” (Banana, meet my daschund Petey. Petey, this is banana…)
I’ve had the good fortune of capturing some great mistranslations over the years as I’ve traveled, and the even greater fortune of unearthing even more gems on Flickr. Enjoy.
Jesus is said to have walked on water at this, the Sea of Galilee. I guess that was before the municipality of Tiberias erected this sign.
If you crack the code, and open the hidden safe, you don’t even want to know what’s in store! (via Ben Beiske)
Rumor is, triping will be a new category in the next Olympics. Part drunken stupor, part obstacle course, the new sport is already very popular in small villages in China. (via brytness)
When in Ethiopia, probably best to avoid this restaurant… (via joshua tuggle)
On the other hand, I bet using this bathroom in Deqin, Yunnan, China is a unique experience. (via Timmok)
Never understood what this Jerusalem church has against married folk, but you have to love the photo for the mistranslation, AND the spelling mistake, AND the grammar, AND the artwork.
This one speaks for itself… from a small hotel in Israel.
And just to come full-circle, here’s a variation of the Delphi sign found at the Acropolis. Not as amusing, but still cute.
What’s your favorite mistranslated sign? In what part of the world did you find it?
Comments (42)
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I think I’ve seen worse. At least “No Jumping” might save a life.
posted by David @ SEO-writer on 12-7-2009 at 12:33 pm
My all time fave is an abbreviated sign in a grocery store. I DO have a photo of it:
Homo Milk $2.73/gal.
posted by Bubba on 12-7-2009 at 12:34 pm
You’re missing the point on the third one. It means if you walk in there drunk you may slip an a pig’s stomach.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 12-7-2009 at 12:50 pm
I also have a fave grocery store sign:
Recycled Toilet Tissue $…
I know they meant well (Going Green) but… :O
posted by Bethany on 12-7-2009 at 12:52 pm
Not a mis-tranlation but maybe they spell things differently up in Michigan?
http://bit.ly/7saJ52
posted by AM on 12-7-2009 at 1:15 pm
Bubba,
In Canada Whole Milk is regularly called Homo (homogenized) Milk.
posted by Colin on 12-7-2009 at 1:29 pm
Bubba,
Up here in Canada it’s all called homo milk. What do you guys call it down there?
posted by Braden on 12-7-2009 at 1:31 pm
All time fave of missing-the-point advertising at a now-closed home decor store, Waccamaw. HUGE display at the front–”Christmas Menorrahs $12.99″ How’s that for being inclusive?
posted by H on 12-7-2009 at 2:16 pm
From a hostel in Spain: “Please throw of the door.” Still not sure what that was supposed to mean.
posted by Jen on 12-7-2009 at 2:29 pm
Yeah, to echo other people. We here in Canada don’t refer to it as homogenized milk. It’s just homo milk. And when you say it often enough it’s not even funny.
posted by Amanda on 12-7-2009 at 2:42 pm
Do they sell a lot of milk in Canada that is NOT homogenized?
posted by Howard on 12-7-2009 at 2:58 pm
answering for Bubba- where I come from, we call it homogenized milk.
my favorite was in Odessa, Ukraine, on the plate glass window of a store that had a little metal window sill at about hip height: Don’t Sitting.
And on a menu in Ukraine one of the appetizers was ‘language’… in Russian the word for ‘tongue’ and ‘language’ are the same: Ñзык (yazyk)
posted by ann on 12-7-2009 at 3:13 pm
sorry to all you canadians………for some reason us americans think the word “homo” is funny i guess. i think its rather stupid but, we do have idiots here.
posted by Crow88 on 12-7-2009 at 3:14 pm
Yesterday I saw this ad on a McDonald’s sign: “Free Coke Glass With Any Large Valve Meal.”
posted by Krie on 12-7-2009 at 3:21 pm
Not quite the same as a misinterpretation, but back in the 1970′s in rural Alabama, a small store had a handpainted sign that said “fresh aigs”.
posted by JMB on 12-7-2009 at 3:33 pm
In Japan:
At a beach resort: No smorkling (no smoking or no snorkling?)
Kid’s clothing store: Baby Skip (I guess their version of a Baby Gap)
Auto Body Shop: Flesh Shop
On a garbage can: Dust
posted by Nancy on 12-7-2009 at 3:48 pm
Milk comes as Whole, 2%, 1% and skim. Unless you get milk directly from the farm then it it all Homogenized. I wonder if in Canada it would be ‘skim homo’ or ‘homo skim’ or maybe ’2% homo’….okay, I’ll stop there….
posted by Owen on 12-7-2009 at 3:52 pm
and yet the homo milk sign can’t be from Canada, or it wouldn’t have been in gallons.
Hmm..I thought homogenization was the process of blending the fat in, so that skim milk would NOT be homogenized because all the fat was removed.
Still, “2% homo” does actually sound funnier :)
posted by TheBear on 12-7-2009 at 4:17 pm
Oh can we PLEASE all get off of the damn milk thing?? I think we all get the point by now.
posted by Sheena on 12-7-2009 at 4:30 pm
In Tanzania, there’s a great billboard of a buff, shirtless man holding a Sprite, and the caption is “You can look like this too if you hold a Sprite.”
There was also a restaurant where all the burgers were spelled “booger.”
posted by Angela on 12-7-2009 at 4:34 pm
On Kauai, CAUTION SHARK!…
but she was quite mean.
posted by Lost on 12-7-2009 at 4:41 pm
There was a sign up for years in a store right here in the USA (that will remain unnamed) that read, “Shoplifters Will Be Persecuted”.
posted by tiacheryl on 12-7-2009 at 5:12 pm
Chinese joint in NYC ‘CPR kit upon available for request’. The takeout menu also highlighted ‘We DeliverY’
posted by Frank White on 12-7-2009 at 5:42 pm
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Acropolis sign. It is a slightly older usage of the word ‘introduce,’ nevertheless it is correct. Only Americans might find it odd. The rest of these are right amusing.
posted by Michael Munson on 12-7-2009 at 5:43 pm
PartiallyDeflected, how did you get pig’s stomach from the third picture? As far as I can tell, the sign is translated pretty directly. The first line says “walking after drinking”, and the second says “be careful about falling.” I don’t see anything there about pigs.
posted by Lily on 12-7-2009 at 6:06 pm
from a restaurant near my house:
burger plate “come with f,f and cole slow”
i own a print shop and have tried many times to get them to use us because we actually proof-read before we print…
posted by casual_observer on 12-7-2009 at 6:26 pm
Lily,
Tripe refers to stomach or stomach lining of pork or beef (usually beef.) PartiallyDeflected was being quite funny actually!
posted by Shan on 12-7-2009 at 6:43 pm
Thanks Micheal Munson. I read that set of rules many times and couldn’t figure out what the ‘mistake’ was. I agree, there’s nothing wrong with the use of the word introduce.
posted by sabri on 12-7-2009 at 11:23 pm
To my everlasting dismay, my phone didn’t save the photo of this Tokyo sign:
“No dorp vomit/No snap sprige”
I’m guessing the first part was supposed to say “drop” and the second part means not to break the plants.
It was in a planter across the street from the U.S. Embassy housing compound in Tokyo. There were several of these signs in the planter, so apparently dorp vomiting and snapping sprige is quite a problem among the residents of the compound. What better way to represent America?
posted by Karen In Japan on 12-8-2009 at 12:07 am
love these…I go to “Engrish” when I need a good laugh.
posted by shirleyfeeney on 12-8-2009 at 1:24 am
While technically not a mistranslation, there is a sign between Chicago and Milwaukee on the interstate for the
“Bong Recreational Area”
Nice of them to include a paraphernalia play area.
posted by Matt on 12-8-2009 at 2:13 am
Even better is the “Bong High Bridge” in Superior, Wisconsin.
FYI – both the bridge and the recreational area are named for Major Richard I. Bong, a distinguished fighter pilot of WWII credited with 40 victories in aerial combat. He was from the small town of Poplar, about 30 miles from Superior.
-”BB”-
posted by Bicycle Bill on 12-8-2009 at 2:48 am
Not only have I seen the sign at Delphi I may have a picture of it too.
posted by Nick on 12-8-2009 at 2:53 am
Actually you can buy raw milk that is not homo-genized. From actual grocery stores. In the US.
posted by vburnsed on 12-8-2009 at 7:14 am
@nick – please send it to me! triviahunt ‘at’ gmail
posted by David K. Israel on 12-8-2009 at 10:00 am
Growing up, there was a sign on our street that read “Caution! Slow children at play.” We were properly insulted. Not a single one of us was slow. LOL!
posted by Kelly on 12-8-2009 at 11:27 am
I love lamp.
posted by Johnny Cat on 12-8-2009 at 12:31 pm
There’s a whole website for signs (and products, and food, and menus) like these… http://www.engrish.com. It’s a whole lotta entertainment!
posted by Kimberlea on 12-8-2009 at 12:46 pm
This isn’t a sign at all, but my mother has been a middle-school teacher for 30+ years, and back in the 70s, she received a note from a parent that said, “I approve the use of capital punishment on my child.”
posted by Lynley on 12-8-2009 at 1:30 pm
that just shows that now all things translate between some ultures
posted by bratzbedding on 12-9-2009 at 5:15 pm
The Jerusalem church’s “no photos of marriage” thing is probably against the staging of wedding photos. It’s amazing how many bridal couples will pose at a place that has nothing to do with where they’re married or having a reception or anything to do with their lives, just because it’s picturesque.
posted by VM on 12-10-2009 at 1:16 pm
To the naturally defensive among you, while the use of ‘introduce’ on the Signs at Delphi may not be especially humorous to some English speakers, this translation indeed sounds funny to those of us familiar with its use as a greeting, thereby enjoying the visualization of Petey the dachshund shaking paws with his new best pal, Banana. Let’s just hope that after the introduction the two are able to avoid tripping drunkenly over any recently dorpped/vomited slices of tripe, the act of which might be referred to as triping.
Thanks, David. This was fun.
posted by Heliotropic on 12-13-2009 at 8:05 pm