I really cracked up with these translations! And I thought I’ve seen worse.
That’s the prize of being cultural incompetent. Tsk tsk tsk…
(My apologies for my sarcasm)
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The old Paul McCartney conspiracy theory has returned!
Not a mistranslation per se, but open to misinterpretation for sure.
I found this left out by the cleaning crew in the office working late one evening. I do question the cleaning power of weeing on the carpet!
Just a little spelling mistake:
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Deformed man was so offensive but I couldn’t stop laughing. I can picture a man holding it in, and not using that ‘‘bathroom with such a disrespectful sign.’’
In the Chinese nail salon I have fixed many of their signs, and they laugh when they realize their mistake bc they have no idea whatsoever that the sign can be offending for some people. I have laughed like a lunatic while using their restroom bc of those ridiculous translations but I make sure they fix it before I leave (it gives them a chance to learn something new too).
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(The Styx is a river between Earth and Hell in Greek mythology.)
Sources: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/china/galleries/Lost-in-translation-hilarious-mistranslated-Chinese-signs/ / https://www.awesomeinventions.com/chinese-translation-sign-fails/
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Ι shared some other examples here:
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Oh yeah, I read that! I was looking for this website, I couldn’t find it! Thanks for linking it here!!
I just love to read translated signs. If they ever make an attraction in a city out of these signs or something, I’d go 
Sources: https://www.thatsmags.com/china/post/18765/new-ad-campaign-warns-of-the-dangers-of-chinglish / https://www.thatsmags.com/shenzhen/post/18492/shenzhen-government-calls-on-residents-to-fix-chinglish-signs
The last articles say that a translation company promoted its services using these pics and “Shenzhen Government Calls on Residents to Fix Chinglish Signs.” What a pity…
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These are all so funny.
The kiss and ride sign may not be a mistranslation or mistake. I’ve seen kiss and ride signs in North America. It’s usually a designated drop off area.
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Oh, This was years ago from my days working at a professional camera equipment store, so I don’t have any images for them.
The first were promotional material for a Leica camera.
“For the pretentious photo amateur.”
In the U.S. ‘pretentious’ means, " attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed." I don’t think the Leica company was thinking of that definition.
The other was just a weird translation. It was the instructions for a forced water film wash canister. “Circle to the top, up, down, round, round.” Which actually describes what happens, if you think about it. But that is not how one would describe that in English.
Not necessary a mistranslation, but I read a synopsis of a show on viki and it just somehow seemed awkward and the more I look at it, the weirder it gets. Just wanted to share. Is this just me? Or not?
My Strange Hero contains a sketch of the turbulent life of the main character Kang Bok Su. By showing Kang Bok Su’s life from his school days, this drama presents how a good teenage boy has gone bad and how he grows up into a good adult by resolving misunderstandings. Kang Bok Su was a handsome and good-natured high school student. He willingly helped his schoolmates who were in trouble and fought against anything he believed unfair and unreasonable. Naturally, most of his schoolmates liked him. One day, however, he was falsely accused of bullying his classmates and ended up being expelled from school. Even his girlfriend and best friend didn’t trust and betrayed him. Now, as a grownup, he plans to go back to the high school and take revenge on those who framed him and made him suffer since his teenage years. However, things start to go wrong. Bok Su gets to be involved in a series of incidents and falls in love in the high school.
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The first one is to prevent people of drinking too much jajaja
To quote Mrs. Slocombe from the 1970s Britcom Are You Being Served?, “I resemble that remark!”
I have said and understood things . . . shall we say interestingly . . . at times in my career as a human being because of my lack of knowledge of language subtleties even in my own language. Regional dialects in English are quite numerous, and when you add in the use of what linguists at one time called “loan-words” from other languages, creoles, and pidgins, well, it does get weird trying to communicate with other people, and not always in a hilarious way.
This is why I am very nervous about the idea of contributing to Viki subs on any level.
Below is what I think of as great example of the challenges of creating subtitles for Viki dramas when, on either side of the sub, segment, and organize process there is not a single close equivalent to be found.
I have friends in Miami, FL. They are excellent English speakers. I messaged one of them on Facebook earlier today. I used the phrase “por cierto” to mean “by the way.”
Literally, “por cierto” in English is “for certain.”
Literally, in Spanish, “by the way” is “de la via.” Or “de la camino.”
And neither set of words maps simply, easily, or convincingly onto the other. If I were to translate Spanish to English in a strictly literal way, I would have to say (or write) something along the lines of “attention-getting phrase” or “attention-getting set of syllables.”
Because (and I think these exist in every language?) there are sounds/words that come out of the human mouth that signal to listeners and hearers alike, “Okay, pay attetion to what will be said/pay attention to what was just said.” And depending on where these sounds/words show up in a sentence, they can have more or less gravity and impact.
“By the way, I love your dress.”
“I, by the way, love your dress.”
“I love your dress, by the way.”
Back in the day on DramaFever, I saw a C-drama called The Interpreter with Yang Mi. (I see that it is “available in my area” on Viki. Yay!)
My idea of an amazing job would be to serve as a simultaneous translator almost anywhere, and I initially followed The Interpreter with great excitement. However, after about ten episodes, I literally had to stop watching because I kept imagining me in that job screwing up and getting taken to task in front of hundreds of people.
It’s hard to go to sleep when your heart is hammering out of vicarious fear, so I turned my attention elsewhere.
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My mother did it professionally for a few years when she was younger, just after the war. It’s an extremely stressful job. That’s also why nowadays they are paid so extravagantly.
Lperm
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I always appreciated a Leica description for a mid-range camera.
“For the pretentious photo amatuer.” ‘Pretentious’ may be ok?? in Germany but in the US it means someone who is pretending to be something they are not. Or maybe they DID mean that!
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Oh! Or this description on a forced film washer box. (Back when I was disguised as a photography expert)
Bubbly to the top. Circle round round. Up down.
Here’s a picture of a different brand - a clear one so you can see what they look like. But the one we had in the store was light-proof.
In complete darkness, put the film on the spool, put the spools in the canister. Close it. Hook up the water hoses and let the water run through it to clear off the developer or fixer.
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@irmar . . . Oddly, this makes me really want to taste it . . .
“Bad onions, bad onions, what you gonna do, what you gonna do when they sandwich you?”
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Maybe they were right after all. 
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