“Limba noastră-i o comoară…” (“Our language is a treasure…”) – the words of Alexei Mateevici, one of the leading figures of Romanian literature. And how many such treasures are there in this big world? The gift of countless tongues is a blessing, because through words we express the essence of the world. Clearly, every language expresses, through its vocabulary, a structure of values and meanings that is hard to render in another. Unfortunately, many translators, even those who represent a translation bureau, usually offer informative translations, and more rarely rewrites or adaptations of texts. The basic purpose of all documents that reach a translation bureau is to convey a message clearly and precisely. Any adaptation must, of course, remain in the spirit of the original, and as for word-for-word translation, we all know that Google Translate has a downright viral sense of humor.
Half in jest, but mostly in earnest, we set out to bring up some of the translation and interpretation mistakes that “wreak havoc” in other languages. Some advertising campaigns also fail because an essential element is overlooked: translation matters a great deal. Badly translated slogans lead to embarrassing situations that explain resounding financial failures. Such situations can be avoided by carefully checking translations and the connotations they have in the target country. Browsing the web, we found plenty of telling examples. Some of them may be urban legends, but there is a grain of truth somewhere in there.
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One of the best-known errors of this kind occurred when Pepsi’s slogan “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation” was translated into Chinese in a form that reads “Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the grave”.
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The well-known Romanian winemaker Murfatlar launched a brandy it called Zaraza, probably hoping to draw on the charm and passion evoked by the song performed by Cristian Vasile in 1928. Its marketing team launched an expensive advertising campaign without noticing that, in some Slavic languages, the word has a much less romantic aura, meaning infection or epidemic.
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The American manufacturer Parker Pen launched a campaign in Mexico to promote its new brand of pens, accompanied by the slogan “It won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you”. The word “embarrass” was mistakenly associated with and translated by the Spanish “embarazar”. The confusion ended in disaster, as the ad took on this meaning: “It won’t leak in your pocket and make you pregnant”.
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In an official document published by a Romanian public institution and partly translated from English, the bizarre name “Republica Democrată a Oamenilor Laos” (“Democratic Republic of the Laos People”) slipped in. It was clearly a rendering of the English Lao People’s Democratic Republic. A professional translator would have realized that the correct Romanian name is “Republica Democrată Populară Laos”.
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A cargo shipment was stopped at customs because the accompanying documents announced the presence of “paturi” (beds), while the customs officers found “pături” (blankets) instead… A single diacritic made the difference.
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The Scandinavian appliance maker Electrolux promoted its vacuum cleaners in the United States with the slogan “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux”. The choice of “sucks” was unfortunate, because the American connotations of the word are negative.
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General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Nova in South America, and sales were extremely low. The company’s officials soon learned why: in Spanish, “Nova” sounds like “no va” (“it doesn’t go”, “it doesn’t work”).
Since we have had a good laugh, let us end on an amusing note – though, as the saying goes, we are not resting on our laurels. Here are two translation “jokes by ear” in Romanian, where sound-alike words go wrong:
Habemus Papam – “avem mâncare”
“Habemus Papam” means “we have a Pope”, but in Romanian “papă” also means “food” in children’s talk, hence the joke: “we have food”.
E pur si muove – “iepurele e mov”
Galileo’s “E pur si muove” (“and yet it moves”) sounds like Romanian “iepurele e mov” – “the rabbit is purple”.
And a classic of literal translation: “Hit the road, Jack” rendered word for word into Romanian as “lovește drumul, Jack” – which no Romanian speaker would ever say.