MISTAKES MADE with foreign languages

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stephanie on October 16, 2009 at 5:25pm

Living in Italy, being American, and having learned Italian while here, the mistakes I ALONE have made with the language have been MANY. And many times they have been very very funny indeed.
Not only I make mistakes, but things written in English on food packages, tee-shirts, translations in films, are so funny that they are funnier than what they were supposed to be!
Often, there is good reason that the mistake was made, often due to misunderstandings. And often due to trying to translate from YOUR language into what you IMAGINE must be the translation in the other language.

Permalink Reply by Stephanie on October 16, 2009 at 5:30pm

BIG TOE
Italy

For years and I mean Y E A R S I thought the name of my big toe in Italian was policione. Police (pronounced poo (long o) lee chay) means thumb. So, I had heard that on your feet, policione was a big thumb (well, it IS!) ON A FOOT!
For years I called it that, because I had to talk to a doctor about my big toe.
My dear husband never never corrected me, thinking that perhaps I was only calling my big toe policione to HIM.
But NO NO NO
I was saying it OUT IN PUBLIC!!!!! And nevertheless, to a DOCTOR!!!
Many years later, and I mean MANY MANY years later, someone smiled and laughed and corrected me saying that it was called ALUCE. Aluce????? What does THAT MEAN?
It means, they told me, big toe!!!
WHAT??? I have been saying policione for years....ever since young to, well, nowadays.
I could not believe it
I still tell the story though. It always gets a smile here in the ol' country.

Permalink Reply by Stephanie on October 18, 2009 at 3:24pm

I've seen the silliest labels on foods, written in English by oh so incorrectly! For example, I saw on a frozen package of beans written Green Peans. I've seen people wear tee-shirts with embarassing messages written on them.
I think, if only people would realize they are sending out a message with this shirt! Why can't the people who produce these products spent a little money and get a decent translator to do it right!

Permalink Reply by Stephanie on October 22, 2009 at 6:45pm

That is adorable : ).
When my daughter was young, growing up here in the ol' country (italy) she pointed to the moon and said in half english half Italian

"Look at the moona!"
(in Italian moon is luna.....so, easy to make the mistake at 5 years old!)

Permalink Reply by s <3 on October 26, 2009 at 2:42pm

Gobbledy gook talk



I find gobbledy gook talk such an alien way of writing, and being dyslexic also find it extremely mocking. To me it's no different to a person with a disability being made fun of.

If you are dyslexic reading and writing can be very stressful. Having to work out what someone (an English speaker) is trying to say in a language that is NOT phonetic, but simply made up of crazy random letters makes things even harder for me to understand.

Not the writings of a dyslexic, but still an interesting read....


Only great
minds can
read this.
This
is weird,
but
interesting!


fi
yuo cna
raed tihs, yuo hvae a
sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo
raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe
out
of 100 can.

i cdnuolt
blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd
waht
I was rdanieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a
rscheearch
at Cmabrigde
Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the
ltteres in a wrod
are, the
olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat
ltteer be in the rghit
pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed
i t whotuit a pboerlm.
Tihs is
bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by
istlef, but the
wrod as a
wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot
slpeling was ipmorantt!
if you

Permalink Reply by Stephanie on October 26, 2009 at 6:19pm

I have seen that before but it is sure interesting.
I cannot understand that only 55 out of a hundred can read it.
It was a SNAP
does that mean that I have a super capacity for something? Gee Wiz! or is that whiz?
thanks
for being there
or here
or somewhere
or just
for being!

Permalink Reply by s <3 on October 28, 2009 at 12:43am

It's because you are super special that you can read it :D

Permalink Reply by Stephanie on October 30, 2009 at 12:54am

my hubby just read it too....
does it run in our family then, or is it contagious ?

Permalink Reply by s <3 on October 30, 2009 at 10:53am

He must be super special too....... it's definitely not contagious!!!!!!!!