[Leica] OT: Misunderstandings and other such fun

["Doug Herr" <Dherr@energy.state.ca.us>]

While this list's posts are mostly written in some variety of the English language, to avoid flame wars it's helpful to remember that not only are there different "English" languages in different regions (California and New York, for example), but translations between languages can take many amusing forms.  Keep this in mind when reading LUG messages.  My experience is that LUGgers are all thoughtful, reasonable people and that most flame wars result from misunderstandings of the language variety.  Following are a few of my favorite translation boo-boos:

 >These are the nominees for the Chevy Nova Award.  This is
 >given out in honor of the GM's fiasco in trying to market this
 >car in Central and South America.  "No va" means, of course,
 >in Spanish, "it doesn't go".
 >
 >1.  The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign
 >"Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico.  It
 >was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation
 >read "Are you lactating?"
 >
 >2.  Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where
 >it was read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."
 >
 >3.  Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the
 >following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an
 >Electrolux."
 >
 >4.  Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into
 >Germany only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure.  Not
 >too many people had use for the "Manure Stick."
 >
 >5.  When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used
 >the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the
 >label.  Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely
 >put pictures on the labels of what's inside, since many people
 >can't read.
 >
 >6.  Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the
 >name of a notorious porno magazine.
 >
 >7.  An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the
 >Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit.  Instead of "I
 >saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I Saw the Potato"
 >(la papa).
 >
 >8.  Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated
 >into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in
 >Chinese.
 >
 >9.  The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela",
 >meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with
 >wax", depending on the dialect.  Coke then researched 40,000
 >characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokou kole",
 >translating into "happiness in the mouth."
 >
 >10.  Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to
 >make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it
 >takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."
 >
 >11.  When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its
 >ads were supposed to have read, "It won't leak in your pocket
 >and embarrass you."
 >The company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate)
 >meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your
 >pocket and make you pregnant!"
 >
 >12.  When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new
 >leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated
 >its "Fly In Leather" campaign literally, which meant "Fly Naked"
 >(vuela en cuero) in Spanish!
 > >>

Doug Herr
Sacramento
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/telyt