My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Difference between revisions

This typically has nothing to do with bad translations; the original speech was incorrect. For bad translations, see [[Either World Domination or Something About Bananas]], [[Blind Idiot Translation]], or [[Translation Train Wreck]]. However, if the language being spoken isn't the language of the work as a whole, there's usually a translation back so that the audience can see just how wrong the character's speech actually was. For example, Bob thinks he speaks French well. He speaks in French to a waiter, who looks at him oddly and says "Monsieur, I do not think that you really meant to say that there is a blue banana in your navel."

 

 

Also happens sometimes with written language: some languages (such as Hungarian and Arabic) rely on diacritics to distinguish similar-looking words, and ideographic languages (such as Chinese and Japanese) have complicated characters whose meaning (and pronunciation) can completely change with the difference of a few strokes.

== English ==

* [[Engrish]] is pretty much the epitome of this trope. Many of the problems from the fact that, in Japan, English looks cool and interesting, so fashion designers tend to use random English words for the sake of fashion. In those cases, it's common to use curse words and other dirty phrases. Some clothing tends to be plastered with the word "fuck" and it's seen as nothing, and one infamous t-shirt had the phrase "Spread Beaver, exposing the vaginal area". One ad for Bubble Tea says "The joy of sucking on balls". In China, this is common on public buildings, though normally these are close translations that just have different connotations here. Common ones include flesh in place of meat and cock instead of chicken; others might say things like "Carefully Fall Down", "Baby on Road", or "Don't Touch Yourself, Please Let Us Help You." Engrish can be found all through-out Asia, South America, and even Europe.

* The infamous comments of Madam Ngo Dinh Nhu, describing the Buddhist self-immolations in South Vietnam as "barbecues", may be an example of this. According to historian Warren Carroll, Madame Nhu overheard American journalists using the word "barbecue" to describe the incidents, and, not being familiar with English and therefore, not realizing that the word was an [[Unusual Dysphemism]], used it in a national broadcast, provoking worldwide outrage. (Although one must question the authenticity of this explanation, given the other offensive things Madame Nhu had said, before and since.)

* A college student had gone to a Hebrew-speaking high school. Apparently, the Hebrew word for water buffalo is slang for a thoughtless, rowdy person. And the sorority girls outside his dorm were being thoughtless and rowdy. They took it as a racial slur when he said "Shut up, you water buffalo!"

* "Ich bin ein Berliner!" This famous line was spoken by [[John F Kennedy]] to express solidarity with the people of Berlin during the [[Cold War]]. A common urban legend states that the real phrase should be "Ich bin Berliner," but with the indefinite article ''ein'' added, it became "I am a jelly donut" (''Berliner'' being a type of donut originating in Berlin).<ref>The supposed error is similar to the English phrases, "I am Danish" vs. "I am a Danish".</ref>

** Which shows less than perfect understanding of German grammar since in this context the presence or absence of the indefinite article doesn't actually ''make'' that sort of difference.<ref>"Ich bin ein Berliner" ''could'' be read as a reference to jelly donuts (but only if you wanted to deliberately misconstrue it). Saying "Ich bin Berliner" could not.</ref> "Ich bin Berliner" translates to "I am a 100% genuine, bona fide Berliner." "Ich bin ein Berliner" means "I am a particular Berliner" or "I am one of many Berliners."

** You could do the same thing with a few other German words, for instance an "Amerikaner" is a type of sugar-coated pastry, an "Engländer" is an adjustable spanner, a "Kanadier" is a type of canoe, a "Pariser" (Parisian) is a slang word for a condom, and a "Römer" (Roman) is a type of wine-glass. Here as well as in interpreting "Ich bin ein Berliner" as "I am a jelly donut" you have to ignore context desperately; it is rather like saying the phrase "I am proud to be (an) American" ''really'' means "I am proud to be a type of steam locomotive or salad dressing".

* In what may be an urban legend, a cautionary tale is told to GIs learning German. A young serviceman is in a German bar trying to pick up a lovely young lady. Trying his best to impress her, he says, "Ich möchte dich heute nackt sehen." He gets a drink in his face and spends the rest of the night alone and/or humiliated. What he was trying to say was, "Ich möchte dich heute Nacht sehen," or "I would like to see you tonight." What he said was, "I would like to see you naked." (The "ch" in "Nacht" is the guttural sound of "loch" in Scottish English and Scots.) Note that the "ch" sound in "ich" is not the same sound as in "Nacht". (German speakers distinguish the two by referring to those sounds as "ach laut" ("oh sound") for the sound that was botched here and "ich laut" ("I sound") for the one that seems to have been been pulled off at least well enough to not sound like something else.)

[[Category:Truth in Television]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Pages with comment tags]]