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Lost in translation

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Lost in translation

01.25.04 (12:33 pm) [edit]

Lost In Translation

When Braniff translated a slogan touting its upholstery, "Fly in leather," it came out in Spanish as "Fly naked."

Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer from diarrhea."

Chicken magnate Frank Perdue's line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken," sounds much more interesting in Spanish: "It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate."

When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "no va" means "it won't go." After the company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.

Ford had a similar problem in Brazil when the Pinto flopped. The company found out that Pinto was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals". Ford pried all the nameplates off and substituted Corcel, which means horse.

When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However, the company mistakenly thought the spanish word "embarazar" meant embarrass.
Instead the ads said that "It wont leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

An American t-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of the desired "I Saw the Pope" in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed "I Saw the Potato."

posted by: SusanofPudlin (reply)
post date: 01.25.04 (6:03 am)

I used to love to drive around Florida with our friend Moises, who would become apopleptic with laughter when he saw billboards for Chi Chi's - a local restaurant chain. Seems Chi Chi's are slang for breasts.

He likewise humored us when we pulled up next to a Pinto at a traffic stop. Fun.

Thanks for making me remember. Oh, if memory serves me, Esso oil changed the name in the Middle East because it was likewise - lost in translation. I believe it means bad oil.

posted by: lynne (reply)
post date: 01.25.04 (7:02 am)

That is great! If you ever are bored and want some good laughs http://engrish.com has lots of funny translations to English in Japan. All your base are belong to us? ;)

posted by: me (reply)
post date: 01.25.04 (3:30 pm)

actually, "no va" means "don't go" ("nova" means "new") and pinto isnt slang for "tiny" male genitals.. it's just "male genitals". penis.
not tiny, just penis.

posted by: Andaloo (reply)
post date: 01.25.04 (11:11 pm)

Reply to: me
No real words were used or harmed in the making of this post. Any resemblance to proper words is purely accidental.

posted by: dangerkitty (reply)
post date: 01.26.04 (11:05 am)

Hehehe. Pretty funny. I'd heard the one about the nova and the pinto. The others were new to me.

posted by: Spaz (reply)
post date: 02.12.04 (6:32 am)

xD Those made me laugh...