From the Desk of WriteShop
June 16th, 2010 | Bad Signage Humor
Perhaps the Google translator is not the best source for public sign translations. Work in progress, execution in progress… it’s all the same, right?
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5 comments ↓
I really did laugh out loud at this.
This sign would work in Saudi Arabia or Iran, though…sorry, a little dark humor.
I was thinking the same thing as Pat. Or maybe it’s a warning of dire consequences if you cross this line! lol
Agreed! There’s nothing quite so funny as mistranslation. The results can be . . . um . . . deadly.
Oh dear…. There was something similar here in the UK, at Lincoln Prison. There was a mistranslation in an information booklet intended for Russian inmates, which labelled an “exercise yard” as an “execution yard”. Quite worrying when you think about it.
We deal with a lot of foreign documentation at work and we always bring in a professional translation agency, it’s just not worth the risk to run with an amateur translation. It would be embarrassing at best and could have severe implications at worst.
Execution yard — too funny! Thanks for sharing, Jodie.