Funny Machine Translations | English Signs
Literal translation services from Chinese to English can be quite funny, especially without any cultural context, but machine translation brings this to a whole new level. Although for the most part, the general message gets through, the literal meaning is often very humorous. Many English road signs, as well as signs in stores and restaurants in China, have been machine translated. The more humorous ones are commonly posted on websites, photographed by tourists, and even written about in books such as “Chinglish” by David Henry Hwang. Here we share just a few such signs with our readers.
English Signs | “Slip & Fall Down Carefully”
If you thought that the public works department is looking out for your safety, you may wonder about this translation:
“Slip and fall down carefully” while in Chinese it says “Be careful, don’t slip and fall.”
English Signs | “Beat the Moose”
Thank goodness for universal symbols,
“Beat the Moose” of course reads “No smoking please.” in Chinese.
English Signs | “There Be No Candy Food”
In case you were looking for candy, the sign that reads
“There be no candy food” is really referring to the “Sugar free food section” of this store in China.
English Signs | “The Male Sex Toilet”
An English speaker can easily extrapolate that “The male sex toilet” means
“Men’s Room” when translated correctly, but it is still quite amusing!
English Signs | “Hand Grenade”
In case of emergency grab the hand grenade and run to put out the fire!?
Clearly, this sign was meant to read “Fire Extinguisher” and not “Hand Grenade“.
Once more, this can be attributed to machine translation.
English Signs | “Mind Crotch”
Fortunately, the picture clarifies this strange message:
“Mind Crotch” is of course correctly translated into English as “Watch Your Head”
Share with us any funny mistranslated signs that you come across in your travels!
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