When translations go wrong: a helping of lamb?
Of all the translations that I have seen on Lanzarote that have gone wrong, this one has to be the worst. I think the original says “a typical dish from southern India with a helping of lamb in onion and black pepper sauce”.
What it actually says, in German, is not really translatable back into English, but it comes out something like this: “a typical plate from the southern bit of the Indian (person) with assistance from the lamb in a sauce from onions and black pepper”.
This looks like a typical computer translation – word for word ignoring the context of the text. So why do restaurants get away with this so much on Lanzarote? Do the tourist not care as long as it’s comprehensible? Do the restaurants not want to spend money on proper translations? If you have any ideas on this subject, please leave a comment!
Tags: Translations
