Sometimes you see signs that have been translated into German, only not quite translated correctly. This can have funny results. Graham saw, and photographed, several of these whilst on holiday on Lanzarote and today the Monday Podcast discusses what he found and why such mistakes happen.

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Another menu that has gone slightly wrong, seen on Lanzarote.

It should read “Tintenfischringe in Backteig” – ie. octopus rings in batter . The German word “Ausbackteig” doesn’t exist, but for me it implies something more like baking a cake than the batter mix that it is meant to be.

Here is another example of a translation into German that appears to have gone slightly wrong:

What it wants to do is to ask you politely not to park in front of the entrance, but it should read “Bitte vor diesem Eingang nicht parkieren”.

Or should it?

“Parkieren” sounds funny to the native German – but why? Is it because it appears to be wrong, or even because it appears to be an attempt to translate “to park” into German (as in “to walk” being “spazieren“?)

Actually, in this case, the translation is technically correct – in Swiss German the verb would be “parkieren”. The sign was seen on the entrace to a complex on Lanzarote – perhaps they have a lot of Swiss park in front of the gate?