30 Jun
2009
30 Jun
'09
6:39 p.m.
Jochen Kunz wrote:
My all time favorit: Mitsubishi Pajero.
They soled that car under this name in parts of the world where spanish
is spoken. Not noticing that "pajero" in spanish means "wanker".
They
where surprised that the car didn't sell well. When they noticed the
mistake they renamed the car to Montero.
Excellent. The Chevy Nova had similar problems in Mexico. Finally,
someone noticed that that translated as Chevrolet doesn't go.
Now we have the Nova awards, for bad translations in advertisements.
I'm a language buff, and I truly love them. They are usually English
---> Spanish translations, because many people THINK they know simple
Spanish, but have no idea of actual usage. For example, anyone in the
U.S. will recognize the "Got Milk" posters, usually with a famous person
with milk on their upper lip, advertising drinking milk. Somebody
wanted to set this up in Mexico, and translated the phrase as "?Tienes
leche?" Makes perfect high-school Spanish sense. However, that phrase
actually translates as "Are you lactating?" Awkward.
Warren