Life
30 Hilarious Translation Fails
These are too funny! My favorite is number 12 - what about yours?
Christina Cordova
09.28.17

When it comes to doing business in popular tourist countries, you need to have signs advertising your products or services in at least a few different languages. While I’m sure that we Americans have messed up translations time and time again, we can still have a good laugh at others who do the same (and we assume that they have a good laugh at our expense as well).

That said, these horrific translation fails teach us a very valuable lesson: never trust Google Translate to get the job done for you, and always, ALWAYS recruit the editing skills of a native [insert language here] speaker. Without further ado, I present to you the best translation fails we’ve seen this year.

1. Well, in all fairness, this may not be totally inaccurate.

@imgur
Source:
@imgur

2. This does not sound like fun.

BraunFilm
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BraunFilm

3. Poor Paul. But, why did they have to announce it this way?

Awatef Rasheed
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Awatef Rasheed

4. Someone is a bit literal.

BoredPanda
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BoredPanda

5. Not a good selling point.

boredpanda
Source:
boredpanda

6. Well shoot, now what are all those passengers going to eat?

justinrosslee
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justinrosslee

7. Umm…Zombies, maybe?

boredpanda
Source:
boredpanda

8. You know it’s time to find another dentist when…

boredpanda
Source:
boredpanda

9. Maybe it’s not a translation fail? Look at the icons.

wanderlust_express
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wanderlust_express

10. Again, not wholly inaccurate. I think the chickens’ families can agree that murder is, in fact, what happened to them.

BizzaroCullen
Source:
BizzaroCullen

11. Pringles done messed up with this flavor.

boredpanda
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boredpanda

12. I was unaware that “turds” were a delicacy in any culture.

boredpanda
Source:
boredpanda

13. If they’re trying to whole reverse psychology thing, I don’t think it’s going to work.

14. I love lamp!

April Tosch Jamjoon
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April Tosch Jamjoon

15. I think every enters the restroom with that ultimate goal in mind.

boredpanda
Source:
boredpanda

16. And this is where the King of Golf parks every Sunday.

boredpanda
Source:
boredpanda

17. Well, that’s one way to tell a Yo Mama joke.

boredpanda
Source:
boredpanda

18. What type of emergency, exactly, does this call for?…

@imgur
Source:
@imgur

19. To be fair, I think this one is just a typo.

theantidotesg
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theantidotesg

20. And this is why there’s a water shortage, people!

signspotting.com
Source:
signspotting.com

21. That’s a bit backwards.

williampoetra
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williampoetra

22. I think someone fudged their credentials.

boredpanda
Source:
boredpanda

23. I should hope the street is never able to walk, whether I’m eating there or not.

sichengorange
Source:
sichengorange

24. Yes, please save that for when you’re in private. Thanks.

xxlumian
Source:
xxlumian

25. Well, it looks like we have to find somewhere new to eat, Honey.

26. In America, we just call broken grass “cut grass.”

lanilanibobani
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lanilanibobani

27. That’s a good bit of advice. It definitely took a sign to remind me of this.

chalkleyamy
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chalkleyamy

28. One letter people, all you had to do was change one more lettter.

tumvanten
Source:
tumvanten

29. Nope. Just nope.

dcocopuff9
Source:
dcocopuff9

30. It looks like there will be no entry for anyone then.

realhauke
Source:
realhauke

Avoid these translation catastrophes, and please! Enlist the help of a native speaker!

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