Zombie cola, cannibal fried chicken, and translation troubles －ゾンビコーラ、共喰いフライドチキン、それから翻訳のトラブル－

I was reading about China last night and I stumbled across some very funny examples of translation blunders.  The funny mistranslations were found in advertising slogans used by Western companies in China.

It is quite difficult to translate advertising slogans, because the short phrases often contain double-meanings, use slang, or refer to things specific to one culture.

One great example of this was given by Pepsi.  In English, their slogan was, “Come alive with the Pepsi Generation”.  To “come alive” in this phrase means to be suddenly filled with energy.  But when translated into Chinese, the meaning became, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave”.  That’s a more powerful cola than most people want!

Another great blunder was made by KFC.  In English, their slogan was, “Finger lickin’ good”.  That suggests that the food is so good you want to lick your fingers when you have finished eating.  But the meaning in Chinese became, “Eat your fingers off”.  That’s not quite such an appealing image.

Translation can be hard, even if you don’t leave your own country.  I remember reading a funny story from Wales in the UK.  English is the most commonly used language in Wales, but about 20 per cent of the population are also native speakers of Welsh.  So any writing on road signs is written in both English and Welsh.  A civil servant who did not speak Welsh was responsible for putting up a road sign that warned lorry drivers not to use a road.  He needed to get a Welsh-language translation of this English message for the sign: “No entry for heavy goods vehicles.  Residential site only”.  So he emailed a request for a Welsh translation to another department, and was very pleased when he received an immediate response.  That’s how a road sign appeared in Wales telling drivers: “I am not in the office at the moment.  Send any work to be translated.”

Vocabulary:

to stumble across something – to find something by chance

a blunder – a stupid or careless mistake

one’s ancestor – one’s relative, usually from long in the past, from whom one is descended (eg. One’s great-great-grandparent)

a grave – a place where someone is buried after death

to lick something – to run one’s tongue over something

a civil servant – someone employed by the government to help run government services

a lorry – British English for a truck