[Ads-l] mistranslation?

Dan Goncharoff thegonch at GMAIL.COM
Sun Apr 2 14:59:21 UTC 2017


I am confused.

I understand why you would be advised to not wash the clips in the washing
machine.

I don't understand why you would be told to your wash your hands.

On Apr 2, 2017 12:28 AM, "Mark Mandel" <thnidu at gmail.com> wrote:

> I sometimes see jaw-dropping mistranslations on labels, where the original
> English says one thing and another language says something ridiculously
> different, apparently translated either by machine or by careless lookup in
> a dictionary or by "Sure, I took ___ in high school, I can do that for
> you." But before sending them in to *Consumer Reports'* "Selling It" page,
> I want to confirm that they really are as bad as I think. Here's a French
> example. (I have a Spanish one too, but I can't find it at the moment.)
>
> Eng-Fr, on a card of bag clips intended to keep your (e.g.) potato chips
> enclosed and dry till you finish them:
> *Hand wash recommended.*
> Le lavage des mains est recommandé.
> Does that mean, as I think it does, that you should wash your hands, rather
> than that you should wash (the product) by hand? Should the translation be
> "... aux mains ..."?
>
> Mark
>
>
> . <http://X-Clacks-Overhead.dw/GNU-Terry_Pratchett>  .
> <http://www.gnuterrypratchett.com/>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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