[Ads-l] mistranslation?

[Laurence Horn]

OK, QI and other sleuths—isn’t this, as I assumed, originally from the Italian:  traduttore, traditore?  Or is the Spanish version (which I had never previously encountered) earlier?  At least we know it didn’t start out in English (or French).  But, given the plural forms this isn’t actually mainstream Spanish anyway, right?  

LH

> On Apr 2, 2017, at 1:23 PM, Dave Hause <dwhause at CABLEMO.NET> wrote:
> 
> Of course, labels aren't the only place.  Many years ago, my dual-citizenship Venezuelan-Expat-American roommate taught me "Tradutore son traidore." Translators are traitors.
> Dave Hause
> -----Original Message----- From: Mark Mandel
> Sent: Saturday, April 1, 2017 11:28 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: mistranslation?
> 
> 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/>
> 
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