translation lulz

[cimorene]

A list of precautions for an airbrush gun user guide, translated from German:

• Vermeiden Sie eine starke mechanische Beanspruchung des Gerätes. Avoid subjecting the telephone to severe mechanical stress.

Um...?

So I went and got wax_jism, who understands German, because usually an airbrush gun does not actually include a telephone (I was having flashbacks to toys made in China... ). Apparently the word actually means device.

Comments

[suaine.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes it does. Telephone, funnily enough, is "Telefon" in German, which should make mistakes like the above almost impossible, but then translation is an art form unto itself.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't it be funny if the translator wasn't a native speaker of English *or* German? Not that it'd be surprising with this agency.

[suaine.livejournal.com]

Not surprising at all, if that were the case. Outsourcing is all the rage, and outsourcing translations to people who don't speak either involved language makes all the sense in the world, don't you think?^^