Nonsensical translations

Mr. Manager

I work in a foreign country and some of the people in the office don't always understand me but to me, I'm making perfect sense.

Someone would ask me to come over to their desk for whatever reason and my response would be "Yea, I'll be there now in a minute". Obviously on paper this doesn't make a whole heap of sense as I'm saying I'll be there now and in a minute.

Another one was when IT came to check something and the techy asked "Do you mind if I take a look at it?" - to which she got the response "Sure, knock yourself out"

Is there any others that wouldn't translate properly. More referring to the first example as the second is more a slang way of saying "Go ahead". Not looking for slang expressions here.

Shenshen

"C'me here, go away with that!" comes to mind....

Lando Griffin

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

I work in a foreign country and some of the people in the office don't always understand me but to me, I'm making perfect sense.

Someone would ask me to come over to their desk for whatever reason and my response would be "Yea, I'll be there now in a minute". Obviously on paper this doesn't make a whole heap of sense as I'm saying I'll be there now and in a minute.

Another one was when IT came to check something and the techy asked "Do you mind if I take a look at it?" - to which she got the response "Sure, knock yourself out"

Is there any others that wouldn't translate properly. More referring to the first example as the second is more a slang way of saying "Go ahead". Not looking for slang expressions here.

I get this at home even

"Lando for the 5th time mow the law, its nearly dark now"
Reply "Yea in a minute"
She just dosent get the concept that a verbal minute is much much longer than a real one.

YbFocus

If you fall off that wall and break your leg don't come running to me!

trad

Was buying some computer bit on adverts. Advertiser asked what type of computer I had. I said it was a mongrel.
Next day at the handover, the seller asks " what is this mongrel computer, I cannot find it on google".
Made sense to me

Sky King

Jaysis he's a terrible nice fellah. Awful awful nice. Wicked nice he his. Jaysis he's fierce nice so he is. Woeful nice, that lad.

Scar Tissue

Boss to me: "Do they say 'top of the morning in Ireland'?"
Me: "Nah that's just Americans"
Boss: "Well, what do they say?"
Me: "I say, 'Well, what's the craic?'"
Boss: "You better be careful what neighbourhood you go saying that in around here, you might be looking at a felony"

Talib Fiasco

The Cork classic: "I will yeah" meaning f*ck no what are you trying to achieve with this nonsensical bullsh*t proposition.

syklops

When I lived in the Czech Republic I had to watch what I said, because I used lots of turns of phrases which people didn't understand. I remember one time working on a server which refused to boot and after numerous attempts finally got it up and running and I exclaimed "Now she's sucking diesel". Got some looks for that one.

Speaking of nonsensical translations there was an Irish pub I used to go to with a lot of Czechs and Macedonians, and after getting a round of whiskey I'd say slainte, as would everyone else, and one day another friend of ours also Macedonian was there and asked us what elephants have to do with whiskey? I was like and one of the others pointed out that slainte in Irish sounds the same as what a baby elephant is in Macedonian. So from then on we swapped saying slainte for baby elephant.

Mr. Manager

Scar Tissue wrote: »

Boss to me: "Do they say 'top of the morning in Ireland'?"
Me: "Nah that's just Americans"
Boss: "Well, what do they say?"
Me: "I say, 'Well, what's the craic?'"
Boss: "You better be careful what neighbourhood you go saying that in around here, you might be looking at a felony"

Nobody here gets that either!

Colleague: "How was the weekend?"
Me: "Was good craic altogether".
Colleague:

Mr McBoatface

When I worked for a major MNC me and serveral others where sent to the states to learn a new processs. When we where introduced to our americian co-workers one of the Irish lads from cork greeted one of the americian workers as he normally would "Alright boy, how you doing" ...... Angry Africian Americian co-worker stood up and replied "Who the hell you calling BOY!!! , you cracker"

I pissed myself laughing

CardBordWindow

I was asking a security guard in Washington about their public lockers:
'Do we work away ourselves, or what's the story?'

Cue looks of confusion, and no information about the lockers.

wil

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

I work in a foreign country .

That one.

Mr. Manager

wil wrote: »

That one.

Huh?

NothingMan

My sister lives in England and was doing some shopping when her daughter started acting up. There was a girl stacking a shelf nearby so my sis says to her kid "Stop or the woman will give out". A look of bewilderment apparently on the staff members face. Where did "giving out" to come from? I used a few times in Oz and no one had a clue what I was on about and thought I was mental when I explained.

Also, being bold is brave in most places, not a bad thing like here.

I think because of TV we get most other countries coloquialisms but no one has a clue about any of ours so we always look the eejit making up phrases.

ottostreet

Being told a story where you might respond in disbelief

'F*uck off, you did not?!'

Can see how that can cause problems!

humbert

I'm amazed that you don't drop the idiomatic English when talking to non-native speakers.

Sky King

I will yeah = No I won't.

I like that one.

Boom_Bap

Bollox - Trying to explain that it quite difficult. Describing that it can be an affectionate term for someone, a hateful term, a description of a mans reproductive system, a statement of disbelief, a description of any object, where someone has broken something and so on and so on.

Also, not a translation per se, but confusing to non-Irish; when hanging up a telephone

"bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye,yeah, cheers, bye, bye, bye, bye"

Dravokivich

You will in yer shíte!

wil

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

Huh?

Your'e the foreigner non-national wherever there is, assuming it is not Ireland and also assuming you are an Irish citizen.
So that sentence probably wouldn't make sense to them as it's not foreign as far as they are concerned. (they being the peeps you work with)

It really loses it when you have to explain or maybe it's just me.:)

stoneill

An awful lot of Sheldon Coopers on here.

Dravokivich

stoneill wrote: »

An awful lot of Sheldon Coopers on here.

huh?

Aglomerado

I remember telling an American friend about some incident where I "Gave out" to my brother about something.

Her jaw dropped and she exclaimed: "Whaaaaat? Isn't that Incest???"

cue much explanation of Irish colloquial speech...

:P

Dyr

NothingMan wrote: »

My sister lives in England and was doing some shopping when her daughter started acting up. There was a girl stacking a shelf nearby so my sis says to her kid "Stop or the woman will give out". A look of bewilderment apparently on the staff members face. Where did "giving out" to come from? I used a few times in Oz and no one had a clue what I was on about and thought I was mental when I explained.

I was told hiberno english mimic's irish in the whole directiony-go-went-to-away thing, so "tabhairt amach" = giving out

mathie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literal_translation

Literal translation of idioms is a source of numerous translators' jokes and apocrypha. The following famous example has often been told both in the context of newbie translators and that of machine translation: When the sentence "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (дух бодр, плоть же немощна, an allusion to Mark 14:38) was translated into Russian and then back to English, the result was "The vodka is good, but the meat is rotten" (спирт, конечно, готов, но мясо протухло). This is generally believed to be simply an amusing story, and not a factual reference to an actual machine translation error.[2]

HerrScheisse

I had a reverse nonsensical translation when I asked a Canadian about how he spent his weekend.

"Eh nothin' much, just fvcking the dog."

Cue horrified expression from me, and a detailed explanation about what he actually meant.

syklops

I once got in major trouble for calling someone a twat in work. I used it in the sense that he was an eejit, but no-one had heard it before, so they googled it and thought it was on the same level as a kunt, which to me it isn't.

syklops

HerrScheisse wrote: »

I had a reverse nonsensical translation when I asked a Canadian about how he spent his weekend.

"Eh nothin' much, just fvcking the dog."

Cue horrified expression from me, and a detailed explanation about what he actually meant.

what did he actually mean?

NothingMan

Bambi wrote: »

I was told hiberno english mimic's irish in the whole directiony-go-went-to-away thing, so "tabhairt amach" = giving out

Well there's an answer that has left me more confused .

oldyouth

Translating a persons name in to Irish for an hour a day when you are in school.

syklops

oldyouth wrote: »

Translating a persons name in to Irish for an hour a day when you are in school.

My mother wrote my name on my Irish copy book, and the teacher wanted everyones irish name on front of the irish copy book, so she crossed it out and put the irish version over it. Then my mother saw it and crossed out the Irish version of it and my name in English. By the end of the year my copy book looked like this:

John Murphy
Sean O' Murchu
John Murphy
Sean O' Murchu
John Murphy

I've had identity problems ever since.

Nemeses

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

Another one was when IT came to check something and the techy asked "Do you mind if I take a look at it?" - to which she got the response "Sure, knock yourself out"

Did they take that literally? lol, would have been funny to watch.

Dyr

NothingMan wrote: »

Well there's an answer that has left me more confused .

That's the pretty much point of hiberno english

Alun

HerrScheisse wrote: »

I had a reverse nonsensical translation when I asked a Canadian about how he spent his weekend.

"Eh nothin' much, just fvcking the dog."

Cue horrified expression from me, and a detailed explanation about what he actually meant.

Had a similar experience in Holland where a rather posh middle-aged woman at a party proclaimed to some English guests that she "fvcked horses". She really meant she was a horse breeder .. at least I hope she did.

rgmmg

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Bollox - Trying to explain that it quite difficult. Describing that it can be an affectionate term for someone, a hateful term, a description of a mans reproductive system, a statement of disbelief, a description of any object, where someone has broken something and so on and so on.

Also, not a translation per se, but confusing to non-Irish; when hanging up a telephone

"bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye,yeah, cheers, bye, bye, bye, bye"

I'm Irish but live abroad. That seems to have become the norm in the last 10 years. And it sounds absolutely ridiculous. Very annoying.

syklops

"bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye,yeah, cheers, bye, bye, bye, bye"

1.56 in

OneArt

"You're a lying aul yoke. C'mere to me till I kill ye."

ScumLord

Around here we'd call people "shaft", as in "how's the craic shaft". It's a habit for me to say it at this stage but never goes down well when I let it slip talking to black people while out foreign.

kraggy

My English friend didn't understand me when I said "I'm after doing it again". They'd obviously say "I've just done it again" or something.

She didn't understand me and never heard of the way I said it. We asked a few others, Scots, Americans, English and they were the same. Didn't understand it.


I think it comes from Gaeilge.

D_D

kraggy wrote: »

My English friend didn't understand me when I said "I'm after doing it again". They'd obviously say "I've just done it again" or something.

She didn't understand me and never heard of the way I said it. We asked a few others, Scots, Americans, English and they were the same. Didn't understand it.


I think it comes from Gaeilge.

It does come from Irish - "Taim tar eis [verb]..." translates as "I have just [cooked, cleaned, etc.]...", but it literally translates as "I'm after [cooking, cleaning]...".

There you go now.

camel jockey

This has nothing to do with translation.

wil

syklops wrote: »

I once got in major trouble for calling someone a twat in work. I used it in the sense that he was an eejit, but no-one had heard it before, so they googled it and thought it was on the same level as a kunt, which to me it isn't.

Brilliant,
"What did you just call me? hang on I'll google it"

Here's proof you are not wrong

wil

camel jockey wrote: »

This has nothing to do with translation.

Huh?

Aquagakka

I think I'll go upstairs and throw meself down for an hour or so.

camel jockey

wil wrote: »

Huh?

Most wouldn't make sense to English speakers who not from Ireland, so it has nothing to do with translation. They could be described as 'Irish-isms' I guess.

Smithwicks Man

"Awh sure look at.."

Look at what?! :eek: :pac:

ollaetta

Sometimes when you come in the door:

"Are ye back?" or "Ye'r not back already, are ye?"

Smithwicks Man

Smithwicks Man wrote: »

"Awh sure look at.."

Look at what?! :eek: :pac:

Lookit!

Smithwicks Man

bluewolf wrote: »

Lookit!

touché

endacl

syklops wrote: »

My mother wrote my name on my Irish copy book, and the teacher wanted everyones irish name on front of the irish copy book, so she crossed it out and put the irish version over it. Then my mother saw it and crossed out the Irish version of it and my name in English. By the end of the year my copy book looked like this:

John Murphy
Sean O' Murchu
John Murphy
Sean O' Murchu
John Murphy

I've had identity problems ever since.

No wonder. That should have been 'Eoin' O'Murchu.

Silly teacher.