Yesterday I came across a mistranslation.
The Traditional Chinese text says "Beauty is a form of release' （in Simplified Chinese: 美是一种释放), but look at the tragic English translation on Facebook: "America is a kind of release"!
However I know how the mistake was made.
USA: 美国 Měiguó
Beauty: 美 Měi
Returning from Cornwall during the spring holiday, I noticed a notice board at a train station.
The message is about 'Unattended Luggage', and the message is translated into 6 languages, including Chinese.
The Chinese translation doesn't make sense, as it's a literal translation.
I have a feeling the Chinese text is machine translated, as it smells like one.
I can't verify if other languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese) in this notice make sense, or if they are correctly translated.
As a good citizen, I informed Great Western Railway, and got a 'thank you and we'll look into it' reply.
I shared this sign with Language Log, a site for languages and linguistics, and the blog post has attracted more than 30 comments.
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