With billions of people all over the world, there are also many different languages we use to communicate with one another. In fact, there are over 6,500 of them. With so many different languages and dialects out there, it’s impossible to know each and every one of them. Even the most brilliant of polyglots can’t possibly learn all of them. So it’s no wonder that things often get lost in translation. The differences between people from different parts of the world is what makes traveling so appealing – it’s discovering a whole new culture different than ours. It’s one of the reasons why tourism is one of the biggest, and most lucrative, industries in the world. And with tourism being such a huge industry, it’s only logical that owners of businesses like store and restaurants would want to appeal to tourists and draw them in.
Since it’s less likely for tourists to know the languages spoken in the country, they can increase their chances by using English – one of the most spoken languages in the world. It’s often used to address tourists, as sort of a common ground. But as it turns out, translating things to English, when you don’t know English well enough (or not at all), can result in some hilarious mistakes. From street signs to restaurant menus, and even tattoos – these translations went horribly wrong somewhere along the way. Some of them make no sense at all, others are just plain ridiculous. But they all prove that communicating in a different language is hard. Here are some of the funniest lost in translation fails we’ve ever seen, that might just make your day.
[post_page_title]A terrible error[/post_page_title]
It can be hard when you don’t know English and you have a business you want to advertise in the universal language. You might try to come up with creative ways to translate things, like using the internet. There are so many websites and apps today that help you translate texts in all sorts of languages, so why not use these to help your business take off with the tourists? Well, apparently there is a very good reason why you shouldn’t do this. If you don’t know English at all, you might end up with a sign like this. This poor business owner had no idea that he received an error – they just used it to name their place.
