Since I’m a bit of a numbers / statistics nerd, one of the more fascinating parts of blogging to me has always been watching where our incoming visitor traffic comes from (bonus: it also helps us discover new blogs to follow).
Unfortunately we won’t be following a couple of the latest sites that linked to us. Why? Because they’re written entirely in Greek. While I can read the Greek alphabet (a requirement of the fraternity I was in), reading a blog in that language is a bit of a stretch. But thanks to some suggestions from our friends on Twitter, we plugged the URLs into Google Translate to see what these sites were saying about us. Would they be kind? Would they be snarky? Turns out they were downright HILARIOUS.
The good news is that we immediately understood that they were intended to be kind (thanks guys!), but Google’s robotic translation of the language was also quite entertaining. In some cases it was just plain inaccurate- but we were laughing so hard that it didn’t matter.
For instance, this site (according to Google Translate) noted that “the Sherry and John loved passionately, and went and found an old house amid nature.” So despite trying to keep things PG around here, Google Translate clearly sees us as more of a romance novel.
Then Google decided we must be some kind of incomprehensible medical drama: “The spitoskylo apologize for diabetic shock may be caused by Glykeria this spectacle.” Hopefully our site isn’t really causing diabetic shock over in the Mediterranean. Someone would tell us if it were, right? Either way, the spitoskylo does sincerely apologize.
A day after that interesting first post, a second Greek site also mentioned us. Again, Google took some liberties when it came to translating. It starts off very complimentary: “When a couple has humor, fun, style and love of decoration…” but doesn’t end so well “…then the result can not be positive.” NOT be positive?! Where could humor, fun, style and love not end well? On our site apparently.
Maybe it has something to do with our “Terrible Do It Yourself” that they mention. We tried to double-check this one with Yahoo’s Babelfish site to see what was really said, but it just swapped “terrible” for “horribly.” Yowza! At least they went on to say our posts are “intelligent, entertaining and comprehensive” and even called us a “blog-haven for Do it yourself’ers!” Whew. It doesn’t really sound like they hate us after all.
So we’re chalking it up to a prime example of things being lost in translation and we couldn’t help but share the amusing interpretation. We’re sure you guys have some entertaining stories about times when a language barrier provided some comic relief. Do tell. Just make sure it’s in English or we might have to leave it up to Google Translate to fill us in…
PS: If you want to read the full original posts in Greek go here and here, or check out the Google translated versions here and here. And of course we sincerely thank both blogs for their amazing write-ups! We’re sorry Google didn’t do them justice but we appreciate them none the less (and even got a few laughs out of the whole thing).
Begoña says
I specially like the part where they say: “to a much love and Goutsos Goutsos couple”, no idea what it means, but sounds hillarious!
BTW, I’m your daily visit from Segovia, Spain!!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we love that part too! Maybe we should get t-shirts made that say “Goutsos Goutsos couple.”
xo,
s
Genie says
Oh, so funny! As a language teacher, I forbid my students to use an internet translator. It is always obvious when they do, however, as you pointed out. One of my favorite translation goofs: An English-speaking woman asks for two chicken breasts at a Latin American market. She asks for two “pechos” instead of “pechugas.” Pechos are human female breasts; pechugas are chicken breasts. :)
Tiffany S says
OMG – these are HYSTERICAL! You must get such a hoot finding them. I die, so funny!
susan says
ha ha ha!
my favorite part reads “which even recently acquired and child”.
this was such a fun post!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s true! That makes this whole being pregnant thing sound so simple! Imagine just acquiring a baby (from the stork for example) instead of cooking one up for 9 months!
xo,
s
ania says
my husband also asked for pechos at a market in spain. the clerk was not amused :)
Ann says
OMG, that is so funny! At first I was like, what the heck, and then I started laughing when I read “to change the fuel to make new, more or less with their own hands”. I’m still laughing!
hannajoy says
Hahaha! Thanks for sharing! If you guys are “Terrible Do It Yourself” then I don’t even want to know what I qualify as! Its also neat that you guys keep a full calendar of your marriage up in your yard… maybe it gives a bit of extra shade(?).
Back a few years, my senior french class had to write a 8-10 page essay and were not allowed to use an internet translator. After reading all the submissions, our teacher asked one girl if, perchance, she had used translating software. She indignantly replied she had not but had spent many a night working very hard on her paper. Once again the teacher pressed her to be sure that she had not cheated. Haughtily she retorted that her french was very good. The teacher smirked, “that might be but I’ll never know since you handed your paper in in PORTUGESE!” caught red handed!
Amy says
Best blog post to date! Hilarious!
Gail @ Black Copper DIY says
“The spitoskylo apologize for diabetic shock may be caused by Glykeria this spectacle.”
HILARIOUS! I hope someone who knows Greek can offer the *real* translation.
I’ve heard the English term “chest of drawers” translated as “poitrine de pantalons” in French. For those who aren’t familiar with French, “poitrine de pantalons” translates to “breast of pants”. Hmmm…kind of like “chest of drawers”, but not really…
Jeannine @ Small and Chic says
Maybe the diabetic comment is an idiom that refers to you two being sweet in the RMS video? Just a thought. I’m a language person (though I don’t know Greek) and direct translation of idioms always cracks me up.
I’m 100% sure that within an hour, someone who is fluent in Greek is going to show up and translate those pages for you. If not, I will find a student from the Classics department at UVa to do the job. :)
Mercedes says
LOL!!!..I have to admit that Google translator is a good tool but sometimes it makes funny traslations as yours!
Here you have a funny story:
I went with my boss to an Argentinian restaurant, here in Miami. He was trying to practice his little Spanish and he ordered his steak “medio raro”…(medium rare), but “medio raro” in Spanish is more like “a little bit weird”..the waiter gave him a “little bit weird” look :)
Hi to Begoña from Segovia, I am from Spain too, but I currently live in Miami!!!
Wilma says
I was an exchange student in Argentina for a year, so I’ve got a couple of lost-in-translation stories.
In the city where I lived, there was a Swedish exchange student who spoke English well but would always ask me “How much is the clock?” as well as “would you borrow me five pesos?”
Swedes also use lots of English in their slang; when something is good they’ll say “fat nice” as well as “hell in eggs.” Neither of them made much sense to me when they were explained to me.
Also, there’s a saying “It’s not the fart that kills, it’s the smell.” This works because in Swedish fart means speed/velocity and smell means impact.
(This one was explained by my friend first, but recently I found this fun little video called “Simple Swedish” which is pretty funny and goes along the same lines http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpHniCEHY7I&feature=player_embedded)
Before going on exchange to Argentina I spoke (or so I thought) Spanish as my mom is from Mexico. Well, one day I was standing in the kitchen washing dishes when my host brother came in and asked me what I was doing. When I answered “Lavando los trastes” he about died laughing. Turns out “trastes” is a semi-inapropriate word for “rear end”… never again did I make that mistake.
And in case that’s not enough for you, here’s an article from the Economist that asks what is the hardest language.
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15108609
PS – Sorry about the lengthy comment and semi-off topic links, but this is a subject that totally fasinates me.
Sarah says
When I started my masters in theology, my advisor asked me if I was gonig to take Greek or Hebrew. I asked why I would want to do that. He said so that I could read the bible in its original language. I said, “Uhhhhh, don’t people get paid to translate that stuff?”
Needless to say, I will be investing in a good translating system. Because … it’s all Greek (and Hebrew) to me!!
Nikki Scully says
Also a language teacher and this is absolutely hilarious. I’m sure we could all share stories of our embarassing language goofs!
Ashley M. [at] (never home)maker says
I’m a total statistics nerd, too. This is absolutely hilarious: “loved passionately” . . . “amid nature”?!?!? Say WHAT?! Anyway, this made my day. Too funny!
<3 Ashley M.
Jessica @ How Sweet says
I had no idea there was such a thing as Google translate!
Jules says
Hilarious ! :) It’s amazing to see your global audience- the wonders of the inter-web are mind-boggling! I’m doing my part to share the YHL love in the UK ! You might need google translation for Scottish sites too! ;)
JessB says
In my job, I communicate with vendors in Mexico daily. A few of them very obviously use internet translations when replying to me in english as I have gotten variations of “I am yours orders”, and things like that. A few have arrived so garbled it took me longer to figure out than if they’d replied in spanish. They do however provide a great deal of amusement to myself and my co-workers. Gotta love weird translations.
Emma says
John, if you’re into watching website traffic, you should totally check out chartbeat.com. It’s this super cool web analytics site that has nifty graphs, real time data and maps, etc. Hours of fun, in my opinion!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip, Emma. Totally checking it out now. How can I resist something with the word “chart” in it after all?
-John
Barbara says
While I do love my Goutsos Goutsos pair, I did gasp at the X rated nature of the sentence: “See…a full calendar of their marriage, which he did it in the yard of the house with $4000 and a video broadcast visited them…”
I laughed so hard I was crying.
And you “recently acquired a child”?? Home Depot started giving them out, eh?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yeah we picked her our at Home Depot. She’s on back-order and will be arriving in May.
xo,
s
Barbara says
In your first Greek link, the first comment translates to (via Alta Vista Babel Fish):
1 marghuerite // [Ian] 15, 2010 at 13:17 [Kalimera] [spitoskylo]!! I read in their blog for house, that [omologoymenos] was sordid before, other after became a joy house, beautiful, luminous, modern!! And be supposed that all this they made him alone them e? Without the help of experts? Still better!! Good [goysto] in any case gives other blow in the space… We thank a lot of [spitoskylo]!!!! *
Jessica G. says
Ok I’m embarrassed to admit that my husband and I have spent a good bit of time on babelfish entering phrases and changing them from English to French to German and back to English. Try this with nursery rhymes – you’ll seriously pee your pants.
When I was an exchange student in France, I was touring a church with a group of my French friends and and I exclaimed, in French, that “this was the most enormous organ I had ever seen!”
Um, yeah, the words for “organ” that plays music and for, ahem, an organ in your body are NOT THE SAME IN FRENCH.
There were some highly amused French men.
Leslie says
I was studying abroad in Wales when I learned that frequently even English to English translations can be tricky. In British English they use the word pants as a slang word for underwear and cac, pronounced kak, is a somewhat vulgar word for poo.
Once while chatting to my flatmates I told them I was planning on wearing my khaki pants that night. Well, since they pronounce the color word khaki with a long A, what they heard me tell them was that I was going to wear my poppy underwear that night.
They about cacked themselves laughing.
YoungHouseLove says
You guys are cracking us up with your lost-in-translation stories. Keep ’em coming!
xo,
s
Amber Evans says
So cute! I hope people aren’t getting the wrong impression of your tremendous blog over there in the Mediterranean. The good news is that Babelfish isn’t always dead-on. The bad news is that the baby you ordered has been put on layaway.
Katherine says
I know well how much fun online translators can be. When my husband and I were long-distance engaged, he would often email me little stories that he wrote at work (oops) to cheer me up. Occasionally he would write in French to help me practice before our Paris honeymoon, but my French skills were/are rusty at best. Upon translating one particular email on Babelfish, I still had no idea what he was trying to say, but it was really funny. Something about a gray baby in arms, “that was the day I lost my hand,” and “a bird flew!” He apparently was having a more interesting day than I was at school.
Spitoskylo says
My God, this is hilarious! My blog in Google-Translate English seems so much funnier! Now what if i try this: Translate my blog to the English with Google translate, then translate THAT text BACK into the Greek. Utterly incomprehensible Borat-esque hilarity is certain to ensue!
About the diabetes joke: It lovingly mocks the goody-goody-smiley-awwww-so-sweet nature of your website. Emphasis on the “lovingly”.
The spitoskylo thanks you for the hilarious mention and is available to answer any other language-related questions. Keep up the good work!
YoungHouseLove says
So glad you stopped in all the way from Greece! Isn’t Google Translate more fun than a barrel of language impaired monkeys? We’re loving it! And thanks again for the great write-up!
xo,
s (& j)
Annalea says
Just think of our own slang . . . “sick”, “wicked”, “awesome” (which classically means frightening), etc.
And then there’s the crazy part of Greek that has words that can range in meaning, such as the one from Gensis that literally translated means “hug or squeeze”, but the way it was used it meant “till” as in “till the earth” . . . but in common usage can mean anything from a brotherly hug to near-rape.
Google’s Translator must have had fun with something along those lines. lol
Drake says
What fraternity were you in?
SAE?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Drake – Okay, so I was in what is sometimes referred to as a “fake” fraternity because, while all decked out in Greek letters, it was the co-ed national honor fraternity Phi Sigma Pi. But it also wasn’t one of those honor-frats-on-paper-only. We had pledges, and parties, a frat house and all that jazz. We just had girls there too (and yes, we did call them “brothers.”)
-John
Samantha says
favorite part : “he did it in the yard of the house with $4000 and a video broadcast”
Am I the only one who’s mind went to the gutter?
YoungHouseLove says
Definitely not the only one, Samantha. And I don’t see why the whole $4000, video-taped yard incident gets pinned on me. Shouldn’t it say “they” at least? :)
-John
Jessica G. says
Here’s my other lost-in-translation incident. It goes right along with my first one.
I was on a youth group bus in France driving through a forest, and I said in French, “look at all these beautiful pines!” When you say the word for pine tree in French, if you pronounce the “i” in the middle one way you say “pine tree.” If you pronounce the “i” another way, you say…something else.
But I pronounced the “i” wrong and said something else that the men really enjoyed.
Sara @ Russet Street Reno says
Too funny! This reminds me of the hilarious post on Decorno about how google and yahoo translators totally messed up a ‘wish list’ for a spanish-speaking cleaning lady. Don’t read it at work, it’s a scream!
http://decorno.blogspot.com/2009/09/it-inhales-carpet-of-cow-skin.html
Barbara says
I wonder what Burger’s blog would translate into from English to Greek to English again…
MaryGene says
bwaaaaahahahhaaa!!
CasaCullen says
ummmm…one word – HILAR! oh my goodness, that is hysterical! yall rock and i’ll be the first to say that anything bad, is just NOT true! keep up all the good work…the world is watching and LOVING and bad translating, ha! – http://www.casacullen.com
Tiffany T. says
My favorite lost in translation is that in Mexico the word caliente means hot, as in it’s hot out side. But if you say estoy (I’m) caliente it means well that your “excited” if you catch my drift..
jessica says
hey-there’s an update on that first site you mentioned(spitoskylo). If you look at the bottom of the article, it mentions that you tried to read their blog with google translate & “The result was hilarious.” :D heehee
YoungHouseLove says
Too funny! Yeah they stopped in and commented over here too. Gotta love Google Translator. Bringing people closer from across the globe through insanely inaccurate translations.
xo,
s
Amelia says
My boyfriend was one trying to apologize for his terrible spanish by saying “estoy embarazado” which actually translates to “I’m pregnant!” I just about died laughing. The real spanish word for embarrassed is vergüenza. :)
Kel says
Hilarious! What a great way to kick off my Saturday morning in Melbourne, AUS! Keep it up!
abriana says
What do you guys use for your site stats?? I’ve been using Google Analytics for my photography site and I’ve been happy with it. Just wondering if there was something else that is comprable out there!
YoungHouseLove says
We actually use WordPress Stats and Google Analytics so we have two POVs on the whole thing (they vary slightly from time to time but overall they’re both great “snapshots” for us to analyze). And by us I mean my stat loving hubby. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Rebecca Foxworth says
Wonderful for you guys that you’ve not only gone international, but now multilanguage. But you really ought to pin the “he did it in the front yard with $4000 and a video camera” thing on Burger. And then ask him for your cut of the money. After all, you have been feeding and housing him for a few years…
YoungHouseLove says
So true! We need to put that dog to work. In his defense he’s working really hard barking at a squirrel right now. Seriously, it’s incessant. And he’s probably burned at least 500 calories jumping around and generally going nuts. Oh to be in his head for just a moment in time…
xo,
s
sla says
Being Greek I can translate everything, but I don’t want to spoil a good laugh! All I can say is that Goutsos Goutsos couple is totally wrong because it uses an expression, used to declare something very sweet and adorable, as a person’s name apparently. It was hilarious to read for me, too! Terrific would be a more appropriate word than terrible and diabetic shock is surprisingly correct!
lana says
What a fun post! Haha, now I need to go see if I can find funny translations of my site! Thanks for the post!
xo
lana
http://www.joeyandlana.com
Erin says
I think ya’ll got lost in translation. But it’s definitely hilarious.
Courtney says
The title made me very excited: As a classical archaeology major, I can read ancient Greek and do so for hours every week. I could only catch a few words of the modern Greek here and there but I need to brush up since I may be excavating in Athens this summer! Perhaps this post can inspire some Greek key decorating? ;)
Kathy says
HILARIOUS!!
Becka @Studio222 says
HAHAHAHAHA. That’s funny. I think things definitely got lost in translation.
Heather says
I love how you “recently acquired a child”. Too funny!
Katherine M. says
I was excited to see the title, because being first generation Greek in the U.S. I can read, write and speak it! It seems the second site (reading the original Greek) mistakenly states that you’ve just had your baby…but everything else is very complimentary and a pretty accurate translation (from English to Greek). I lived there as a kid until the mid-80s (after which we moved back here) and it has come such a long way in terms of home decor, fashion etc. (won’t comment on the debt ratings, etc that made the news recently!) Despite the country’s various issues, to me it’s still the most beautiful place in the world. Congrats on the exciting international recognition.
Tiffany says
I love reading funny translation errors. My husband and I speak two different native languages and we poke fun at each other for our translation errors.
Amy says
love it–so funny!