queerasmoi (queerasmoi) wrote in linguaphiles,
queerasmoi
queerasmoi
linguaphiles
As a followup to my Korean soup post (it was excellent soup, and thank you for helping to translate the instructions), I thought it might be fun to examine a mandatory French label that was posted on a package of Korean dumplings.  The English translation was fine, but the French is just beyond belief.  I especially like step 2, "à la chaleur moyenne pendant approximativement 2 à 3 minutes jusqu'à ce que le brun", which has no verb at all.  Also, "trans fat" is rendered as "graisse de transpor" (?) on the nutrition label, and "carbohydrates" as "hydrates de carbone" (apparently the latter really is correct although it has fallen into disuse).  Finally, another winner is "a donné à la protéine végétale"  for "textured vegetable protein".


Any idea what sort of translation process would lead to something this lousy?   Machine? Using an intermediate or auxiliary language first?
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  • 15 comments

  • Interpretation of the Legend

    (inscriptions on the Kushan Kingdom coins / надписи на монетах Кушанского царства)

  • Spanish query

    I would be most grateful if anyone could help me out with a Spanish idiom, an expression appearing in a discussion of torture from the late 18th…

  • A very strange Etruscan inscription

    Chiusi is a small town in Italy (province of Siena, Tuscany). And once it was one of the most powerful centers of the Etruscan League of 12 cities.…