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| User | Thread poster: Jenny Forbes Off topic: Unwise agency names? |
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Jenny Forbes 
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:02
  Member (2006)
French to English
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I've recently come across some agencies which have chosen names that are - to say the least - unwise. I hope I don't get shot down for mentioning them here.
For instance:
Shady Traduzioni SRL (Italy)
Asco Translations (China) - ("asco" means "disgust" in Spanish).
Hmmm.
Jenny
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Jennifer Gordon
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:02
Member (2008)
Czech to English
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| | If I could extend this... | Jun 24, 2011 |
My favourite name is a large company in the Czech Republic called Excon. One to trust, wouldn't you say?
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 09:02
 Member
English to German
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| | I like the ones with "tran" | Jun 24, 2011 |
In German, "Tran" means blubber / fish oil. Logically, "Tran" is hugely present in German idiomatic phrases referring to being slow, sluggish, dull or simply not being awfully smart.
(Do we have a little angel-smiley?) ....
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Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:02
Member (2000)
Russian to English
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| | Durtnall, furniture removers | Jun 24, 2011 |
There used to be a rermoval firm in Worthing (Sussex, UK) called Durtnall. I would rather the removal were carried out without taking the dirt 'n' all.
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Michael Wetzel
Germany
Local time: 18:02
German to English
| | My personal favorite... | Jun 24, 2011 |
is Lemmon Translations (with a little picture of a lemon as the logo, in case the spelling throws anyone off track).
For non-natives: lemon = defective product
The use of this kind of punned spelling is also problematic in the age of the Internet, I was gradually becoming convinced that I had dreamed the whole thing up - until I tried "lemmon".
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Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:02
English to Italian
| | Like Nicole.. | Jun 24, 2011 |
anything with "trans" in it, in Italian... I'll let you guess what we use it for...
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David Russi
United States
Local time: 10:02
English to Spanish
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| | Not an agency, but | Jun 24, 2011 |
I recently discovered an anti-itch product marketed in the US under the name Sarna, which in Spanish mean "mange" or "scabies", according to context...
http://www.allegromedical.com/otc-medications-c6752/sarna-anti-itch-lotion-7-5-oz-bottle-p192208.html
I contacted them via email, and I was told that they are aware if this, but they felt that the product name is so well known in the US that they cannot change it, in spite of the large and growing Spanish-speaking population.
Sarna con gusto no pica...
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GeoS
Greece
Local time: 19:02
Greek to English
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| | My favorite... | Jun 24, 2011 |
Is a rather small Greek translation office called...
Space translations
and below it's name in a funny font...
"the meaning is out there".
E.T. is a translator!!!!
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Yasutomo Kanazawa
Japan
Local time: 01:02
Member (2005)
English to Japanese
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| | Learn something new everyday | Jun 24, 2011 |
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
anything with "trans" in it, in Italian... I'll let you guess what we use it for... |
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I didn't know that "trans" had the meaning of a certain person in colloquial usage in Italian. My Italian-Japanese dictionary only mentions "deriving from French, meaning across or beyond" as in transalpino or translatlantico.
Back to the topic: I bet all Italian agencies with Trans- names pay little attention to the colloquial usage.
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Tomás Cano Binder, CT
Spain
Local time: 18:02
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
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| | One very good name | Jun 24, 2011 |
How about Squeeky Clean? That is a very good one I think. And I mean it.
As for "Asco Translations", they could be sued by ASCO Kohlensäure AG, a leading CO2 and dry ice company, well known all over Europe (in its market of course)...
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Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:02
English to Italian
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Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL wrote:
anything with "trans" in it, in Italian... I'll let you guess what we use it for... |
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I didn't know that "trans" had the meaning of a certain person in colloquial usage in Italian. My Italian-Japanese dictionary only mentions "deriving from French, meaning across or beyond" as in transalpino or translatlantico.
Back to the topic: I bet all Italian agencies with Trans- names pay little attention to the colloquial usage. |
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it's short for "transessuale"... we use "un trans", "una trans"... it is indeed rather colloquial. Obviously, it's not used in Italy, but there are many agencies in Europe that use it in their name (short for "translations"), I don't know, like "Diamond Trans"... but maybe it's me, being a bit twisted...
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Daina Jauntirans
United States
Local time: 11:02
Member (2005)
German to English
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| | Not an agency, but... | Jun 24, 2011 |
A printing company called Miss Print. The mind boggles.
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 18:02
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
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Michael Wetzel wrote:
For non-natives: lemon = defective product
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This is really only common usage in US English, where I believe it mainly refers to motor vehicles, and is not widely used in other regions AFAIK. "Lemon" is quite common in brand names and signifies freshness, so I personally wouldn't have problems with it, but then again, I wanted to call my company ACME...
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Maaike van Vlijmen
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:02
Member (2009)
Italian to Dutch
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GeoS wrote:
Is a rather small Greek translation office called...
Space translations
and below it's name in a funny font...
"the meaning is out there".
E.T. is a translator!!!!
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I can't stop laughing
Last week I was looking at a site with unfortunate company logos. You just cannot believe how stupid some people are. It gives you a good laugh though.
Have a nice weekend!! (my first weekend without work in months, I'm so happy!)
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Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 10:02
Member (2006)
Norwegian to English
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| | Translating strategy | Jun 24, 2011 |
Word For Word Translation
Even Google Translate does better than that.
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| Pages in topic: [1 2] > |
The translation workplace 
