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Thread poster: María Teresa Taylor Oliver
María Teresa Taylor Oliver
María Teresa Taylor Oliver  Identity Verified
Panama
Local time: 12:53
Spanish to English
+ ...
Mar 8, 2006

I don't feel like working this afternoon, I have a headache because I didn't have my morning coffee (I'm hoping the Diet Coke I'm drinking now will help a bit), and I'm bored beyond belief with the technical bulletins I'm supposed to be translating.

So I have been reading past threads on this forum to pass the time (sneaky, aren't I?).

Anyway, I read several different threads about menus translated into En
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I don't feel like working this afternoon, I have a headache because I didn't have my morning coffee (I'm hoping the Diet Coke I'm drinking now will help a bit), and I'm bored beyond belief with the technical bulletins I'm supposed to be translating.

So I have been reading past threads on this forum to pass the time (sneaky, aren't I?).

Anyway, I read several different threads about menus translated into English with quite hilarious results, and I remembered a funny one I saw in a local restaurant a few years ago:

Spaguetti con presa (*) = Spaguetti with dam

(*)In Panama, it's common (in a rather low register) to refer to chicken pieces as "presa" as in "presa de pollo". "Presa" would be "piece". But in this case, they used one of the other meanings, which is "dam = a barrier preventing the flow of water":D
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Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)
Rosa Maria Duenas Rios (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 13:53
Por lo menos... Mar 8, 2006

... no lo tradujeron como "spaghetti with prisoner"!

 
Claudia Alvis
Claudia Alvis  Identity Verified
Peru
Local time: 12:53
Member
Spanish
+ ...
Or.... Mar 8, 2006

Or "Spaghetti with female prisoner".

 
Ricki Farn
Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 19:53
English to German
That wasn't chicken Mar 8, 2006

It means "spaghetti with beavers", you know, those animals that build dams out of sticks (or in this case, out of spaghetti)

 
teju
teju  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:53
English to Spanish
+ ...
Keep them coming! Mar 9, 2006

This is fun, I collect these, I call them "pearls of wisdom". I like to write them down.
I got this one from someone, I don't remember who, I wish I could give him/her credit. It has to do with food too.
For "mangos en almibar" the translation was:

Handles in syrup

Yummy!



 
Eva Villarreal Gutiérrez
Eva Villarreal Gutiérrez  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 11:53
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Donkey style Mar 9, 2006

Seen on a "bilingual" restaurant menu in Oaxaca:

Spaguetti al burro = Spaguetti donkey style

: )


 
Francesca Verd
Francesca Verd  Identity Verified
Local time: 19:53
English to Catalan
+ ...
The best I've ever seen. Mar 9, 2006

Rape on the plank fisherman style.
Rape a la plancha al estilo del pescador.



 
Tony M
Tony M
France
Local time: 19:53
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Puzzling... Mar 9, 2006


Spaguetti al burro = Spaguetti donkey style


I wonder what it really is?

Reminds me of the French dish that translates literally (but ill-advisedly) as "donkey b*ll*cks"

Mind you, I've made one of these gaffes myself! No doubt influenced by dim and salacious memories of that 20's dance, I once attempted to translate our famous local pig known as a 'cul noir' as 'black-bottomed' --- I was smartly reminded that it in fact means 'black-rump' in this cul-inary sense


 
Tony M
Tony M
France
Local time: 19:53
Member
French to English
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
"Rape on the plank fisherman style." Mar 9, 2006

Can you give me the address of this restaurant, please?



[Edited at 2006-03-09 07:16]


 
Andrew Steel
Andrew Steel  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:53
Spanish to English
Re: the best I've ever seen Mar 9, 2006

Francesca Verd wrote:

Rape on the plank fisherman style.
Rape a la plancha al estilo del pescador.




It ranks with my all-time favourite, seen in Spain:

'Rape a la marinera', translated as
'Rape sailor-style'

I wasn't tempted.

Andrew


 
Anne Brackenborough (X)
Anne Brackenborough (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:53
German to English
Czech menu Mar 9, 2006

Three little coffins
Dead Grandmother
Head cheese

We ordered all three, of course. The three coffins and the dead grandma were cakes (although Tote Oma is a kind of sausage in German) and the head cheese was meat in aspic.


 
Ricki Farn
Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 19:53
English to German
Spaghetti with butter Mar 9, 2006

Tony 'Dusty' wrote:


Spaguetti al burro = Spaguetti donkey style


I wonder what it really is?



It is a test on whether you can tell Italian from Spanish.
Italian il burro = the butter
Spanish el burro = the donkey

Ricki


 
Andy Watkinson
Andy Watkinson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:53
Member
Catalan to English
+ ...
May contain traces of.......? Mar 9, 2006

I found a British supermarket an hour's drive from my house a few weeks ago - stocked up on all sorts of long-missed "goodies" and came home.

But, I was a little put out to find the pork pie wrapper bore the warning: "Puede contener rastros de tuercas"

"May contain traces of nuts"

Fine, except that "tuerca" in Spanish means "nuts" of the "nuts and bolts" kind.

Kinda puts you off.....

Andy


 
María Teresa Taylor Oliver
María Teresa Taylor Oliver  Identity Verified
Panama
Local time: 12:53
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
:D Mar 9, 2006

Ricki Farn wrote:

It means "spaghetti with beavers", you know, those animals that build dams out of sticks (or in this case, out of spaghetti)


Hahaha I'm trying to refrain myself from laughing here at the office, that was a good one!

And the burro = donkey one is priceless!

In fact, every one is funnier and crazier than the other, thank you, keep them coming, please!

[Edited at 2006-03-09 13:05]


 
Andy Watkinson
Andy Watkinson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 19:53
Member
Catalan to English
+ ...
Pardon? Mar 9, 2006

Spain's a goldmine for this kind of thing.

There used to be a bar off the Ramblas in Barcelona with a blackboard proudly announcing the fact that one of its specialities in "tapas" was tripe.

Though (no doubt after consulting a dictionary) they preferred to use the word "GUTS".

They weren't bad, actually, once you got over the initial shock.

Andy


 
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