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Posted By: pauluk English instructions?! - 03/25/06 01:52 PM
Some folks I know just bought one of those little electric Kiddy Cars for their young son. These four pages are the entire assembly and operating instructions. Needless to say, it was not made in England!

Good luck! (You'll need it.....)

Kiddy Car instructions, #1

Kiddy Car instructions, #2

Kiddy Car instructions, #3

Kiddy Car instructions, #4




[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 03-25-2006).]
Posted By: electure Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 02:14 PM
Paul, this makes my brain hurt [Linked Image]

This must be the same feeling that a DIY'er has when he/she opens a copy of a Code book. [Linked Image]
Posted By: Roger Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 03:16 PM
What?????????? [Linked Image]

Good thing there are a few pictures. [Linked Image]

Roger
Posted By: Tiger Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 03:53 PM
Maybe the translator should consider another career.

Dave
Posted By: e57 Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 03:58 PM
Looks like they were written by the same people who made those new VW ads... Vah Vol! [Linked Image]

I thought I had problems with Italian light fixures. If they even come with any, I find it easier to read them in an accent of thier native land.... Cio.
Posted By: mamills Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 04:22 PM
It would be interesting to see what this translator could do to a set of stereo installation instructions:

"endeavor to attempt that the red rightness is red and the black rightness is black, unless without you will risk crossing with electrical circuit shortness of it."

Pardon...? [Linked Image]

Mike (mamills)
Posted By: SolarPowered Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 06:00 PM
It sounds like they ran it through one of the on-line translation programs.
Posted By: mxslick Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 07:02 PM
ROFL!! I especially love , on the third page link, "Expel the breakdown" and "The insurance replaces silkily"!!!

Wow!! This would make for a good stand-up comedy routine!
Posted By: Check Pilot Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 07:12 PM
Stunning. Absolutely stunning!!!!!!!

Next time I run into a DIYer maybe I can write up some installation instructions like that and then disconnect the phone.
Posted By: Trumpy Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 08:06 PM
Amazing Paul,
From the 2nd page under "Safety usage announcements":
"must be the direct in adult descend to use this car. Do not want to be in the street, highway,Pond,dangerous situation In etc."
And "cant flush the car with the water, can wipe with the cloth clean."

Unreal,
From these instructions, I wonder just how many of these cars were actually assembled correctly, if at all?. [Linked Image]
Posted By: Sixer Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 08:26 PM
Hilarious!!!! I guess English really is the hardest language to learn!
Posted By: pauluk Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 08:54 PM
Crazy, ain't it? [Linked Image]

By the way, I forgot to mention before that the little black box at the top of page 2 is the result of my censorship to make this suitable for family viewing.

Don't ask me how, but the translator had actually managed to come up with a very Anglo-Saxon four-letter word there!
Posted By: Lostazhell Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 09:15 PM
I once came across a control panel on a Japanese piece of equiptment bearing a label stating:
"For please be of safety, disconnection must all electric energy in the open service here."

But Paul's instructions take the cake [Linked Image]
Posted By: renosteinke Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 09:27 PM
Ah, yes, the joys of translation! Anyone who has attampted to operate in another culture has inadvertantly said some really silly things.

Even within the English-speaking world, asking to borrow a ruber has a very different meaning in some places.

The lesson that I draw form this is the need to be sure you can communicate with your co-workers. "Open the light circuit" can either mean "turn on" or "turn off," depending upon who's listening!
Posted By: NJwirenut Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 10:50 PM
Those instructions should be submitted here:
http://www.engrish.com
Posted By: LK Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 11:11 PM
Paul,

Here is a good site, on hazzards of some of these cars, http://www.cpsc.gov/trans/perego.html

And this is a site full of recalls, note the electrical items that are on recall, http://townofplainfield.com/dept/press%20release%20fire.htm
Posted By: Check Pilot Re: English instructions?! - 03/25/06 11:18 PM
Holy cow!!!

There is a lot of substandard stuff out there. Way more than I ever would have suspected. Where do we all get this stuff from?????

Where has good old North American manufacturing gone to? How much worse is it going to have to get before we all take matters back into our own hands?
Posted By: Radar Re: English instructions?! - 03/26/06 03:48 AM
You guys realize the technicians who wrote those instructions are right this minute driving around on Los Angeles freeways!
Posted By: Sixer Re: English instructions?! - 03/26/06 05:20 AM
Here's another bad translation: http://www.snopes.com/humor/misxlate/tounge.htm
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: English instructions?! - 03/26/06 07:07 AM
From Sixer's post;

Quote
Never throw out the other person's head

Of course not!
Posted By: RODALCO Re: English instructions?! - 03/26/06 07:58 AM
Shocking translation allright, It's hard for us in the trade to understand what they actually want to say there.

Imagine someone with no electrical knowledge to understand what it means.
These cars are obviously made in China and the translater should look for an other job.

Perhaps selling and assembling these cars door to door. [Linked Image]
Posted By: pauluk Re: English instructions?! - 03/26/06 12:47 PM
Quote
Those instructions should be submitted here:
http://www.engrish.com

I've submitted them!

There are some good ones on there. From Hotel Information :

Quote
about the laundering
The wash becomes a finish the evening tomorrow at the front desk until 7 o'clock at night of the day. (It becomes the evening tomorrow in the morning even if it has.)

Well, I'm glad we got that sorted out! [Linked Image]

On a more serious note, the massive list of product recalls these days is a little worrying. I can't help feeling that too many many people these days are only interested in price rather than quality.
Posted By: electure Re: English instructions?! - 03/27/06 11:34 PM
Sometimes domestic labelling and instructions aren't so great either.

Thanks to NORCAL for this one.

[Linked Image]

So...
Closing a valve is just the opposite of closing a breaker, and opening a valve is just the opposite of opening a breaker.
Posted By: Elviscat Re: English instructions?! - 03/28/06 04:33 AM
I agree with Solarpowered, it does sound like someone decided to run those instructions through a free on-line translation program, I don't think someone with a knowledge of English so rudimentary would know words like "elucidation"
I'd like to add that someone not knowing English, or not being able to speak english well is not something to laugh about, I know what a struggle it is to try and learn a foreign language, BUT when that limited knowledge starts becoming a saftey hazard by creating instructions for a piece of equiptment that could injure a young child then it becomes unacceptable, it's not that expensive to hire a professional translator, and couldn't the car's distributor's in England at least read the instructions themselves? A minute checking such a document could save them quite a bit of money if a child gets hurt and sues.

Just MHO- Will
Posted By: JoeTestingEngr Re: English instructions?! - 03/28/06 05:20 AM
Back in my post-production days, all the tape transports and studio cameras I maintained were Sonys. We used to kid about how the service manuals were written in Japlish. They were fantastic compared to this though.
Joe
Posted By: PEdoubleNIZZLE Re: English instructions?! - 03/28/06 08:35 AM
JoeTestingEngr's comment translated to chinese and then back to english:

In mine post production day, all magnetic tapes transportation and the studio photographic camera which I maintains is Sonys. How maintenance handbook do we pass often cheat are written about in Japlish. They are unexpected and this comparison though

http://babelfish.altavista.com/
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