ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area English instructions?!

Hilarious!!!! I guess English really is the hardest language to learn!

Crazy, ain't it?

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!

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

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!

Those instructions should be submitted here:
http://www.engrish.com

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

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?

You guys realize the technicians who wrote those instructions are right this minute driving around on Los Angeles freeways!

Here's another bad translation: http://www.snopes.com/humor/misxlate/tounge.htm

From Sixer's post;


Of course not!