More Translation Gaffes and Blunders
- Hunt-Wesson promoted their Big John (a name already rife with innuendo) products to French Canada under the name "Gros Jos", which is slang for "Big Breasts" in that part of the world.
- A sign in a Belgrade hotel elevator once advised visitors to move the cabin by pushing the button for the "wishing door". If "more persons" were to enter the cabin, then each of them should press the number for their "wishing floor". They will then be "driven" by "national order" while going in "alphabetically".
- The American Midwest once showed off its "authentic" Mexican restaurant named "Chi-Chi's" to several Californian visitors. However, the Californians were in stitches once they found out the name of the establishment. Apparently, "Chi-Chi's" literally translates to "Breasts" in Mexican Spanish.
- A Budapest zoo was able to correctly advise visitors to not feed the animals. However, their next warning—to give all suitable food to the guard on duty—had an amusing and unintentional meaning.
- An airline in Copenhagen claims to take your bags and deliver them "in all directions" (which is what most airlines do anyway, but they don't necessarily advertise it to their customers).
- Coca-Cola was looking for ways to translate its name into Chinese, with predictable results. The first translation, "Ke-Kou-Ke-La", read as "Waxed female horse" or "Biting the wax tadpole" depending on the dialect. They eventually settled to "Ko-Ou-Ko-Le", which means, "A mouthful of delight".
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