Ten marketing slogans – lost in translation
|
|---|
| | Susan Welsh 
США
Local time: 04:29
русский => английский
+ ...
| Anna Wiman
Швеция
Local time: 10:29
Член ProZ.com
немецкий => шведский
+ ...
| Infart & Utfart | Aug 2, 2013 |
Haha! They must have had a laugh at IKEA the day they named the product... Fartfull is absolutely normal to the Swede. Thanks for posting!
English-speaking visitors in Sweden who visit for the first time find our "Infart" (entrance) and "Utfart" (exit) hilarious.
Not to mention "Farthinder" (speed bump/sleeping policeman) - I'm not joking; Swedes always look out for the Farthinder : - ) "Ooops! What happened to the car?" - "... See more Haha! They must have had a laugh at IKEA the day they named the product... Fartfull is absolutely normal to the Swede. Thanks for posting!
English-speaking visitors in Sweden who visit for the first time find our "Infart" (entrance) and "Utfart" (exit) hilarious.
Not to mention "Farthinder" (speed bump/sleeping policeman) - I'm not joking; Swedes always look out for the Farthinder : - ) "Ooops! What happened to the car?" - "It was just a farthinder!" http://www.thelocal.se/discuss/uploads/monthly_06_2009/post-18614-1244476254.jpg ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marcelo Genuino
Бразилия
Local time: 06:29
английский => португальский
+ ...
Anna Wiman wrote:
Haha! They must have had a laugh at IKEA the day they named the product... Fartfull is absolutely normal to the Swede. Thanks for posting!
English-speaking visitors in Sweden who visit for the first time find our "Infart" (entrance) and "Utfart" (exit) hilarious.
Not to mention "Farthinder" (speed bump/sleeping policeman) - I'm not joking; Swedes always look out for the Farthinder : - ) "Ooops! What happened to the car?" - "It was just a farthinder!" http://www.thelocal.se/discuss/uploads/monthly_06_2009/post-18614-1244476254.jpg
| | | | Balasubramaniam L.
Индия
Local time: 14:59
Член ProZ.com c 2006
английский => хинди
+ ...
ЛОКАЛИЗАТОР САЙТА | My favourite case | Aug 3, 2013 |
My favourite is the case of a high-end car model being currently marketed in India with the name Laura. Now in Hindi r routinely gets pronounced as d and you can ask any Hindi speaking person what Laura spelt with a d can mean in Hindi, or you can run it through Google Talk to find out. If I say it here, this post will get deleted by moderators for obscenity.
Obviously, the car manufactures who would have spent millions of dollars in product design and marketing, pinched the pennies i... See more My favourite is the case of a high-end car model being currently marketed in India with the name Laura. Now in Hindi r routinely gets pronounced as d and you can ask any Hindi speaking person what Laura spelt with a d can mean in Hindi, or you can run it through Google Talk to find out. If I say it here, this post will get deleted by moderators for obscenity.
Obviously, the car manufactures who would have spent millions of dollars in product design and marketing, pinched the pennies in getting the brand name checked for offensive meanings in the Indian market, and this just shows that in translation, especially marketing kind of translation, an indepth knowledge of the source culture is absolutely necessary. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
| Your favourite case | Aug 3, 2013 |
Balasubramaniam wrote:
"My favourite case 3 Aug
My favourite is the case of a high-end car model being currently marketed in India with the name Laura. Now in Hindi r routinely gets pronounced as d and you can ask any Hindi speaking person what Laura spelt with a d can mean in Hindi, or you can run it through Google Talk to find out. If I say it here, this post will get deleted by moderators for obscenity.
Obviously, the car manufactures who would have spe... See more Balasubramaniam wrote:
"My favourite case 3 Aug
My favourite is the case of a high-end car model being currently marketed in India with the name Laura. Now in Hindi r routinely gets pronounced as d and you can ask any Hindi speaking person what Laura spelt with a d can mean in Hindi, or you can run it through Google Talk to find out. If I say it here, this post will get deleted by moderators for obscenity.
Obviously, the car manufactures who would have spent millions of dollars in product design and marketing, pinched the pennies in getting the brand name checked for offensive meanings in the Indian market, and this just shows that in translation, especially marketing kind of translation, an indepth knowledge of the source culture is absolutely necessary."
Isn't the Hindi market the *target* market/culture in the case you give, Balasubramaniam, rather than the source market/culture/language?
My understanding of your description is that it is the car manufacturers who represent the source culture/language, otherwise they wouldn't have needed to check meanings in Hindi, because they would already know.
In which case, it is again another example of insufficient control of the target language/culture.
Edited to include quote.
[Edited at 2013-08-04 14:37 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ty Kendall
Великобритания
Local time: 09:29
иврит => английский
Denise Phelps wrote:
Isn't the Hindi market the *target* market/culture in the case you give, Balasubramaniam, rather than the source market/culture/language?
My understanding of your description is that it is the car manufacturers who represent the source culture/language, otherwise they wouldn't have needed to check meanings in Hindi, because they would already know.
In which case, it is again another example of insufficient control of the target language/culture.
He's on a bit of a "source language" crusade at the moment, it's clearly made him a bit blinkered.
| | | | esperantisto
Local time: 12:29
Член ProZ.com c 2006
английский => русский
+ ...
ЛОКАЛИЗАТОР САЙТА
7. Pepsodent promoted its toothpaste in a distinct area in Southeast Asia by highlighting that it “whitens your teeth.” This campaign entirely failed because the locals chew betel nuts to blacken their teeth as it is considered attractive. (Source: Verderber K. and R., Sellnow D. (2012) “Communicate“)
…has nothing to do with translation. It’s a blunder of the marketing team. They obviously miss the old good motto: think globally, act locally!
[Edited at 2013-08-04 11:21 GMT]
| | | | XXXphxxx (X)
Великобритания
Local time: 09:29
португальский => английский
+ ...
| Illustrates the point perfectly | Aug 5, 2013 |
Balasubramaniam L. wrote:
My favourite is the case of a high-end car model being currently marketed in India with the name Laura. Now in Hindi r routinely gets pronounced as d and you can ask any Hindi speaking person what Laura spelt with a d can mean in Hindi, or you can run it through Google Talk to find out. If I say it here, this post will get deleted by moderators for obscenity.
Obviously, the car manufactures who would have spent millions of dollars in product design and marketing, pinched the pennies in getting the brand name checked for offensive meanings in the Indian market, and this just shows that in translation, especially marketing kind of translation, an indepth knowledge of the source culture is absolutely necessary.
A perfect example of what can happen when you don't use a native speaker of the target.
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Ten marketing slogans – lost in translation | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
| | Trados Studio 2022 Freelance | The leading translation software used by over 270,000 translators.
Designed with your feedback in mind, Trados Studio 2022 delivers an unrivalled, powerful desktop
and cloud solution, empowering you to work in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
