Some things don’t sound so good when translated
By Fleur
@Fleura (34927)
United Kingdom
October 21, 2021 9:06am CST
I guess foreign words always have the potential to sound ‘exotic’ and ‘sophisticated’. And certain brands, too, may evoke ideas of romantic far-off places.
Italian ‘Vespa’ scooters, for example, may make people think of elegantly-attired young things zipping around the backstreets of Milan.
But I did laugh to myself when I passed this vehicle advertising Italian coffee machines. ‘Caffe Vespa’ - surely that translates as ‘Wasp coffee’?
Doesn’t sound quite so tempting now, does it?
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2021.
13 people like this
10 responses
@Fleura (34927)
• United Kingdom
21 Oct 21
Here the trump card is the most powerful, and you can say that one thing 'trumps' another (in other words takes precedence). But 'to trump' can also mean to make up some spurious claims against someone, for example a person can be taken to court over 'trumped up' charges. And it is sometimes also used as slang for a fart.
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (502189)
• Italy
22 Oct 21
@Fleura With your last word you really made me laugh.
The surname of a famous Italian journalist and anchorman is Vespa, Bruno Vespa.
Unknown the real reason behind the name of the scooter. Some say that Piaggio said "the motor sounds like a wasp", others that the waist of the scooter inspired him the name, but none of the two versions has been confirmed.
3 people like this
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
26 Oct 21
Perhaps, it is coffee for WASPs?
Some words do translate a bit strangely. I'm not fluent in anything beyond English, but I have studied a few other languages. I would like to think that I'm marginally functional in Norwegian, which is definitely a language where things can get strange when going between it and English. Sometimes, I will switch to an English translation for something that I'm reading because I'm feeling a bit too lazy to do the mental work to read a long piece in my non-primary language; I get partway in and, then, I have to switch back to Norwegian because the translation of some of the words is just too weird.
1 person likes this
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
27 Oct 21
@Fleura I'm not especially good at them, but I have developed an interest in studying them nonetheless. In the case of Norwegian, I have a strong desire to go spend some time in Norway, but I've still not managed that.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (17239)
• China
2 Nov 21
The name Wasp coffee would put people off drinking !
1 person likes this
@Danielclark691 (2143)
•
27 Oct 21
Always lovely to see small, local businesses here in the UK! I am also from the UK.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (97912)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
22 Oct 21
It is always a problem when it comes to translation, I forgot which car brand it was but years ago one of the top car companies like Ford and others came out with a line of new cars and gave them an exotic-sounding name, Then sent them to Mexico and people laughed about the cars and did not buy them, Why? The translation in Mexico came out to be a house of ill repute, They recalled the cars and for Mexico changed the name and they sold,
1 person likes this
@xFiacre (14782)
• Ireland
21 Oct 21
@fleura I did much tittering when I lived in France. A man asked me one day if I had any piles. Piles = batteries. And I thought that I was being invited to share some canapés with a neighbour because I didn’t realise that a canapé is a sofa, not a nibble, and she want me to come to her house to move it for her.
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