Tag Archives: translation errors

Indeed, no place for a gentleman

November 10, 2009 – 8:00 am

timesukOn November 5 we translated the name of Ed and Nancy Kienholz’s artwork at the National Gallery, The Hoerengracht, as ‘Gentlemen’s Canal’. This should have read ‘Whore’s Canal’. We apologise for the error.

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Fail Wales

July 8, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianWelcome to Wales, a headline attempted to say in yesterday’s piece about the Ashes series opening in Cardiff (Croeso y Cymru: a top catch for Cardiff, page 9). That should have been Croeso i Gymru. What our version meant was Welcome the Wales. Link

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The famous wolves of the Galapagos

April 16, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianA news agency item (Volcano begins to erupt on Galapagos island, 13 April, page 20) reported that flowing lava could affect “iguanas, wolves and other fauna” on Fernandina island. The surprising reference to wolves probably stemmed from a mistranslation of one of the South American terms for sea lion, lobo marino (sea wolf). Link

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Case in point

March 11, 2009 – 8:00 am

guardianA letter to the editor, which touched lightly on English ignorance of Welsh matters, was attributed in an early edition to Hwyl Fawry. It should have been attributed to Gill Caldwell. She signed off her letter with hwyl fawr, which translates roughly as “all the best” (March frogs, 6 March, page 35). Link

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Lost in translation

August 6, 2008 – 8:00 am

In our account of an interview, conducted in English and in Japanese through a translator, with members of the Yellow Magic Orchestra (Back to the future, Film and Music, page 13, July 4), keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto was quoted in a way which may have implied that he found the presence of black people at a filming of the Soul Train TV show in Hollywood in 1980 “intimidating”. Sakamoto denies having said this, and our interviewer confirms there was nothing in their conversation that could have suggested that Sakamoto held racist views. Link

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Lost in translation

April 29, 2008 – 8:00 am

A Russian Revolution-era banner pictured in a photo gallery and timeline published on WSJ.com read “Freedom! Equality! Brotherhood!” An earlier version of the gallery incorrectly translated the text as “Freedom and Industry 1st!” The gallery has been corrected. Link

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Lost in translation

March 27, 2008 – 8:00 am

Mexican wrestling: An article in Sunday’s California section about a Mexican-style wrestling match held to raise money for recently arrested immigrants referred to Spanish epithets hurled by the crowd as groceros. The correct word is groserias. Link

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Lost in translation

January 10, 2008 – 8:00 am

Translations: An illustration accompanying the article on learning languages overseas in the Jan. 6 Travel section included the German phrase “Ich bin verloren” as a translation of “I’m lost.” That is a more metaphorical translation of the phrase, indicating a state of distress. “Ich weiss nicht wo ich bin” is the correct phrase for not knowing one’s whereabouts. Link

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Lost in translation

November 9, 2007 – 8:00 am

A PAGE-ONE ARTICLE Tuesday about the Basque language, Euskera, in some editions contained several translation errors. The word for donkey herder is astazain, not ahuntzain; the word for pig herder is urdain, not artzain; and a cowboy is a behizain, not an urdain. Link

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