Mention of translations in the forum topic "New motto for IOSH" reminds me of the apocryphal tale of an engineering handbook or professional paper which was translated from English to Russian. As the translator had limited technical knowledge, the expression "hydraulic ram" got translated as "wet sheep", much to the amusement or bewilderment of the Russians.

This is a mildly amusing story (and not a Friday frivolity, even though today is Friday) and nobody was likely to be harmed by the mistranslation. However, mistranslations and/or ignorance of other cultures can result in public relations and/or financial fiascos. For various examples see http://www.globalization...ry/translation-bloopers/ One quoted example is that of a 3 panel cartoon-style advert for a medicine. The left panel showed someone feeling ill. The middle panel showed the person taking the medicine while the right hand panel showed the person smiling and feeling better. However, the advert was a disaster when used in Arabic countries. Though people in most countries read from left to right, the advertiser didn't know that reading from right to left is the norm in Arabic countries. As a result the initial version of the advert in such countries implied that taking the medicine made people ill!

Do any forum users know of translation bloopers or misunderstanding of information in OS&H?

Two stories on an episode of QI. One about Alan Davies taking kids to London Zoo. They were told to stay away from the mesh. Kids said they had understood. Later on asked "what is mesh." Other one is Bill Bailey who was told to approach a Jaguar from the front. As he started to move closer the handler said, "oh sorry, should have said never approach from the front."

See them on youtube

youtube at

Years ago I bought a cheap portable stereo.
To turn the thing on and off it said:
"Push off button up"
The "off button" was actually a dial. Even if it had been a button I think pushing it up would have been impossible.

At work we bought a new plastic moulding machine from Italy. We asked the manufacturer to make sure all of the control panels were clearly labelled and that the manuals were all included at the time of delivery. And they all were - in Italian. doh!

ok.... when I was young and (very) green, about 30 years ago, I worked in a city Supermarket Thursday and Friday nights for some spending money while I was in the sixth form.

It was a bad winter, and the Manager sent us home early one Friday as the snow got worse. "What about next week?" asked one of the lads. "We'll take a rain check" said the Manager.

So, next week it was raining........................... so OBVIOUSLY I didn't go in.

He was from "daarn saaarf" mind, it is (or certainly seemed then to be) a different culture!

The red-green confusion is very common. Electricians tend use red to show danger and green safe. At oil or chemical plants you can always tell that an electrician has designed the user interface on the control system because a running pump or open valve will be shown as red. If anyone else has designed it they will be shown in green. I have seen a system where half the pages followed the electricians' convention and the other half followed the opposite.

Also, electricians refer to switches being 'open' and closed. But, because they are referring to the internal connections rather than the flow of electricity this is usually understood by other people as completely the opposite to reality.

As it's a Friday, & following Sean's lead, I well remember my time as a student at Huddersfield Poly & shared a room with a guy from Harrogate.
One day I merely mentioned that I had "let on" to his girlfriend...he had never heard the expression before & demanded an explanation!

I alo remember when I lived in Birmingham & went into a bakers & asked for a "barm cake"; this led to confused looks & I was shown a "tea cake"...but hold on, a tea cake has currents & this didn't!
A lively conversation then ensued about what a bap or cob was....very confusing!

Went on Holiday to Greece in August with a well known UK tour operator, the Fire Notice on the back of the door stated in big bold letters:

IN CASE OF FIRE LEAVE QUIETLY......

Had to chuckle.... and take a photo of course..

belfry1 - Your tale seems to stem from lack of or inadequate proof reading by Guy. Even so, it carries a good lesson for all of us about the need to proof read, especially before sending out important messages and/or to important people. Hope Guy's MD had a sense of humour!

In the 1980s at the start of a fortnight's walking trip in the Pyrenees the expedition leader looked familiar. It transpired that he had been a teacher at the secondary school I attended. Anyhow, he had a fund of amusing tales, including some about our former school. One was about an Australian lady who had taught at the school for a while. On one occasion she was sat in the staff room preparing some work and using her teeth to cut strips of transparent sticky tape from a reel. As she did so she loudly exclaimed "This Durex is really tough" and unwittingly shocked some of the older male teachers. They didn't know that the name she used is the common expression in Australia for transparent sticky tape, and she didn't know that the name in the UK is that of a major and long-established maker of condoms. Sticky tape in the UK and some other countries is commonly known as sellotape. It is actually a trade name but, rather like Hoover, it became a generic noun and verb.

There are numerous examples of words and names which are innocuous in one or more languages but can become offensive, amusing or plain bizarre in other languages. No wonder that when ICI's Pharmaceuticals Division was planning to split (de-merge) from ICI and become a new company, it reportedly spent considerable effort in ensuring that the company's new name was unlikely to offend or amuse people in any language, and found that Zeneca fitted the bill.

Many, many moons ago I atended my 1st planning meeting for a building refurbishment scheme. There were architects, engineers, contractor etc present and my role was to take the meeting notes. After the meting, I spoke with the architect and mentioned that it was a nice touch to have a greenhouse available to use - although I thought that the location was a little unusual but an alternative use for the space. Well, they had been talking about siting the plant room on the roof! I still smile to myself when I think back.......

Grahame, I'm wondering if you are living proof that mercury can send you mad?

Graham with great respect I think you will find that Walker's posting is correct.