Funny translations

Bad Translations Funny | Lost in translation: Funny signs

1단계 하수 Don't worry 2단계 평민 I'm OK 3단계 중수 So So 4단계 고수 Hot 5단계 지존 Too hot 6단계 초인 Oh my god 7단계 겁 F---

In 2022, there were around 1.5 billion people worldwide who spoke English either natively or as a second language, according to Statista. Surpassing more than 1.1 billion Mandarin Chinese speakers, unsurprisingly, it comes as the most spoken language in the world.

Only the Chinese would write something like this. When I travelled around China I saw loads of daft signs, wish I photographed some of them

One menu listing "temple explodes the chicken cube" I would dismiss as random Engrish. But two menus? Maybe this is a popular dish.

Hey-O! What in the world is this world coming to? I surely don't know. But put yer eye on more funny signs that will keep you wondering! From bad street signs

If you’re running a business in a tourist-heavy country, having signage in English is a smart move. However, your smarts go out the window if the English translations you display turn into the wrong kind of funny jokes. We understand that not everyone knows the language well enough not to get lost in translation, but please—don't trust Google Translate to give you anything but a literal conversion of whatever you type in, turning your sign into a hilariously bad translation.

These missed the mark.

Make it look like an accident... Photo courtesy of 'Yangyang'. Found in a park in Nanjing, China.

With so many English-speaking tourists and businessmen now travelling to China, the Chinese are having to translate their signs to help visitors. Sometimes, though, the message gets lost, and the results can be amusing, and often utterly baffling. Now a new book has collected pictures of some of the best examples and here we present a selection