The Anonymous Widower

Strange Translations

France is very good these days in putting up notices in various languages.  This is unlike Montreal, which seems to avoid putting up anything in English at all.  But then as they speak good English, it doesn’t matter to the Canadians.  But it does to visitors like me with limited language skills.  Especially as the Canadian French is not like I learned at school. 

But look at this notice in the unisex toilet of the Picasso Museum in Antibes. 

Strange Translations

Here’s the English. 

Thank you to respect the cleanliness of these places.  By measurement of hygiene, female protections must imperatively be thrown in the container reserved for this purpose. 

You can understand it, but it does have a certain sense of the surreal about it. 

I’m pretty certain that it was translated by BabelFish or some other computerised translators. Or at least when I type it into that site, I get this. 

Merci respecter la propreté de ces endroits. Par la mesure de l’hygiène, des protections femelles doivent impérativement être jetées dans le récipient réservé à cette fin. 

Which is not too far from the original French in the notice.  Note that I can’t type that in directly, as it has too many accents. 

Surely though, wouldn’t it be sensible if before the notices are printed, that they knock the translation into something that is better.  Then they wouldn’t get pedants like me commenting on the quaint words.

I also feel that in the UK, we should perhaps put more notices up in other languages, but failing that we should all make sure that if there is a word that is the same in most languages then that should be used.  For instance, on my trip I saw some French/English notices, where the French was completely understandable to any English speaker.  So why put the English up as well?

April 1, 2010 - Posted by AnonW | World | Language, Museum