Google translation of AF Decom article contains questionable phrase.
The advertising world is filled with possibly apocryphal stories of supposedly well-intentioned phrases getting mangled or misunderstood in translation.
Perhaps the most famous of all was the Coca Cola slogan “Coke adds life” which, if the world wide web is to be believed, translates to “Coke brings your ancestors back from the dead” in Mandarin Chinese. Then there was the famous Vauxhall Nova which, as the Spanish speakers among you will know, translates to the Vauxhall Doesn’t Go.
We would have thought that in the days of Google Translate, Babelfish and various other high tech, computerised translation services, such mistakes might be a thing of the past.
Not so. We were taking a look around the website of AF Decom, Scandinavia’s largest demolition contractor this morning when we came to this page. Rather than clicking on the Union Jack symbol within the website, we chose the Google Translate option at the top of the page and were surprised by the somewhat forthright translation of the final sentence.
For those Over 18 with nothing better to do on a Monday morning, we recommend that you give it a try.
