Translation Problems in Iceland

[DavidWW]

With a nod in the direction of SP valued member Thrall, I just
can't resist posting here the "Feedback" column entry in the
current, 7th July edition, of the New Scientist magazine............

Conscious as we are that our grasp of the Icelandic tongue
amounts to very little, we feel it unfair to mock errors in
translation from Icelandic to English for their own sake.

The same applies to any other language, unless the errors are
in something like a product instruction or user manual where
intelligibility is vital, in which case bad translation amounts to
negligence by the manufacturer.

Nevertheless, we join with Margaret Magee in her puzzlement
that on a recent trip to Iceland she noticed that the common
translation of "toasted bagel" was "roasted beagle". This, apparently,
was universal throughout the country, and Magee could not help
wondering how it had come about. Was there perhaps one rather
bad translator who swept through the country getting it wrong at
every restaurant they visited? Or did one restaurant start the whole
thing, which everyone then copied? Can anyone in Iceland shed some
light on this?

Magee, who is from Ontario in Canada, is thinking of going back
to Iceland, - and resisting the urge to take a picture of a roasting
beagle to show Icelanders just what they are offering.

David

[joette]

I cannot repeat a common mistranslation I used to see on Dr's plaques in Egypt.All over Alexandria so I think the same translator must have visited.

[Thrall]

Having just returned from a scorching three days on Hofsjökull, the main icecap in the middle of Iceland (and fortunately managed to avoid any involuntary descents into the many crevasses), this was the first post that greeted me, and I´m afraid I must concur that oftener than not there is some unintentional humour in the English in most menus here. I have in fact waged a minor unofficial campaign to correct the worst most obvious examples; a few years ago, when the volcano Katla was felt to be a little threatening in the South, the warning sign on entering the danger area with directions in three languages was so confusing about what to do in the event of an eruption that I ´phoned the roads people. They were very polite, and asked for a rough correction on the ´phone. Their excuse was, that they had hired a certified translator!

BTW, has anyone actually tasted beagle? The closest I´ve come to beagle is probably beaver in a pub in Helsinki, I´ve tasted worse.

Better stop now or I´ll have the RSPCA on my back...........

Guid hunting,

Thrall

PS. Don´t let a few spelling aburitions put anyone off a visit....