New examples of real Romanglish

Some rather nice contributions just in...

In an American film (the contributor was unable to remember the title), the subtitler had rendered “Give me a whisky, on the rocks” as “Da-mi un whisky, pe stânci” (be assured that the bar in question was not on an offshore lighthouse!)
And “...we'll meet two blocks away, on the corner” as “...ne intâlnim după două blocuri, la colţ” (thus referring to two [tower block] buildings instead of two streets). Thanks to Alex Bologa for those.

Ioana has submitted the following via email: “the other day [I] was watching TV, on FocusTV channel, and they translated the expression 'catch 22' as 'prinde 22' ...haha!” Ha ha is correct – colloquialisms rarely translate word-for-word!
She adds: “The best source [of Romanglish] can be the movies on JETIX, for kids. Eg. the movie H2O just add water; they voice-over translated what must've been 'I cannot get a hold on Zane' [sic] as 'Nu pot sa pun stâpanire pe Zane' (said by Zane's father, while desperately trying to call him).
Thanks again Ioana! [NB for the English reader 'a pune stâpanire' in Romanian means to control or capture].

Meanwhile, I found 'Rondele de calamar' (squid rings) translated as 'squid washers' in the menu of a classy seafood restaurant south of Constanţa! Nice touch! ('washers' I presume in the sense of metal rings used in light engineering; no doubt that old tradition of traducerea cu dicţionar in mâna [lit. translation with dictionary in hand] is to blame...).

A complaint came from a client, last week, that I had used the word 'spirits' at the top of a drinks list on his restaurant menu. Apparently he has looked in his dictionary and the word means 'soul' or sometimes 'ghost'; the holy spirit etc. I wanted to tell him that alcohol is a religion in the UK, but I restrained myself and recommended that he should buy a more comprehensive dictionary...

...last month, a similar situation arose when I (correctly) translated 'somn' as 'catfish' and 'rapane' as 'whelks'; the client insisted that 'catfish' was 'pisica de mare' [lit. cat of the sea] (only in name, my dear sir; 'pisica de mare', unfortunately, is a stingray! - see Romanglish in the restaurant). His objection to 'whelk' was that this word – according to his dictionary – means 'a fresh wound or reddening of the skin, e.g. following a whiplash'. (Whelk, then? Or welt?! A lesson to us all never to rely on bilingual dictionaries!).

Hopefully more examples or real Romanglish will follow, now that the new menus are out for the summer season; keep your eyes peeled...! I look forward to receiving more contributions from you all...

Despre scopul blogului si limba englaniana

Este primul meu blog. Habar nu am in exact ce directia va merge, sau cine il va citi. Oricum, bine v-am gasit. Va rog frumos nu va suparati daca fac misto in ceea ce priveste limba engleza scrisa de romani - aveti drept la replica! (Mai ales despre o alta limba minoritara - englaniana... a mea, dar nu numai).
Probabil am mai multe sanse sa gasesc materiale bune, find ca stau in tara voastra intr-un oras turistic, dar abia astept feed-back-ul (!) vostru. Daca gasiti, de exemplu, romana scrisa varza in tara mea, vreau si eu sa rad.
Sper eventual si sa post-ez/-esc ?) ceva mai academic despre problemele specifice ale limbii engleze la romani, cu scop de a ajuta pe cine intereseaza. De asemeana, vor fi afisate si discutii despre probleme de traducere .
Trebuie mentionat ca daca sunt profesor calificat de limba engleza, sunt doar student de limba romana. Daca scriu aiurea acum, asa e. Este complicata, gramatica voastra, cu sau fara 'ajutorul' palincii.....
In ceea ce priveste job-ul meu ca traducator mentionat mai sus, nu radeti! Nu traduc din engleza in romana decat in caz exceptional, in capacitate de colaborator, (in schimb consider ca lucrarile mele din limba romana in limba engleza sunt destul de profesionale!).
Gata! I'll be back :)