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Evangelism Parable: Cross-Cultural Translation Problems
From an Air France bulletin, dated December 1, 1989.
Here are some signs and notices written in English that were discovered throughout the world.
a Tokyo hotel: Is forbidden to steal hotel towels please. If you are not a person to do such thing is please not to read
notis.
a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.
a Leipzig elevator: To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each
one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.
a Paris hotel elevator: Please leave your values at the front desk.
a hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily.
a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.
a Japanese hotel: You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.
an Austrian hotel catering to skiers: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.
the menu of a Swiss restaurant: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.
a Bangkok dry cleaner's: Drop your trousers here for best results.
Outside a Paris dress shop: Dresses for street walking.
At a Rhodes tailor shop: Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.
A sign posted in Germany's Black forest: It is strickly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of
different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that
purpose.
A Zurich hotel: Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested
that the lobby be used for this purpose.
A Rome laundry: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.
A Czechoslovakian tourist agency: Take one of our horse-driven city tours--we guarantee no miscarriages.
Ad for donkey rides in Thailand: Would you like to ride on your own ass?
A Bangkok temple: It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man.
A Tokyo bar: Special cocktails for the ladies with nuts.
A Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions.
The door of a Moscow hotel room: If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.
A Norwegian cocktail lounge: Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.
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