Cliff and Jeramie have been using English menus when they are available, and last night was the second time that we encountered a laughable mistranslation.
One of the items on the desert menu is a chocolate bomb, which in Spanish is "bomba de chocolate". However "bomba" has another meaning beside bomb. The English menu listed that item as a "chocolate pump". I just tested "bomba de chocolate" on Google Translate, and I got "chocolate pump". So that just goes to show you, take anything on Google Translate with a grain of salt!
On Sunday we went to El Cardenal for dinner, and according to the English menu, one of the dishes included "a touch of dad". What they meant was that the dish included a bit of potato. That error was less forgivable since "papa" means potato, but "papá" (with an accent mark) means dad.
Both of these restaurants are upscale and have tourist clientele. Perhaps I should hire myself out as a menu translation consultant!
Most of the marketing material that businesses, hotels and restaurants have in Mexico will have an incorrect translation. I find it endearing. I like when they have shrimps and sometimes one order of soup is soups........I cannot even imagine what a mess it would be if I had to translate everything into Spanish! ha.
ReplyDeleteIt's laughable, but as a former language teacher, I am more critical of such gaffes. They are obviously relying on something like Google Translate which I have always said is not reliable. It's one thing when it happens at a little mom and pop business, but at a high end place such as the World Trade Center restaurant, it just makes Mexico look like a "third world country".
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