OT: The language barrier, bad English translations

[Dr. Whom]

Apparently, this is a genuine menu from a Shanghai restaurant

[Neville]

"The star state fries the rice" --> Are they speaking of Texas?

"The Bureau pig picks the rice" --> This one sounds like an anti-government motto.

[Flangepart]

Neville Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "The star state fries the rice" --> Are they
> speaking of Texas?
>
> "The Bureau pig picks the rice" --> This one
> sounds like an anti-government motto.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> -------------------------------
> Baron Frankenstein: I've harmed nobody, just
> robbed a few graves!

Bureau Pig...i thought the same thing, Nev! Maby the guy who wrote it was also doing his taxs.
Hummmm....BTW, just ho w DO you pay your taxs in Spain? I used H&R Block.

[Neville]

Flangepart Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Bureau Pig...i thought the same thing, Nev! Maby
> the guy who wrote it was also doing his taxs.
> Hummmm....BTW, just ho w DO you pay your taxs in
> Spain? I used H&R Block.
>

Some activities have their own taxes, which are deducted inmediately, but every individual is supposed to fill a yearly set of forms with data regarding their income, properties and family responsabilities. A quantity is deducted from all those factors. Is a very messy thing to calculate, as the government will expect proof of everything. For the last ten years on, most banks offer to do the paperwork for you, and most people use their services.

[LH-C]

I remember when I went and saw 'Cyrano de Bergerac' with Gerard Depardieu in 1990. I had gone to see it with my aunt (who is fairly fluent in French) and while the movie was great, she was astonished at how bad the translations were.

[Neville]

That (bad subtitles) can be really annoying. Now with P2P you can easily find lots of stuff than have been translated / subbed by amateurs, and while most of the time they do a good job sometimes they screw it badly. I've translated a few subs myself, from English to Spanish, and I tend to forgive most mistakes, but now and then you want to kill those people.

Bad professional subtitles are harder to find, but I've seen a few myself as well.

[ulthar]

Okay, I've got to ask: how are the subtitles to Almodovar's films?  Are they accurate?

Those of his films I've seen were roll-on-the-floor funny.