Google Translate fails

by on with 4 Comments

Do you use Google Translate when learning Russian? I used to rely on Kenneth Katzner’s amazing red dictionary but now it’s usually faster to put the mysterious word or phrase into Google Translate. Although Google Translate is becoming more and more accurate, it sometimes spits out something crazy. Here are three funny examples I’ve seen…

Sign at the airport in Anapa, Russia.

 

What’s the funniest Google Translate mismatch you’ve ever seen? Leave me a comment! 🙂

4 Responses

  1. Andrew Sabak
    | Reply

    Hello! My wife and I enjoy your posts.
    I also use the following when looking up words (in my case, technical language translations)
    http://www.multitran.ru, which shows many subject-specific usages
    http://www.sokr.ru — for abbreviations when no context seems to be given
    translate.yandex.ru
    Thanks!

    • Katherine
      | Reply

      Wow, those are great resources, Andrew! Thank you for sharing them here. 🙂 Sokr.ru looks especially useful, since I’m always running into strange abbreviations and trying to guess their meaning.

    • J.T.
      | Reply

      Yesss, I second Multitran. Great reference tool for literary translation.

      • Katherine
        |

        It’s officially my new favorite site. 🙂 🙂 By the way, I was excited to read about your translation submission plans for this year. That’s very cool!

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