HumourOT: Countertop materials marketing 101

On 10/22/2009 07:39 AM, Robatoy wrote:
> Cut & Paste from my mailbox...as is: (*I* thought it was funny...

I particularly appreciated the fact that it was "not over level
radialization". I worry about that.

I have to say though, that the most revolutionary thing about this
material is that it "Not get dirty". This is fantastic--I'd never have
to clean the counters again!

Chris

"Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote

> Cut & Paste from my mailbox...as is: (*I* thought it was funny...
>
> Private Showroom Invitation

Damn, a private showroom invite!!

How much of this stuff are you going to buy??

<g, d & r>

"Doug Miller" wrote:

> SWMBO and I both speak German (hers is much better than mine). We've
> come
> across a few amusing translations of German to English, obviously
> performed by
> native speakers of German. One example: a section in the operating
> instructions for a power tool, labelled "Security Advices". WTF??
> OK, let's go
> look at the German version... oh!! Safety Precautions.
-----------------------------------------------------
Have a couple of interesting tales RE: German

First I've been involved with German instrumentation since the mid
80's.

Their documentation has gone thru a greater evolution than their
products.

It's been a struggle, but it has been worth it.

Second, my grand parents emigrated to Indiana in the 1865-1875 time
frame, my
grandfather from Prussia, my grandmother from Hesslot, both spoke
"High German", which today is a dead language.

My mother had a letter from my grandmother to my grandfather written
around 1920 which she could not translate.

For more than 70 years, Mom had no idea of the contents of the letter.

To make a long story short, during the 1990's, I found a woman whose
mother still lived in
Germany and took summer vacations here in SoCal.

The mother still read and spoke "High German" and was able to
translate the letter.

Talk about a piece of luck.

Understand my grandmother died several years before I was born.

As I read the translation for the first time, I thought it was a
letter from Mom.

It was a little surreal reading that translation.

Now I know where many of the descriptive phrases and idioms my mother
used came
from.

That letter served to introduce to my grandmother in a sort of around
the corner way.

I'd rather be lucky than good any day.

Lew

"Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:0a785928-b1be-4a4e-b52f-11c17cd9a7c7@p20g2000vbl.googlegroups.com...
> Cut & Paste from my mailbox...as is: (*I* thought it was funny...
>
> Private Showroom Invitation
> Dear mr cogeco ,
> You have received an exclusive invitation from Young Li, a pre-
> qualified Gold Supplier on Alibaba.com, inviting you to view his/her
> private product listings.
>

Are they flying you there? When's the contract signing?

Thanks for sharing, that was worth the read.
<insert obligatory monitor-cleaning remark here>

jc

On 10/22/2009 6:39 AM Robatoy spake thus:

> Cut & Paste from my mailbox...as is: (*I* thought it was funny...
>
> Our quartz stone is the best material for building and interior
> decoration!
> It contains 93% quartz, 7% resin.
> Hard enough to avoid any scratches;
> Not damaged by the hot;
> Not hurt by the acid or alkali;
> Not get dirty;
> Not get broken;
> Natural color without variation;
> No poison and not over level radialization;

Just think what an even greater threat the Chinese would be if they ever
mastered our language and didn't use such ridiculous-sounding Chinglish
in their promo materials ...


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

On 10/22/2009 1:21 PM Doug Miller spake thus:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> David Nebenzahl <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On 10/22/2009 6:39 AM Robatoy spake thus:
>>
>>> Cut & Paste from my mailbox...as is: (*I* thought it was funny...
>>>
>>> Our quartz stone is the best material for building and interior
>>> decoration!
>>> It contains 93% quartz, 7% resin.
>>> Hard enough to avoid any scratches;
>>> Not damaged by the hot;
>>> Not hurt by the acid or alkali;
>>> Not get dirty;
>>> Not get broken;
>>> Natural color without variation;
>>> No poison and not over level radialization;
>>
>> Just think what an even greater threat the Chinese would be if they
>> ever mastered our language and didn't use such ridiculous-sounding
>> Chinglish in their promo materials ...
>
> Translations should always be done by a native speaker of the target language,
> not the original language. I imagine that when English speakers attempt to
> translate English to Chinese, the result sounds just as silly to the Chinese
> as the "Chinglish" does to us.

Absolutely. I'm sure my pathetic attempts at translation would be
hilarious to Mandarin speakers if I were to write stuff for the Chinese
market. (Well, assuming I knew *any* Mandarin to begin with ...)


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Robatoy wrote:
> Cut & Paste from my mailbox...as is: (*I* thought it was funny...
>
> Private Showroom Invitation
> Dear mr cogeco ,
> You have received an exclusive invitation from Young Li, a pre-
> qualified Gold Supplier on Alibaba.com, inviting you to view his/her
> private product listings.
>
> Young Li wrote:
>
> Our quartz stone is the best material for building and interior
> decoration!
> It contains 93% quartz, 7% resin.

Heh - Lixin Marble & Granite is at 83 Xianliezhong Road. You probably
didn't notice that at 102 Xianliezhong Road is Topwork International Co Ltd.

It's a small world. :)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

In article <[email protected]>, David Nebenzahl <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 10/22/2009 6:39 AM Robatoy spake thus:
>
>> Cut & Paste from my mailbox...as is: (*I* thought it was funny...
>>
>> Our quartz stone is the best material for building and interior
>> decoration!
>> It contains 93% quartz, 7% resin.
>> Hard enough to avoid any scratches;
>> Not damaged by the hot;
>> Not hurt by the acid or alkali;
>> Not get dirty;
>> Not get broken;
>> Natural color without variation;
>> No poison and not over level radialization;
>
>Just think what an even greater threat the Chinese would be if they ever
>mastered our language and didn't use such ridiculous-sounding Chinglish
>in their promo materials ...

Translations should always be done by a native speaker of the target language,
not the original language. I imagine that when English speakers attempt to
translate English to Chinese, the result sounds just as silly to the Chinese
as the "Chinglish" does to us.

In article <[email protected]>, David Nebenzahl <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 10/22/2009 1:21 PM Doug Miller spake thus:

>> Translations should always be done by a native speaker of the target language,
>> not the original language. I imagine that when English speakers attempt to
>> translate English to Chinese, the result sounds just as silly to the Chinese
>> as the "Chinglish" does to us.
>
>Absolutely. I'm sure my pathetic attempts at translation would be
>hilarious to Mandarin speakers if I were to write stuff for the Chinese
>market. (Well, assuming I knew *any* Mandarin to begin with ...)

SWMBO and I both speak German (hers is much better than mine). We've come
across a few amusing translations of German to English, obviously performed by
native speakers of German. One example: a section in the operating
instructions for a power tool, labelled "Security Advices". WTF?? OK, let's go
look at the German version... oh!! Safety Precautions. I've done a few
translations of technical documents from German to English... but I don't even
begin to imagine that I'm competent to go the other direction. I'm sure I'd
provide considerable unintended hilarity to my readers.