Dave & Meredith's Travel Blog

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the things I enjoy about traveling in countries where English is not the native language is the little nuggets of bad translations you find that end up being pretty funny. Most that you find are small and simply make you smile such as the homemade sign in our hotel’s lobby that says “The Post Office Works Here.” On the outside of the hotel elevator doors are the more amusing warnings:

– WARNING: DO NOT BY TOUCH HAND

– WARNING: DO NOT RECLINE FOR DANGEROUS FALL DOWN

Above, the warning stickers on the outside of the elevator doors

There is a sign, though, inside the hotel’s elevator that has become legendary among our trekking group. Apparently the Sigma Mongolia Company makes elevators and someone there was tasked with creating a sign of safety rules written in English. It seems like a classic case of some hapless person sitting down with a dictionary and doing a word for word translation. It also uses color and all-capitals to stress words or phrases that don’t make sense (at least to me). The picture of the sign is below but in case it’s hard to read, here is my transcription of it. All use of color, capitals, etc. is preserved:

SAFETY WARNING OF THE ELEVATOR TRANSPORTATION

– It is dangerous RECLINE and PUSH, to the elevator’s floor doors.

– You must to take CHILDREN in to the elevator cabin.

– You should carefull from getting door tuck your CLOTHES and OTHER THINGS.

– Before go to the elevator you should check ELEVATOR CABIN LEVEL to FLOOR LEVEL.

– If derive THE FIRE, you use BREAKAGE ON FOOT STAIRWAY

– Do not to do JUMP and OBSTRUCTIVE inside the elevator cabin

– Do not transportation TO OVERLOAD.

– Do not use BY THE IMPROPER PURPOSE.

– If the ELECTRIC TO GO OFF, the elevator has A BREAK you don’t act any movement, and press the button with FIGURE OF BELL and call up HELP.

At the bottom, apparently the company motto translates to “150 years were together, will together 150 years”. The tag-line in the lower right claims “The world best product, repair, service, assembling.” Some day they may add “translation” to that list but today is not that day. 🙂

Above, the warning sign inside the elevator

– Dave