December 17, 2001

10:54 AM

Looks like Samsung is having some interesting problems with translation. I especially like "This elegant phone can check women's Pink Schedule & Calorie that it helps you to be a woman of sense. It has Voice Dialing funtion.(sic)" What is a Pink schedule?
posted by rhyax (26 comments total)

My first thought was that it isn't cool to make fun of people who use English poorly if it isn't their native language, but then I remembered all the unemployed technical writers I know that could have prevented this from happening.

And I assume I know what a "Pink schedule" is, but I ain't saying it out loud.
posted by ColdChef at 11:01 AM on December 17, 2001

*cough*
posted by thewittyname at 11:06 AM on December 17, 2001

Yeah, I'm thinking it's menses too. "Pink schedule" ... how coy.
posted by donkeyschlong at 11:29 AM on December 17, 2001

Submitted to Engrish.com. I credited MeFi. (Check out the teddy bear at the bottom of the page.)
posted by jennak at 11:32 AM on December 17, 2001

My first thought was that it isn't cool to make fun of people who use English poorly if it isn't their native language

It this was a company in the US that had a poorly translated page in Japanese people would be all over them for not being culturally sensitive.

AYBBU
posted by Mick at 11:39 AM on December 17, 2001

Well, I'm fairly sure this page is meant for Korean and or Japanese consumers, becuase those are all 3G phones that you can't get in America. I looked for a Japanese languange translation, but all I found was Korean, and I can't read that.

It's not un-common over there to have some really fucked up english translations. Many Japanese understand english, but they write it using Japanese sentance paterns (subject wa time de place object ga verb) instead of the very different english patterns.

I remeber going to Japan last year and being really up for going to the Aqua Bar because the drinks won't kill me, and that's the important thing.
posted by SweetJesus at 11:41 AM on December 17, 2001

I'll do anything to be a woman of sense.
posted by panopticon at 11:43 AM on December 17, 2001

Samsung means to come.
posted by Hankins at 11:46 AM on December 17, 2001

How on earth can a phone "check" a pink schedule? And Calorie?
Ick. If either of those things mean what I think they mean, I don't want a phone that can keep track of any of them.
How bizarre.
posted by aacheson at 11:51 AM on December 17, 2001

I heard once about something similar: some line from an old poorly-translated video game that was going around the Net. I got an email about it once, but it's long deleted. It was a frickin' riot!
posted by jpoulos at 11:53 AM on December 17, 2001

As one of those aforementioned out of work tech writers, maybe I should call and offer my services.
posted by jennyb at 12:08 PM on December 17, 2001

I've seen information on this phone elsewhere... and the 'pink schedule' is exactly what you think it is... IT IS a phone intended for women, and this is a useful feature... :)
posted by zuzu at 12:18 PM on December 17, 2001

Ugh. Can you imagine being a meeting and your phone chirps up "It's time for your pink cycle!" :0
posted by aacheson at 12:32 PM on December 17, 2001

"This fashionable and stylish phone makes you feel to be elegant person yourselves".

Well me feels elegant already with my pink cycle and all. Thanks to you for asking me though.....

The Samsung site has been like this for awhile. I have one of their monitors and trying to find a driver was actually sort of entertaining.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:45 PM on December 17, 2001

Samsung has always been sloppy with translation. As a huge multinational corporation, you'd think they'd pay more attention to things like this, but they don't. I recently bought a samsung monitor and the manual was absolutely atrocious (Unfortunately I can't quote anything since I'm at work right now).

My wife, being Korean, gets a kick out of trying to associate the botched english with what they were probably thinking in Korean.
posted by jnthnjng at 12:46 PM on December 17, 2001

I also enjoyed "This fashionable and stylish phone makes you feel to be elegant person yourselves."

I'd love to feel "to be elegant person" myself(S).
posted by mikojava at 12:58 PM on December 17, 2001

My 3 cups of coffee take care of my brown schedule. I have no need of Samsung, a pink schedule or their telephone for scheduling of such.
posted by daragh at 1:50 PM on December 17, 2001

ewwwwww.....
posted by jpoulos at 2:15 PM on December 17, 2001

ewwwwww.....
posted by jpoulos at 2:15 PM on December 17, 2001

...and that, ladies and gentlemen, was the first appropriate double-post ever.
posted by aramaic at 2:51 PM on December 17, 2001

Well, Silvio Berlusconi's adminstration isn't too far behind Samsung regarding sillly translations. According to this Guardian article the Italian Govt web site had some choice bios of cabinet members like this:

"Been born to Lucera (Foggia) 20 October 1941. Conjugated and it has two daughters. In 1965 one has graduated in economy near the University of Mouthfuls of Milan."

Go machine, go!
posted by mmarcos at 3:05 PM on December 17, 2001

Oh gee! I could be a "woman of sense"! Me! Imagine that! =)
posted by ilsa at 3:13 PM on December 17, 2001

Pink Lady & Jeff?
posted by TacoConsumer at 4:41 PM on December 17, 2001

ALL YOUR MENSTRUAL CYCLES ARE BELONG TO US
posted by ayukna at 9:52 PM on December 17, 2001

I don't even know if you could say it's necessarily a case of out of work writers. It could very well be a case of ignored writers. I do exactly the work that Samsung needs done here. Very often I get told that they can't make the changes I recommend because "we`ve always said it that way" or simply because some boss with nothing to do has more pride in his English than in his company.
posted by chiheisen at 10:06 PM on December 17, 2001

Now, if the phone could keep the "pink schedule" in check, then we'd all be much happier. I'd like to get the "shut it off for three years" schedule, thank you.
posted by phoenix enflamed at 8:32 AM on December 18, 2001