Translate Server Error

July 26, 2008 7:13 AM

Chinese restaurant called "Translate Server Error"

Let's say it's a 'minimal post,' but it is what it is.

posted by Turtles all the way down (16 comments total)

Oh, this isn't going to go well. A single link to a BongBong thread?

Without any steampunk in it? The bitching is going to be perverse, but dry. Mealy. Unflavorful.
posted by loquacious at 7:24 AM on July 26

It's too early to be bored.
posted by elfgirl at 7:27 AM on July 26

Along with a big dose of LOLESL.
posted by Mitheral at 7:28 AM on July 26

翻譯服務器錯誤
posted by netbros at 7:31 AM on July 26

A single link to a BongBong thread?

No, no, loq, it's a single link from a Boing Boing thread.

But aside from all that...

As a 13 year resident of Tokyo, lemme tell you, there's no shortage of... unexpected names of restaurants and other businesses that one stumbles upon from time to time. One of my favorites, not too far from where I live, is a restaurant called "Happy Dining Ghetto". And it ain't some kind of po-mo irony, either. That's just the name.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:34 AM on July 26

This comment, from the BoingBoing thread, makes a point worth repeating here:

"There are some, though, who put things like this into English (for example) because it just "looks cool! it's foreign!", just like the dolts in the west who get kanji tattoos with ridiculous meanings- "it looks cool!". For many people, that's all they want. They aren't worried so much about seeing someone call them on it."
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:37 AM on July 26

Bad English isn't nearly as fun as bad Chinese.
posted by humanfont at 7:40 AM on July 26

I mindlessly followed the single Boing Boing link.
But this comment made it all worthwhile:

" #20 posted by benstucky , July 16, 2008 11:01 AM

What probably happened here is that when they entered the characters for translation and hit the translate button there was an issue with the translation software. So the resulting error message was 'TRANSLATE SERVER ERROR' instead of the requested translation - classic."
posted by debord at 7:42 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]

I would subscribe to benstucky's journal The Annotated Simpsons.
posted by bonaldi at 7:43 AM on July 26 [3 favorites]

Related: error cake.
posted by burnmp3s at 7:45 AM on July 26

WAY better.
posted by gman at 7:48 AM on July 26

WAY better.

So, this is gonna turn into post yer favorite BoingBoing thread? Oh, jeebus...

Can't believe that no one has yet mentioned that the linked post was submitted by Cory Doctorow, though. Not that I give a whit about him, but I have noted that his name comes up a lot here at MeFi.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:56 AM on July 26

loquacious: "Oh, this isn't going to go well. A single link to a BongBong thread?"

From 11 days ago, no less. BB editors come and are unpublished in that period of time.
It's a slooow day on the tubes.
posted by Plutor at 8:13 AM on July 26

So, this is gonna turn into post yer favorite BoingBoing thread? Oh, jeebus...

t'was meant to be a joke.
posted by gman at 8:15 AM on July 26

One hit wonder.
posted by furtive at 8:15 AM on July 26

If this really was a minimal post there wouldn't be a [more inside] to tell me that.
posted by furtive at 8:16 AM on July 26