> "rotate on the force" > (remember it was in Dutch, so the actual phrase was "draai aan de kracht.") > Anybody any idea what it meant to say before the translation mangled it? > Yep, it meant: Turn on the power.
When I was in Iraq and Afghanistan, I always got a kick out of the notices in the latrines. The 'cans' were converted shipping containers usually converted in a nearby country. I'm pretty sure what happened was someone provided a list of guidelines (in english) they wanted displayed, this list was then translated into their local language with instructions that it should be posted in English, so they translated it back. The signs would say things like (actual quotes): "Only for use, not for other use", "Use the wastepipe after using" "hygiene make your life long", "Please get off your refusals in the basket", "Don't get off objects in the WC", and "To signal some damage" (that's all it said) P.S. My Opa used to have a sign in his workshop that said something like "Geen dood ding is baas". I think the equivelent english expression is "A craftsman doesn't blame his tools" _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
