Lost in Translation Disasters: The Bilingual Edition
When what happens in Paris meets when Germany goes Berlin,
Things get lost in translation. Literally.
At a Tokyo hotel, a guest was confused when the hotel room had "bathroom" written on the sign in both Japanese and English. But when they tried to use it, they found that "bathroom" meant the entire room, including the toilet, shower, and bidet, but not the toilet paper. The guest ended up using a nearby convenience store's "family restroom" for a quick wipe.
Learn more about the perils of toilet paper confusion.
In Paris, a tourist ordered a "restroom" at a café, expecting a restroom. But the waiter, thinking the tourist was asking for a "rest," handed them a napkin.
Discover more about the time French waiters played a cruel joke on an unsuspecting American.
At an Amsterdam train station, a tourist asked for "help" in English, but the station worker responded in Dutch, "Hulp?" The tourist, confused, asked "Hulp?" again, and the station worker replied, "Ja, hulp!" The tourist, still lost, ended up taking a wrong train to Utrecht.
Read more about the linguistic hijinks at Amsterdam's train station.
In Berlin, a tourist, lost in the city, pressed the emergency button on their phone. But instead of a rescue team arriving, a German tourist, confused by "Emergency" in English, called the tourist's hotel to report a "nicht-Notfall," or "non-emergency."
Find out how Berliner's non-emergencies became everyone's emergency.