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by jjoonathan 1111 days ago
My favorite is when google translate translates the Chinese word for product/item/thing as "baby." You shop for babies, babies go on sale, here, have a coupon for $2 off any baby! If it doesn't work out there's always the "return defective baby" button!
3 comments

I'm guessing this is for Taobao? They do stylize the term they use for products.

The more accurate translation would have be "precious/treasure" -- i.e., Shop for [Treasure]. (Taobao lit. means to [Pan] for [Treasure])

In common colloquial usage, though, the term would indeed refer to "baby" in the same sense as "my precious/darling".

Yep! That's exactly it, thanks for the context.
This reminded me of the song "All that she wants" by Ace of Base. The mistranslation of the word "baby" makes the song sound like it's about a woman who wants more kids, rather than a woman who wants a lover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrwlFTqS_bg

Reminds me of the gourmet cuisine to be had at Translation Server Error.