Drinkglish Post 1: Funny Grammar [Mis-] Translations

Laughing at language

Grammar translation can be funny, can’t it?

From ORF, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation:

From the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest during a holiday 2024 trip with my parents. Does this mean you can’t play fetch and throw food for your dog? Why would anyone do that in a museum?

I don’t get these HalfPrice shops in Austria. This is typical - what am I missing? Do they do a different kind of mathematics here?

This woman has over 4 million TikTok subscribers and it’s dedicated to English learning. Is this Shakespearean English? Is there really a need for this kind of English in today’s world? Are people watching her videos for the language content or…something else?

This isn’t a funny example, it’s an educational one - language learners, take note. You don’t need to use the word language here, it sounds awkward. Similarly, you don’t say “I like green colour,” which I hear a lot. Better and more natural: “Some Ukrainians speak Russian.”

For another language example, check out these wacky Welsh:

For our last one, I somehow don’t think this is a mistranslation:

Stay tuned for more shenanigans in post 2!