LOST IN TRANSLATION IN SPANISH

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Taco Bell's "Chilito" took its name from what it is, a chili burrito. But "Chilito" is actually Mexican slang for "penis."

Can't you just picture it?

"Yeah, I'd like an order of nachos, a 32 oz. Dr Pepper and a penis to go, please."

They changed the name to "Chili Burrito."

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MENSA, the organization for the extremely intelligent, is the Spanish word for stupid female.

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The 4-wheel drive sport utility truck called Montero was named "Pajero" for non-US markets, including Australia, where a large number of Argentineans & Uruguayans live -- "pajero" in Spanish means "masturbator."

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An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of the desired "I Saw the Pope" in Spanish, the shirts proclaimed "I Saw the Potato" (la papa).

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Two signs posted at a shop entrance in Majorca, Spain read:

"English well talking Here speeching American."

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When Braniff (American) Airlines translated their slogan, "Fly in Leather," into Spanish, "Sentado en cuero," it came out as "Fly naked" (aka "sit naked").

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A sign in a hotel in "Don't Drink the Water" Acapulco reads:

"The manager has personally passed all the water served here."

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A hotel notice in Madrid reads:

"If You Wish Disinfection Enacted In Your Presence, Please Cry Out For The Chambermaid."

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This sign has been reported to have been seen in both Madrid, Spain and Belgrade, Lebanon, where a notice in an elevator reads:

"To move cabin, push button of the wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press the number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by natural order.

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In Spanish, Coors Beer slogan, "Turn it loose," means "Suffer from diarrhea."

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Two signs posted at/// a Majorcan shop entrance: English well talking Here speeching American.

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The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are you lactating?"

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Ford discovered that its truck model called "Fiera," in Spanish, meant "ugly old woman."

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In Mexico, Ford discovered that the name of one of its cars, "Caliente," meant "streetwalker."

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Ford also had bad luck in Brazil, when their car, the Pinto, flopped. The company later found out that "Pinto" was Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals" ("small male appendage"). Ford finally pried all the nameplates off their Pintos and substituted the name "Corcel," which means horse.

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Chicken-man Frank Perdue's slogan, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken," got terribly mangled in Spanish. A photo of Perdue with one of his birds appeared on billboards all over Mexico with a caption that explained "It takes a hard man to make a chicken aroused."

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Fresca's brand name fizzled in Mexico, where its name turned out to be slang for "lesbian."

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When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read:

"It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you."

Unfortunately, the company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant "to embarrass," so the ad actually read:

"It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

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When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "no va" means "it won't go." As the literal translation of the Nova to Spanish means "star", why then, GM wanted to know, were Hispanic Chevrolet dealerships so unaccommodating to this model? After the company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.

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An agency working on a campaign for a milk product asked their translator why he had chosen the word "conservante" to translate "preservative" instead of "preservativo." The answer, it turned out, was simple; in Spanish the word "preservativo" refers not only to food preservatives, but also to condoms, which the translator thought might be rather unappealing when advertising a milk product.

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