A Menu Lost in Translation: Difference between revisions

{{data|1 April 2021}}

On this first day of April, I'd like to propose a special dinner menu composed entirely of authentic  Polish specialities. All of these dishes have been gleaned from actual English-language menus of various restaurants across Poland. Enjoy!

| [[File:Menu z translatora.png|class=full-page|]]

Oops, it looks like someone used a machine translator to render the Polish menu into English. Believe it or not, even some relatively upscale restaurateurs do this without even having the menu proof-read by someone who actually speaks English. The results are sometimes hilarious, sometimes just confusing, and some are downright off-putting to any visiting foreign tourist. Again, all of the mistranslations above found their way into actual restaurant menus (though never all at once)!

So, have you figured out what they were supposed to mean? You can type your guesses as comments to this Facebook post. Unless you speak Polish, of course, then you don't need to guess.

And if you're ready to see the correct answers, click "Show actual meanings" below!

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| Standard itemisation of raw materials for 5 helpings:

Hard-boil and peel the eggs. Strain the peas. Slice the onion and the cucumbers. Mix the peas with some of the mayonnaise and arrange it on a platter or little plates for individual helpings. Wrap the eggs in herring fillets and place on the bed of peas. Decorate with onion slices powdered with paprika, cucumber slices and squirts of mayonnaise. A single helping should weigh 100&nbsp;g  [3.5&nbsp;oz], including 20&nbsp;g [0.7&nbsp;oz] of herring.

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[[File:Pierogi ze spinaczem.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.6|A tray of frozen "potato-and-paper-clip ''pierogi''"]]

 

 

 

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[[File:zupa-z-raków_3.jpg|thumb|<s>Cervical cancer</s> crayfish soup is a 19th-century Polish classic.]]

 

 

| No one I know has had cervical cancer, but I can imagine that if it had been seen by somebody else, they might have been well upset. As it was, I quickly lost my appetite; the meaning doesn’t exactly encourage you to order anything, does it?

| źródło = Owen Durray, quoted in: [https://www.translatemedia.com/translation-blog/polish-restaurant-offers-cervical-cancer-on-menu-due-to-translation-error]

 

 

Let's see what happened here step by step. The original Polish name for the key ingredient is "''szyjki rakowe''" (pronounced ''{{small|SHIY}}-kee rah-{{small|KAW}}-veh''). "''Szyjki''" could be literally translated as "little necks", but in this case it refers to crayfish tails (although, technically, crayfish have neither tails nor necks, but abdomina). "''Rak''", the Polish word for crayfish, is also used for most things that the English language calls by the Latin word for "crab", that is, "cancer" – such as the Zodiac sign and, yes, the disease. And specifically, "''rak szyjki macicy''", or "cancer of the neck of the womb", is the Polish medical term for cervical cancer. "''Szyjki rakowe''" and "''rak szyjki''" may look and sound similar, but the difference in meaning is that between delicious and disgusting.

 

[https://zakochanewzupach.pl/wykwintna-zupa-z-rakow-z-dolnoslaskiego-stolu/ Zupa z szyjek rakowych]

== Denmark from Chicken ==

[[File:Kurczę pieczone po polsku.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|A liver-stuffed roasted chicken is one of the classic Polish <s>Denmark</s> dishes made from this kind of bird. [https://www.doradcasmaku.pl/przepis-kurczak-faszerowany-watrobka-335895]]]

Is this some kind of Nordic version of chicken Kiev? Not really. You see, "''Dania"'' (with capital D) is the Polish name for the country of Denmark. But "''dania''" (with lower-case D and a slightly different pronunciation) is the Polish word for dishes or courses. So "''dania z kurczaka''" is not so much a single preparation as it's the title of a whole section of a menu, devoted to chicken dishesin general. And it has nothing whatsoever to do with the state of Denmark.

I suppose you still expect a recipe, though, don't you? Okay, so let's pick what is perhaps the most Polish chicken dish you can find, which is the ''kurczę pieczone po polsku'', or liver-stuffed roasted chicken in the Polish style.

[http://trzecitalerz.blogspot.com/2018/08/kasza-gryczana-z-kurkami-kuchnia.html Kasza z sosem kurkowym]

 

[http://asiuuulek.blogspot.com/2016/06/lody-adwokatowe.html Lody z adwokatem]  

 

[https://www.doradcasmaku.pl/przepis-jablka-w-ciescie-z-winem-39777 Jabłko w cieście winnym]