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Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Maribor, Slovenia.
Portoroz, Slovenia.
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Here you are? A tourist map of Maribor.
The city of Maribor recently put up a bunch of city guides, each including the sentence "HERE YOU ARE." (As every loyal Ziggy reader knows, the correct phase is: "YOU ARE HERE." The mistake comes from translating the Slovenian equivalent literally.)
It would be amusing if it weren’t for the fact that someone probably got paid a handsome sum to do this. There are some official translators here who cannot produce two consecutive error-free sentences in English, but they manage to work and prosper all the same. It’s amazing. Especially since there is no shortage of talented linguists here.
Regardless, I’m actually more curious about the Slovenian word Cyber caffe, which appears on the same sign. It’s so odd to see a double consonant here; I’m guessing it was imported directly from the Italian — and yet left alone?? Even more bafflingly, a quick search on the Slovenian search engine Najdi turns up instances of: caffe, cafe, café and kafe. Which is the real McCoy?
Confused I am.
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Maybe, when reading this sign you get offered something! the question is what do they offer??
paul: That’s right! I should have mentioned that "Here you are" is the English equivalent of izvolite.
Disaster.
Hehe, Michael M. as master Yoda ("confused I am") I like it :))) And in case you’re wondering - it’s "caffee".
As a frequent visitor I’m always extremely impressed by the language skills of Slovenians. I’m English and we don’t do languages ourselves (to our eternal shame) so my first trip was a revelation and a delight. I’d put you up there with the Scandinavians and the Dutch, if not right at the top. Consequently the error is a surprise and not one I’d now expect a waiter or a taxi driver to make let alone someone paid to translate.Even Wikipedia can make mistakes though, referring to "Quinion" and "McQuinion" in the linked Real McCoy piece. Which is the Real McQuinion?
Since i’m italian I can solve the doubt about the coffee.
The real McCoy is caffè. The “e” has to be accented and the accent has to be open like this “è” and not “é”.
It seems they do not have a good italian translator too…
Ciao a tutti!
well, according to the oxford dictionary "café" (coffee house) is of french origin, but then i’d guess catering business doesn’t really care about etymology or the fact that there’s a slovenian word for café - kavarna. but, i support freedom in finding original bar names - as long as there’s no language norm one can use anything - cyber cafe, cyber kavarna, e-cafe, e-kavarna, kibernetiÄ?na kavarna… you name it!
@michelle: I stand corrected
I often find great amusement from reading the linguistical achievements on the shop signs all over our beloved country. For many years, the trend has been: it has to sound English/American/foreign. For most of these people, naming their businesses/shops with a Slovene name is just not good enough. And that’s a recipe for disaster. I mean, most people here can’t even write in their own language properly, let alone a foreign one. So, whatever sounds vaguely right to the shop or business owner, is bound to appear on that large sign above the front door. Talking about "cafe", "caffee" etc., I remember seeing these versions as well: "kofee", "koffe", "kaffe"… Another favourite of many Slovenian businesses is "commerce". Besides the pig-ugly local translation "komerc", the following one takes the cake: "Kommerc". Like in "Kommerc Oglasnik". And let us not forget that tr00 Slovenian institution - "buffet", locally known as "bife". Or biffe". Or "biffet". Or "buffe". Etc etc, the imagination of our "buffet" owners does appear to be colourful. Personally, I prefer to buy the stuff for my kids in a shop named "MalÄ?ek" or "Pikapolonica" or "Obuti maÄ?ek" rather than "Baby center", but hey, that’s just silly me…
I like it as it is. It is as if you were lost (needing to consult a city map, you undoubtedly are) and someone who has been looking for you exclaims "Here you are!". But if it is you yourself who is looking for your exact position on the map maybe the text should have read "Here I am!".
It might be a lot better than the completely missing English subtitles from a cartoon/comix exhibition in the heart of the touristic Budapest :(…Have a kaffee on me!Cheers,
Maybe you can imagine that you are lost, wandering around Maribor muttering, "Where the f*** am I ?!? Christ, I’d give my eye teeth for a map!" And –lo and behold– the Genie of Maribor (or maybe the spirit of that crazy golden goat you guys worship, or whatever it is) springs to life, helpfully posting a map RIGHT under your nose as you turn the corner: "Here you are!"And now that you know where you are, why not get a coffee-like beverage with ambiguous international flair AND check your email?I like it!
susan: no need to insult that which you do not understand. it’s not a “goat” (sic.) it’s an ibex. big difference. besides it’s not entirely gold. that would be ridiculous (not to mention unsettlingly counter-biblian, to boost), only its horns are gold. sheesh.michael: i think it’s exactly the number of highly fluent foreign language speakers that does this. it’s a double-edged sword: not only does it flatter your regular slovene to be told so many times we’re good at languages, we also blindly believe this. so, a lot of the times, executives will thrust translation onto people that are not capable of it. “he’s slovene, plus he’s gone through three years of english in primary school already, so heck, i’ll be damned if he can’t translate as well!” that’s your usual train of thought that results in weird public anouncements such as this one.
On the subject of "you are here, here you are" controversy, I would only say that Maribor English, unbiased by grammar, logic or tradition, is perfectly consistent with the way they speak Slovenian over there. As any other person from Ljubljana I find it cute, original, entertaining and difficult to understand.