Kai's Weblog

This is without a doubt the most obscure and just plain horrible translation I've found so far for my Lost in Translation Series. What sets this translation, found on a card at a Düsseldorf International Airport bistro, apart, is that I can't see how the translation came about! Some translation program or reference book must have translated "Ausgabe" to "version!" To give the translator credit, or perhaps simply pity, the standard translations of this word won't work for this usage.

When I entered "Ausgabe" into my translation widget, it spit out "output." Altavista Babelfish gave me "expenditure." Yet another site gave me "issue." None of these come close to what the sign is trying to say, namely that warm food and "snack meals" (hahah, didn't even notice that!) are available at the counter where food is served.

Wow, just about everything is wrong with translation! There's an "eating version" that serves "snack meals" and the sentence starts with "You get," which you might find at a small Southern U.S. airport as well!