In the course of my work I sometimes get to edit translations into English. Many of them are very good already and just need a bit of tweaking. Sometimes, though, it's almost more work editing than if I had been given the original text to translate from scratch. That kind of job often sends me on research sprees across the World Wide Web – a great way of frittering away hours and hours, if you're not careful.
It's in this context that I have just come across the " Not sure the English version of this website is the bee's knees of translations. See for yourselves -- my favourite in the gobbledygook below is the sentence beginning "There were 7000 guests, including president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (who was absent), …" – was she there, or was she not?
Open a new mall in town
7000 was invited to the festival opening Dot Baires, in the neighborhood of Saavedra, with celebrities and fireworks. The shopping haves 189,000 m2 divided into four levels and 160 local. The last was opened 10 yeasr ago.
Buenos Aires has its 15th shopping. Yesterday, in the neighborhood of Saavedra, who opened the event with Dot Baires fastuosa as reminding those openings of shopping malls 90. There were 7000 guests, including president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (who was absent), the Head of Government of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri Groba Malala and his girlfriend, Karina Rabolini and Beatriz Nofal, by the National Agency of Investment Development. Attendees were the first to travel the 160 local shopping now largest city, with 189,000 m2 divided into four levels. The last thing the Abasto was opened, 10 years ago.
[and on, and on, and on, as good as unintelligibly...]
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Maybe one day I'll write to them suggesting they get a professional to revise their English language content. It would make for a good project for a translation student, perhaps.
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