It’s a fact, many brands and tag lines get word-by-word translations. Imagine having Nike’s “Just do it” translated into Arabic? Now think about what that would mean, it’d turn into such an offensive tag line instead of being a catch phrase. And otherwise is true too. Some phrases exist in both English and Arabic languages. Interestingly Mobinil a telecomm operator in Egypt has got it right with their tag using two equivalent phrases as their catch lines.
In English: Communicate form the heart
In Arabic: ????? ?? ?????
The two are so different in meaning even though they are nearly word-by-word translations.
In English: It’s about Sincerity and Passion.
In Arabic: It’s an S-lang phrase, used when spending on something accessible and easy to purchase in a way it could be taken for granted. Turned into text and formal, it is talking sincerely and freely all the way from deep down.
Although I feel there has been a mix up somewhere, I could still give it a plus. But still, the identity has a different taste in English, deeper in Arabic.
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3 Comments
1 Rami Kayyali wrote:
For some reason, this reminds me of the Pajero incident.
2 dotone wrote:
Which incident?
3 Rami Kayyali wrote:
Woops, sorry about the very very very late reply. Your comments are moderated, so I sometimes forget to comeback and check for a reply.
I meant how Pajero meant a very bad word in Mexico, if I recall correctly. It was interesting though, Misubishi had to rename the car there.