Translate Server Error

A colleague pointed out this mistaken translation earlier this week, and they actually mentioned it on NPR’s Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me as well.  It’s a restaurant sign that says “Translate Server Error”, implying that the restauranteur plugged in his restaurant name to some online translation service and didn’t realize he’d gotten back a bad result.  However, I prefer to instead think that the restauranteur is in fact a marketing genius that realized how much free extra press he’d gain from a silly “translation”.  How many people do you think will track down his restaurant in China just to see the sign and get their own picture?  If only a fraction go in and buy something, he’s still way ahead.