Friday, April 4, 2008

Say, What?

The Bag Lady mentioned in a previous post that she and the Cowboy spent Sunday putting a grass-seeder together. It took them most of the day, partly because the instructions were written by someone for whom English was a second (or possibly third...) language.

For example:


" When assembly, please have the hopper side lay, the hopper panel with label should be put in downwards."


or how about this one:


"Let the Gear Box hole and Axle Shaft Hole in the same level, then insert the Safety Pin. (This pin could be took off when it not work so that could lessen the abrasion)

And it gets better as the assembly gets more complicated:


" Inserting the Adjustable Handle into the slot according to the indication in the pic. then put on the bolts, nuts and washers, tighten them to fix the handle and couldn't be moved."

Now the Bag Lady may not be the sharpest bit in the drill, but she likes to think she can read and follow simple directions. If she hadn't burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter every time she turned to a new page, things may have gone together a little more quickly!


She thinks it looks pretty good, but who knows? It may all fall apart when it comes to this:


"Moving the handle and the three holes will affect the stuff volume at the bottom"


The Cowboy won't know for sure if it was put together properly until he tries to use it, but in the meantime, it is a pretty colour!



18 comments:

Leah J. Utas said...

I'm sure you did just fine, and it is a pretty colour.

Meanwhile, would life be half as interesting if we understood all the instructions?

Hilary said...

Oh Baggie, have you never played with Google (or other) text translators? Please excuse the lengthy comment here, but I'm essentially repeating the text portion of your post.. after it's been translated to Chinese and then back to English. Be prepared to snort... (and say "hi" to Denim for me!)


"Travel bag lady mentioned in the previous post, and she spent Sunday cowboy seeder with the grass-roots level. This whole day they spent most of the time, partly because of the written instructions, some people for whom English is a second (or possibly third……) language.

For example:


"When the General Assembly, please respect for a funnel, the funnel group labels should be placed on downward."


Or how this one:


"Let gearbox and axle shaft hole hole on the same level, and then inserted into the safety pin (this password can take time, it did not work in order to reduce wear and tear)

It gets better as the General Assembly has become more complicated:


"Dealt with adjustable insert into slot According to public opinion shows that in the preliminary investigation, and then put on bolts, nuts and washers, set to tighten their handling and could not be moved."

Now his wife may not be the most bags Agile located in the exercise, but she likes to think she can read and follow simple instructions. If she had not burst into uncontrollable fit of laughter, and every time she to a new page, things may have been missing, more fast!


In her view, it looked pretty good, but who knows? In addition it may belong to when it comes to this point:


"Remove the handle and things will affect the volume of three holes in the bottom"


Denim will not truly know, if it is put together properly until he tried to use it, but at the same time, it is a beautiful color!

the Bag Lady said...

Hilary, that's even funnier than it would have been to watch us trying to follow the original directions...

Anonymous said...

Throw away the instructions! Live on the edge! :-)

Missicat

the Bag Lady said...

dfLeah - sorry, got so distracted by Hilary's comment, I forgot to say how interesting my life is because I understand so few of the instructions!

Missicat - throw away the instructions? (gasp!) If the Bag Lady hadn't been there, the Cowboy probably would have thrown away the grass-seeder!!

Scrumpy said...

At least it wasn't from Ikea where they have no actual text and just little pictures. :)

the Bag Lady said...

SB - must be my Swedish heritage, I never have any trouble with the IKEA stuff!! The pictures make sense. With the grass seeder, the pictures weren't any clearer than the written instructions!

Unknown said...

It looks beautiful!

Those kind of instructions drive me nuts. That's why I really really want to get into the editing business... I love love love fixing sentence structures and grammatical errors.

the Bag Lady said...

Thanks, Sagan! I think it looks pretty right now, too! It probably won't look as good after it's been dragged all over the rough ground, spewing grass seed everywhere!

The Bag Lady loves fixing grammatical errors, too, but has had to curb her urges - people just don't seem to appreciate it in conversation....

Sarah said...

Wow, that is too funny!!

Emily said...

How funny! It reminds me of the time I put together a book shelf only to discover (after I screwed it together) I had put the shelves in backwards and the unfinished side was showing. Oops! We're still using it though.

JavaChick said...

Well, at least it was an entertaining experience!

the Bag Lady said...

Sarah - I'm not sure if the Cowboy thought it was all that funny, 'cause it took me so long to interpret the instructions!
Emily - did you take it apart and turn the shelves around?
Javachick - It's probably a good thing we didn't have an audience...not sure it would have been entertaining to watch!! (Well, except for the part where I put the instructions on the floor and stood on my head to try to figure out what they meant...

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Sounds like you'd enjoy this site:

http://www.engrish.com/

the Bag Lady said...

BG - thanks! The Bag Lady is still chuckling!

Reb said...

It was designed in the States, assembled in Mexico and then sent to China where the instructions were written & then translated to English in Bangladesh. Isn't that the common route for most things these days? Or at least something similar? Throw in any mix of counties &/or languages.

It looks real purdy!

the Bag Lady said...

Reb - I think you are right! Or close, anyway!

Emily said...

Negative- we just have it in a room no one goes in (and it's not THAT noticeable. I think. Maybe.)