Friday, October 05, 2007

Purpose of a translation

If you have boarded a flight from Chennai's Anna International Airport and you can read Tamil, you might have noticed a sign "மெய்ப்புல அறைகூவலர்". Ever wondered what it could be?

If you can read English, then you can make sense of what this means - yes - it is "Physically Challenged". I can't imagine who can come with such a dumb translation - that too from English to Tamil in Tamil Nadu.

A physically challenged person who knows only Tamil has no use of such a sign board in Tamil.

Earlier Posts