I have a word problem. I really, really like words. A lot.
It should come as a surprise to nobody that on my trip to the Balkans I took pictures of words to look up later.
Nor should it come as a surprise that I can spend hours playing with Google Translate.
Forget squirrels or shiny things — these are the rabbit trails I follow for amusement.
For instance, this photograph was taken of the tray back on my Croatian Air flight.
I recognized molimo vas from the language app I used before the trip. It means please. However, I wanted to figure out the rest of the words even though the translation was right below it.
Vežite se dok sjedite means Sit while you are sitting. (Google Translate: Croatian to English) But vežite, by itself, get translated tie. Perhaps the literal translation is something about tying yourself in your seat?
The one time I was brave enough to use Croatian was in the Franciscan monastery in the Old City Dubrovnik. “Dvije,” I said to the man at the ticket table, indicating that I wanted two tickets.
“For that you get in free,” he said, in perfect English. He was delighted that I attempted Croatian.
Inside, we visited a beautiful garden and an art gallery. A war scar was framed on the wall.
Udar granate means A missile shot according to the sign below. Google Translate (GT) says it means grenade attack. Close, I guess, but different.
This one is a mystery.
GT translates ĆIVU FRANA CUNDULIĆA NAROD means THE LIVING OF FRANCA CUNDULIĆA NAROD so maybe it’s a person’s name.
But if I drop the capitalization, the same words mean a living shroud of crowds of people.
If I drop the “narod” because it’s on a separate line, and just look at the first line in all small letters, it means (according to GT) some cranium brake or the black break crank.
I kind of thought our guide said it was a music hall, but who knows?
I used the public restroom at The Tunnel of Hope Museum outside Sarajevo. There I encountered my first squatty potty. It caught me by surprise, especially when my phone fell out of my pocket. Ew. Thank goodness it didn’t fall in. I took a picture of the toilet itself to show my children, and then this one of the sign on the tank to see how it translated out.
Molimo ne bacajte papir u wc šolju, već u kantu za smeće translates to Please do not throw paper in the toilet, already in a garbage can (GT: Bosnian to English) Not bad, really.
Last, a tee shirt.
I have no idea what the guy thought when I snapped this picture. This was after the soccer game (fudbalski) — and it looked like one of those “I’m with Stupid” shirts.
GT defaulted to German for Er heiratet, translating them he marries.
We were in Bosnia at the time, so I tried to force a Bosnian translation — but GT said it meant Er hieratet.
The other team was from Croatia, so I checked the Croatian translation, and GT said, That’s a heir. I thought GT would know that it should be an, not a. But I’ll forgive GT because the words were, after all, German.
GT couldn’t translate Wir sind nur sum saufen hier from Bosnian or Croatian. In German, however, the words meant we’re just drinking here.
A groomsmen shirt. Wedding humor.
When words are playthings, and Google Translate is available, fun is all around. I found that on my trip.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
das hat Spaß gemacht ohne Nebenwirkung.
Haha
haha!!!!! bing übersetze wäre schon besser ,.,(*L*)
I didn’t know there was such a thing. I’ll have to check it out. 🙂
Nice! From you, sally I missed yesterday’s answer
In any modern mobile phone you can download an apps from bing or other program they are also helpful at product compare and much more I reckon before you what of apps useful any of us can use on travel.
I wish you and serve family all the best and good times. Great greetings
So true! Using google translate to communicate something sometimes feels like mission impossible.
We photograph signs a lot while traveling and translate after we get home; it helps in understanding and describing what we saw.
I’m glad to know that I’m not the only sign photographer! It does help a lot in remembering.
You just described my life ….
Interesting pass-time… though I do not speak a language other than English, I LOVE listening to other languages being spoken and have found it interesting on a few points in try to hear what they are saying with the few clues I might have! GT sounds like a great item to begin to play with!! Especially on the kind of trips YOU have been taking Dear One!! Enjoy!
I bet you come across some interesting signs. I grew up speaking and reading English and Spanish at the same time. Often, I come across a sign translated to Spanish and have to laugh at how using even one wrong tense can change the entire meaning. 😉
What a t-shirt!
I know, right?
Hello! I too share your love of words–in many languages! I particularly enjoyed your story about using Croatian to earn free tickets 🙂 (Although I suppose it wasn’t “using” per se, since you didn’t know that would be the result…but still) There is more than one reason to learn a new language.