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Country: Germany

8 posts
A white sign against a blue sky with the phrase Mitte is love written in multiple languages including German, English, French, and Arabic.
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Mitte Means Mitte

A campaign poster from Berlin’s Social Democrats renders Mitte in Arabic as المركز (al-markaz, "the center"). While linguistically accurate, it misses the geographic mark: by swapping a proper noun for a literal definition, a famous Berlin district effectively disappears.
Sign reading Vorsicht Hund with a snarling Doberman and Beware of the dog in multiple languages attached to a metal fence
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Ruff Translation

Think that snarling Doberman is scary? Check out the Arabic grammar! We’re breaking down why this German warning sign is barking up the wrong tree with its broken script.
Black banner with beige Arabic script and a German byline, with a right-side male headshot and red play icon.
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Bild’s Broken Arabic

Even with an Arabic expert like Constantin Schreiber featured, Bild.de managed to publish a headline where the letters are disconnected and the reading direction is reversed.
Colorful protest-style poster with a pink silhouette of a woman on a yellow background and bold blue-and-yellow text reading GRUPPEN-VERGEWALTIGER, go home! ALLAH WIRD EUCH RICHTEN, with a line of Arabic-style script along the bottom.
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Right-Wing, Wrong-Way

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) wants "Gang Rapists" to go home, but their Arabic text is walking backwards. A lesson in layout fails from the far-right.
Outdoor digital billboard displaying a close-up of a woman's face with colorful paint smudges around her mouth, including text in a non-Latin script at the top and bottom right, and a QR code in the bottom right corner, set against a partly cloudy sky.
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Ad Experts’ Epic Fail

In a spectacular display of irony, Germany’s ad experts (FAW) published a job ad with completely mangled Arabic text. It's not just a glitch; the same broken image is on their website. It's a "how-not-to" guide from the pros themselves.
Two images of the same yellow and white building with multiple windows and a clear blue sky, each paired with Arabic text; the first highlights the phrase 'أم الغضب' in yellow, and the second highlights 'منطقة الغضب' in yellow.
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Rage Against the Machine

A full-blown machine translation meltdown on the official website of the German city of Erlangen officially rebranded the peaceful town as the new global headquarters for rage - at least, according to its own disastrous Arabic version.
Window glass with the word "karşılama" in Latin script and Arabic script below it, with reflections of pinkish flowers and greenery visible through the glass.
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A Roomy Error

“Reception!” isn’t how you greet guests - but that's what many Arabic signs end up saying. ترحیب isn't a friendly hello; it's the verbal noun for "a welcoming", naming the act itself.
A multilingual sign with the word 'please' in various languages, featuring three red prohibition symbols for no food or drink, no mobile phones, and no flash photography.
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Overdose of ي

Even in a sacred space, we all know that mistakes are possible. In a church in Berlin, it happened to the Arabic language.