As a bit of a numbers and statistics nerd, one of the things I enjoy most about blogging is tracking where our incoming traffic originates. It’s fascinating to see which sites link to us, and discovering new blogs to follow is an added bonus. Recently we noticed a couple of incoming links from sites written entirely in Greek, and while I can recognize the Greek alphabet (a vestige of my fraternity days), reading full posts in Greek is beyond me. With a little help from Twitter followers, we plugged those URLs into Google Translate to find out what was being said. The results were not only informative but downright hilarious.
Luckily, the translations made it clear the posts were meant kindly, which was a relief. But Google’s literal and sometimes awkward translations turned flattering passages into comic gems. In several cases the translations were simply inaccurate and produced entertaining nonsense, which made us laugh rather than worry.
One of the blogs we found, according to Google Translate, described us like this: “the Sherry and John loved passionately, and went and found an old house amid nature.” That romantic interpretation reads more like a passage from a novel than a home and design blog. Despite our efforts to keep the tone light and family-friendly, machine translation briefly recast us as a lovelorn couple on a pastoral adventure.
At another point, Google Translate produced an even more bizarre result, suggesting we were part of an incomprehensible medical drama: “The spitoskylo apologize for diabetic shock may be caused by Glykeria this spectacle.” We certainly hope our site isn’t actually causing diabetic shock across the Mediterranean. If it were, someone would likely let us know. In any case, the spitoskylo does offer a sincere apology—however odd the reason.
A second Greek site mentioned us the following day, and its translated opening was flattering: “When a couple has humor, fun, style and love of decoration…” But Google’s translation then continued with an unfortunate twist: “…then the result can not be positive.” That abrupt negative verdict left us baffled—where could humor, fun, style, and a passion for décor possibly lead to anything but positive results? Apparently, at least in this early translation, our efforts were destined for a poor outcome.
The same post referenced our “Terrible Do It Yourself” projects. To double-check, we experimented with a different translator and found the wording shifted to “horribly,” which somehow raised the stakes. Fortunately, the article later praised our posts as “intelligent, entertaining and comprehensive,” and even called the blog a “blog-haven for Do it yourself’ers!” That made us feel much better—clearly the overall intent was positive, despite the translation quirks.
All of this reinforced a simple lesson: a lot can be lost in translation, especially when relying on automated tools. What began as a straightforward mention turned into a parade of charming mistranslations that provided a good laugh. We’re grateful for the kind coverage from both blogs and amused by Google’s best attempts at converting Greek into English.
If you’ve ever experienced similar translation-related comedy—whether from machine translation, awkward phrasing, or cultural misunderstandings—we’d love to hear your stories. Share a memorable example of when language differences led to something unintentionally funny. Just please tell it in English, or we’ll have to let Google Translate take another shot at it.
PS: If you want to view the original Greek posts, they are available on the respective blogs, and there are automatic translation options if you want to see Google’s interpretations. We truly appreciate both blogs for their thoughtful write-ups and enjoyed the laughs their translations provided.