Thread: If you're visiting "Meerkovo", please drive carefully, and beware of Google Translate

For those who don't know, "compare the meerkat" is a series of adverts shown in the UK (and possibly elsewhere?) which features a talking meerkat called "Aleksandr Orlov".



The latest one introduces the home of the meerkats, "Meerkovo" which is suffering economically due to misdirected traffic from comparethemarket.com...



...notice anything strange at around 0:08 in the video?

Here's a hint:
Google Translate

Could be an in-joke, but I think more likely they couldn't be bothered to hire a proper translator

I doubt it's a joke, looks like they just used Google for translation.

Well either way at least it's a recognisable and readable Russian word. Normally they just seem to pick out the most foreign-looking letters and string them together. Like in The Wire YouTube - The Wire Season Two Titles (Tom Waits)



I've always wondered though, is the s in simples supposed to be a словоерс, like "simple-s"??

Originally Posted by Paperplane

Well either way at least it's a recognisable and readable Russian word. Normally they just seem to pick out the most foreign-looking letters and string them together. Like in The Wire [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipaV4k2n__I"]YouTube - The

Yeah, i remember same thing in 'Bourne identity' when the spy had a lot of passports, and there was a Russian passport among them with string of letters , something like ШЩПР for the name Foma. The choice of name Foma was also very strange , as this name was popular in Russia maybe in 17th or 18th century, today the chance that you will meet this name in Russia is 0,001 %, strange that a spy should have such a name.

Then of course you sometimes get faux-Cyrillic designed to be readable by English speakers...

ЩЕLCФМЭ ТФ ЯЦSSIД

But at least faux-Russian designed to look "more-Russian-than-Russian" and faux-Russian designed to look more English are designed that way with a specific purpose. Whereas running some text through Google translate - well, that's just lazy.

Some should remember this:

What is that?