Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The Russian Academy of Sciences Bad Translation Unveils a Mysterious Squirrel Institute.

I saw another funny thing. I found it on the website of the Russian Academy of Sciences, under the Institute of Protein Research. In a category of the ridiculous, it would take the iconic first place.

For some time, the institute's English-version page stated that you were visiting “Squirrel Institute" - poor translation of the word "belka," which was Russian for both a protein and a squirrel. The mistake has been later removed from the website. However, its screenshot still exists here.
Make no mistake, squirrels deserve to be researched. But the Academy members deserve an excessive butt whooping for such a public disgrace. Shame on them! Peter the Great and his "cudgel" pedagogy would come in very handy now.

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