A Delhi engineer's conversation with a cab driver has left the internet in splits after a translation issue led to a misunderstanding about life and death.
A Delhi engineer's conversation with a cab driver has left the internet in splits after a translation issue led to a misunderstanding about life and death. Arnav Gupta, an engineer, shared on social media how he had kept his Uber driver waiting for just a couple of minutes while stepping out of his home. Moments later, a notification popped up on his phone that shocked him to the core.
The message, translated into English, read, “I am facing the threat of murder.”
A stunned Gupta wrote, “A chill ran down my spine. It is Delhi after all. Anything can happen. Is he threatening to murder me because I made him wait and mistyped it? Are people on the street threatening to murder him because he is blocking the road? All sorts of thoughts raced through my head."
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Gupta, with thoughts still running into his mind, decided to dig deeper. A quick check of the original message led to a hilarious twist.
“I saw it was a message translated by Google. I clicked ‘see original’ as at least 15 different possible translations roamed around my head. And then I heaved the biggest sigh of relief in a long, long time. He was in front of Mother Dairy,” he wrote.
The driver wasn’t in danger, he was simply updating his location. A harmless text blown into a virtual SOS due to a Google Translate misfire.
Internet in Splits
Gupta’s thread triggered reactions, laughter across social media. Curious users questioned how such a translation popped up in the first place. One asked, “Wouldn't you get the notification of the untranslated message first?”
Gupta clarified, “I think because it is a UK account, it shows notification of the English translated message.”
“I was ready to read a good 5-minute thriller story, but ye toh shuru hote hi khatam hogaya,” cracked one user.
Another wrote, “What a plot twist, I did not see that coming at all."
Someone else added, “It was worth opening the thread.”
