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‘My hovercraft is full of eels’ in 76 languages

Just farewelled stepson on a school Classics trip to Greece and Italy.

Add in the Vatican City and the stopover in Thailand and by the end of the trip his list of countries visited will stand at 11.

At his age (16) I had yet to embark on my first overseas flight – a  hockey trip to Christchurch. My first real overseas trip came at 21.

It’s a very different world from the 1970s, and a grasp of foreign phrases has never been more vital.

Here is one of the most vital, translated into every language the intrepid young traveller is likely to encounter.

(Like the overgrown child I am, I still can’t help but chuckle at the Cebuano, Thai and Tagalog words for hovercraft)…

Afrikaans  My skeertuig is vol palings.
Albanian  Hoverkrafti im është plot me ngjala.
Arabic  Hawwāmtī mumtil’ah bi’anqalaysūn.
Armenian (Eastern)  Im odatirry li e odzadz.kerov.
Aromanian  Pãmporea-a mea-i ãmplinã di uhelji.
Azerbaijani  Hoverkraftimin içi ilan balıǧı ilə doludur.
Basque  Nire aerolabangailua aingirez beteta dago.
Belarusian  Moj pavetrany čoven pouny vugramі.
Bhojpuri  Hamar mandaraye wali jahaj sarpminan se bharal ha.
Breton  Leun gant sili eo ma aeroglisseur.
Bulgarian  Korabãt mi na v’zdyšna vãzglavnica e pãlen sãs zmiorki.
Catalan  El meu aerolliscador està ple d’anguiles.
Cebuano  Puno ug kasili ang akong hoberkrap.
Chinese (Cantonese)  Ngóh jek heidínsyùhn jòngmúhnsaai síhn.
Chinese (Mandarin)  Wǒ de qìdiànchuán chōngmǎn le shànyú.
Croatian/Serbian  Moja lebdilica je puna jegulja.
Czech  Moje vznášedlo je plné úhořů.
Danish  Mit luftpudefartøj er fyldt med ål.
Dutch  Mijn luchtkussenboot zit vol paling.
English  My hovercraft is full of eels.
Estonian  Mu hõljuk on angerjaid täis.
Faroese  Luftpútufar mítt er (skít)fult í álli.
Finnish  Ilmatyynyalukseni on täynnä ankeriaita.
French  Mon aéroglisseur est plein d’anguilles.
Frisian (Northern)  Min luftdümpetbüüdj as ful ma äil.
Galician  O meu aerodeslizador esta cheo de anguías.
German  Mein Luftkissenfahrzeug ist voller Aale. 
German (Swiss)  Mis Luftchüssiboot isch volle Aal.
Greek (Modern)  To hóverkráft mu íne gemáto hélia.
Hebrew  Harahefet sh’eli mele’ah betzlofahim.
Hindi  Merī ṃḍarāne vālī nāv sarpamīnoṁ se bharī hai.
Hungarian  A légpárnás hajóm tele van angolnákkal.
Icelandic  Svifnökkvinn minn er fullur af álum.
Indonesian  Hovercraft saya penuh dengan belut.
Inuktitut  Umiaryuap Publimaaqpaga tattaurniq ammayaq.
Irish (Gaelic)  Tá m’árthach foluaineach lán d’eascainn.
Italian  Il mio aeroscivolante è pieno di anguille.
Japanese  Watashi no hobākurafuto wa unagi de ippai desu.
Korean  Nae hoebuhkeurapeuteuneun changuhro kadeuk cha isseyo.
Latin  Mea navis aëricumbens anguillis abundat.
Latvian  Mans gliseris ir pilns ar zušiem.
Lithuanian  Mano laivas su oro pagalve pilnas ungurių.
Luxembourgish  Mäi Loftkësseboot ass voller Éilen. 
Macedonian  Moeto letačko vozilo e polno so jaguli.
Manx  Ta my haagh crowal lane dy astan.
Māori  Kī tōnu taku waka topaki i te tuna.
Malay  Hoverkraf saya penuh dengan belut.
Malayalam  Ente prrakkum-paetakam niraye vlankukalanu.
Maltese  Il-hovercraft tiegħi hu mimli sallur.
Marathi  Majhī hoḍi māsaḷyaṅni bharlī āhe. 
Norwegian  Luftputefartøyet mitt er fullt av ål.
Occitan  Mon aerolisador es plen d’anguilas.
Persian  Havercrafte man pore mārmāhi ast.
Polish  Mój poduszkowiec jest pełen węgorzy.
Portuguese  Meu hovercraft está cheio de enguias.
Romanian  Vehicolul meu pe pernă de aer e plin cu ţipari.
Russian  Moio sudno na vozdušnoy poduške polno ugrey.
Scottish Gaelic  Tha mo bhàta-foluaimein loma-làn easgannan.
Shona  Hovercraft yangu yakazara nemikunga.
Slovak  Moje vznášadlo je plné úhorov.
Slovenian  Moje vozilo na zračni blazini je polno jegulj.
Spanish  Mi aerodeslizador está lleno de anguilas.
Swahili  Gari langu linaloangama limejaa na mikunga.
Swedish  Min svävare är full med ål.
Tagalog  Puno ng palos ang aking hoberkrap.
Tamil  En kappal muzhuvadhum meengal.
Telugu  Naa hoavarkraapht aṅthaa eelu chaepalathoa niṅdipoayiṅdhi.
Thai  Hō woe khrāp kong phom tem pai duay pla lha.
Tok Pisin  Bilong me hangamapim bot stap pulap maleo.
Turkish  Hoverkraftımın içi yılan balığı dolu.
Ukrainian  Moje sudno na povitrianij podušci napovnene vuhrami.
Vietnamese  Tàu cánh ngầm của tôi đầy lươn.
Welsh  Mae fy hofrenfad yn llawn llyswennod.
Yiddish  Mayn prom (shveb-shif) iz ful mit veners.
Yorùbá  Ọkọ afategun-sare mi kun fun ẹja arọ.
Zulu  Umkhumbi wami u’cwele hinoka za’semanzini.

Thanks to Omniglot for this linguistic treasure. For even more languages, including Klingon, go here.

5 thoughts on “‘My hovercraft is full of eels’ in 76 languages

  1. Alas, this is beyond my sphere of competence — though I believe the Fijian word for eel (long slippery creature given to wriggling) is Bainimarama.

  2. Bless you!! Laughed out loud so hard! Love your intro, too! I do relate! Asante!

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