Lost in Translation: The “Squeeze Omelette” Hair Curler?!

Hair curling tongs or omelette maker?! Hilarious Temu translation highlights why human expertise is essential!

I wasn’t planning on doing any “translation detective work” on a Tuesday afternoon – but my experience browsing Temu's online store took me down an unexpected rabbit hole, forcing me to put my detective hat on!

After burning myself pretty badly with my otherwise trusty curling tongs, I was in the market for some new hairstyling tools and thought I'd explore Temu, where I'd recently got myself a (surprisingly) decent pair of sandals for less than 10 quid.

A few styling tools caught my eye with their unusual design, and equally unusual product descriptions. One of the tools was called an “Egg Roll Curler”, and another proudly boasting its “Deep U panel, easy to squeeze out fluffy omelets.”

Confusing (and equally amusing) product descriptions on Temu forced me to put on my "translation detective" hat!

Wait… what?!

Naturally, I put on my translator / detective hat.

After a bit of digging (and some guesswork), I realised the original product copy was most likely translated word-for-word from Chinese. “Egg roll” likely comes from 蛋卷 — which can mean egg roll (or "omelette") in a food context, but in the world of hairstyling, 法式蛋卷 (French omelettes) is actually a trendy way to describe a soft, bouncy wave pattern that resembles rolled curls.

"French omelette" curls, apparently a trendy hairstyle in China right now!

And “squeeze out omelets”?

My guess is that it's probably an attempt to describe the motion of the deep U-shaped ceramic panel that creates those waves… not "omelettes" of the edible variety.

Mystery solved.

Did I end up getting myself some "egg roll curlers"?

Not this time!

Takeaway

As a language enthusiast and professional translator, I love stumbling across little puzzles like this. It’s the kind of amusing yet culturally charged challenges that keeps my work endlessly interesting.

But it’s also a reminder:

• If you’re a vendor trying to sell globally, do NOT rely on literal translation (or unedited machine translation!)

• A properly localised product description could be the difference between confusion and conversion.

Want your product copy to actually connect with your target market?

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