World Disasters due to

Miscommunication
 Presentation by
• V Akhil
• Deva Arun N
• Shri Kadhireesh N
• Renu T Rathod
• S. Shanmuga Priya
 Miscommunication

Miscommunication occurs when two

people have a conversation or another
form of communication but come away
with different understandings of what was
said or communicated.
 Where do you find
miscommunication?
Miscommunication is present everywhere in the world.
At -
home
work place
And commercial place.
It mostly happens
due to the differing
perception between
different people.
"It's Greek to me”
 Language barriers
Language barriers occur when a
breakdown in language and
communication happens at either the
sender side or the receiver side of a
message.
 Definition of Language Barriers
Communication
becomes difficult in
situations where
people don't understand
each others' language.
The inability to communicate using a language
is known as language barrier to
communication.
 Causes of Language Barriers
• Difference in Language
• Regional Accents, Dialects and Pidgin
• No Clear Speech
• Use of Jargons and Slang
• Word Choice
• Literacy and Linguistic Ability
• Grammar and Spelling
 Battle
of Jumonville Glen
George Washington
(1732-1799)
 On May 28, 1754, a 22-year-old lieutenant colonel
of the Virginia militia named George Washington
successfully defeats a party of French and Indian
scouts in southwest Pennsylvania.

The action snowballed into a world war and

began the military career of the first American
commander in chief.
The Ohio Valley had long been a
contested territory among French
Canadians, various Indian groups and the
British colonies of Pennsylvania and
Virginia.
• French began to establish fortifications along
the river.
• French refused Virginia's written demand
that they depart Virginia's governor
dispatched Washington to complete and
defend Virginian fort at the forks of Ohio.
•Upon their arrival, Washington discovered that
a scouting party led by the French ensign, Joseph
Coulon de Jumonville was nearby.

•Jumonville was murdered by Washington’s

Indian ally, Tanaghrisson, while the monolingual
Washington struggled to interrogate the French-
speaking Canadian.
Jumonville’s murder in captivity incited a strong
French response.
Washington surrendered on July 4 and signed a
French confession to Jumonville’s assassination,
which he could not read as the surrender
document was written in French.
Wanting an amicable resolution, he pretended he
could read it and signed the treaty.
•Jumonville’s brother had included a statement
to the effect that the British troops had
“assassinated” a French ambassador.
• It was a huge insult to France, and it seemed to
show great hubris on the Americans’ part, since
they had brazenly admitted to the diplomatic
“assassination” in writing.
• The foolish miscommunication started a
global war.
After Washington displayed his incompetence on
the Ohio, the British decided it was time to save
their colonies from themselves and dispatched two
regiments of Redcoats under General Edward
Braddock to America.
Braddock too suffered a humiliating defeat at
the forks of the Ohio.
Since Britain and France were not then at war,
the event had international repercussions, and was
a contributing factor in the start of the Seven Years'
War in 1756.
 Seven Years’ War
Death toll-
– Military: 600,000
– Civilian: 700,000
– Total: 1,300,000
•The war changed economic, political, governmental,
and social relations between Britain, France, and Spain;
their colonies and colonists;
•The American Indians that inhabited the territories
they claimed. France and Britain both suffered
financially because of the war, with significant long-
term consequences.
•The Battle of Trenton took place on the morning of
December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey.

•Washington decided to cross the Delaware and

attack the small town of Trenton.

•But unbeknownst to Washington, his movements

were being watched.
A loyalist farmer had seen the forces marching
towards Trenton and rushed to warn the
Germans.
But when he arrived he found that most of the
garrison were asleep and had left orders not to
be disturbed.

So the farmer scrawled his warning in a note,

which the guards agreed to take to Rall, the in
command of Hessian troops.
Unfortunately for him, Rall, like many of his
troops, could not speak English.
Instead of sending
for a translator right
away, he tucked the
note in his coat and
forgot about it.
The Americans
descended and won a
decisive victory. The
note was found on
Rall’s dead body.
 Rectification of Miscommunication in
Jumonville Glen Battle

• As George Washington didn’t know French he

could have used the help of a translator
before signing the treaty
• The Virginian governor should have issued the
instructions in the treaty after informing
George Washington
 Rectification of Miscommunication in
Jumonville Glen Battle

• George Washington should have investigated

about the assassination of Jumonville
 Rectification of Miscommunication in
Trenton Battle

• The guards should have been taught to

communicate in the local language
• Rall should have called for a translator keeping
in mind that he did not know English and the
message could have been something
important
 FUN FACTS
ON MISCOMMUNICATION
In the early 1980s, computer programmers were
developing some innovative translation software
but came up with some peculiar results:

• From English to Russian, back to English: ‘Out of

sight, out of mind’ ended up: ‘Invisible idiot’.
• From English to Japanese, back to English: ‘To
be or not to be, that is the question’ (from
Hamlet) ended up: ‘It is, it is not, what is it?’
In the 1990s, international marketers had some
monumental cross-cultural miscommunication blunders
concerning brand names and slogans:
• Swedish vacuum-cleaner manufacturer Electrolux used
the following in an American advertising campaign:
‘Nothing sucks like an Electrolux’.
• The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-
kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company did not
discover, until after thousands of signs had been printed,
that the phrase means: ‘Bite the wax tadpole’. Coke then
researched 40,000 Chinese characters and found a close
phonetic equivalent, ‘ko-kou-ko-le,’ which can be loosely
translated as: ‘Happiness in the mouth’.
• Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan:
'Finger-lickin’ good' came out as: 'Eat your fingers
off’.
• In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan:
‘Come alive with the Pepsi Generation’ came out as:
‘Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead’.
• In Italy, Schweppes Tonic Water was wrongly
translated into Schweppes Toilet Water.
• An American t-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts
for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's
visit. Instead of the desired: ‘I Saw the Pope’ in
Spanish, the shirts proclaimed: ‘I Saw the Potato’.
SOME FUNNY PEOPLE IN QUORA