Norway’s Olympic team given 15,000 eggs due to translation error
Chefs used Google Translate to place order with South Korean suppliers at Winter Olympics

Omelette, anyone? A Google translation error meant that Norway’s PyeongChang 2018 squad were presented with 15,000 eggs upon their arrival in the Olympic village - 13,500 more than they wanted.
Chefs in charge of catering for the 109 Norwegian athletes taking part in the winter games had ordered 1,500 eggs for a team menu which includes “omelettes, boiled eggs, fried eggs, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs,” team chef Stale Johansen told Aftenposten.
Johansen recalled the moment the delivery van arrived and the team began to unload pallet after pallet of eggs. “It seemed endless,” he said. “It was extraordinary.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, the team had used Google Translate to place the order with the South Korean supplier, who was apparently led to believe the team needed ten times more eggs that they actually wanted.
The Guardian suggests that the miscommunication could be a result of South Korea’s “complex counting system”. The way that numbers are written means that “changing one syllable would mean the difference between 1,500 and 15,000”.
Fortunately for any Norwegian athletes dreading three weeks of frittata suppers, the supplier allowed Team Norway to send back the 13,500 surplus eggs when chefs explained the mistake.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Amazon's 'James Bond' deal could mean a new future for 007
In the Spotlight The franchise was previously owned by the Broccoli family
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Why are Republicans suddenly panicking about DOGE?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Trump and Musk take a chainsaw to the federal government, a growing number of Republicans worry that the massive cuts are hitting a little too close to home
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What is JD Vance's Net Worth?
In Depth The vice president is rich, but not nearly as wealthy as his boss and many of his boss' appointees
By David Faris Published
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published