In the middle of the 19th century Pedro Carolino wrote a small Portuguese-to-English phrasebook titled English as She Is Spoke (or O novo guia da conversação em portuguez e ingle). Most authors of such phrasebooks have more than a rudimentary knowledge of the language they are translating but Carolino didn't let his unfamiliarity with the English tongue stop him. His ineptitude is hilarious and his little book became a cult classic for fans of unintentional humour.
Mark Twain in his introduction for the first English edition said “Nobody can add to the absurdity of this book, nobody can imitate it successfully, nobody can hope to produce its fellow; it is perfect.”
View the book at Public Domain Review
Read more at Atlas Obscura
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