Pedro Carolino

Pedro Carolino is remembered for O Novo Guia da Conversação em Portuguez e Inglez (later widely known as English as She Is Spoke), a Portuguese–English phrasebook first published in the 1850s. The book was intended as a practical guide, but its English is so awkward and mistranslated that it became famous for unintentional humor.

Some editions also credit José da Fonseca, and modern accounts often note that Carolino himself may not have known English well, apparently relying heavily on dictionaries and earlier source material. That unusual history is a big part of why the book survived: what began as a language manual turned into a literary curiosity admired by readers including Mark Twain.

Very little reliable biographical information about Carolino is easy to confirm today, which gives him a somewhat mysterious reputation. Even so, his name remains closely tied to one of the oddest and most entertaining mishaps in translation history.