'Loses something in translation'

zoidberg

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 Nov 2016
Messages
7,015
Visit site
The Nodusfactory ads for sailboat gear are 'interesting', to say the least...

Pad-Line® is an innovative fabric gallop with adjustable top length that enables you to easily strap tops and burns.
Available in screw or glue versions
 
Wow! I correct academic documents written in English by researchers whose first language isn't English, so I've seen some pretty wild stuff at times - but never anything as opaque as that! Does anyone have any idea what they meant to say?
There's a whole bundle of them showing up in the Facebook 'Shorts'. All those I've seen have something similar.... as if they'd used a primitive Large Language Model AI to churn out mis-translations in several languages.

I'm reminded of Officer Crabtree in 'Allo 'Allo....
 
What do you call a man who speaks 3 languages. Trilingual

What do you call a man who speaks 2 languages. Bilingual

What do you call a man who speaks 1 language. An Englishman



Recounted by a young Asian, from HK, who was fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, French and German and was Technical Manager employed by a German pharmaceutical company

Jonathan
 
There's a whole bundle of them showing up in the Facebook 'Shorts'. All those I've seen have something similar.... as if they'd used a primitive Large Language Model AI to churn out mis-translations in several languages.

I'm reminded of Officer Crabtree in 'Allo 'Allo....
Especially odd given I had a very long chat with Nodus at Mets, and their English was probably better than mine.
 
What do you call a man who speaks 3 languages. Trilingual

What do you call a man who speaks 2 languages. Bilingual

What do you call a man who speaks 1 language. An Englishman



Recounted by a young Asian, from HK, who was fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, French and German and was Technical Manager employed by a German pharmaceutical company

Jonathan
Several of my younger relatives are multilingual; it goes with the territory for Hong Kongers. The older generation (i.e. my generation) tend to be bilingual. The official languages are Cantonese, Mandarin and English; there was a period, now past, when Mandarin was compulsory in schools, but there was so much resistance that it was dropped. But it's still a usual skill. Mandarin and Cantonese are NOT mutually comprehensible; the similarities are roughly comparable to those between Dutch and German. The most impressive has German, Cantonese, Mandarin and English (at least) - she may have Japanese as well. And she can switch languages almost mid-sentence. Makes my English, schoolboy French, a bit of Latin and Classical Greek (the latter three are NOT coversational; French could be with practice, as it once was!) look a bit thin.
 
Several of my younger relatives are multilingual; it goes with the territory for Hong Kongers. The older generation (i.e. my generation) tend to be bilingual. The official languages are Cantonese, Mandarin and English; there was a period, now past, when Mandarin was compulsory in schools, but there was so much resistance that it was dropped. But it's still a usual skill. Mandarin and Cantonese are NOT mutually comprehensible; the similarities are roughly comparable to those between Dutch and German. The most impressive has German, Cantonese, Mandarin and English (at least) - she may have Japanese as well. And she can switch languages almost mid-sentence. Makes my English, schoolboy French, a bit of Latin and Classical Greek (the latter three are NOT coversational; French could be with practice, as it once was!) look a bit thin.

Come over here and you can have two people talking to each other .... one speaking Latvian - other speaking Russian ... the two languages are really different .. but they chat away !
 
What do you call a man who speaks 3 languages. Trilingual

What do you call a man who speaks 2 languages. Bilingual

What do you call a man who speaks 1 language. An Englishman



Recounted by a young Asian, from HK, who was fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, French and German and was Technical Manager employed by a German pharmaceutical company

Jonathan
Correction. "A man who speaks 1 language" is American. We do have a variety of dialects, some or which are challenging.

In fact, like Antartic Pilot, I got started writing by correcting both engineering and corporate division documents in the wake of a European merger. I was not tasked with this, it was just necessary for my reports to read them! I spoke the mother tongue of the European company badly, but well enough to understand the errors in idiom. Honestly, I didn't mind, because they were doing their best to speak a second language.

But yeah, some of the on-line translators are fun to watch.
 
Here's one I tripped over earlier....

The Open Block Violin Textile-Hook® 2/1, TH-V & TH-V I-Tech®, is the lightest and most powerful shot control solution on the market.
The open hooker ring in combination with a low-friction FrD ring can be easily positioned on the ditch and allows for a 2/1 bottle train.
For dynamic use, use the open I-Tech® rings.
 
Correction. "A man who speaks 1 language" is American. We do have a variety of dialects, some or which are challenging.
I find the Clydeside accent "challenging", especially when trying to talk to someone who's working out on a pontoon with a dodgy mobile connection! And true Geordie is almost a foreign language, but thankfully confined to a very small region. Northumbrian is fine (my dad was from Northumberland, but didn't speak with that accent - but he sang all the old folk songs), but there's a vast difference between Northumbrian and Geordie; my dad steadfastly denied being Geordie, despite coming from a place only a few miles from Newcastle.
 
We were in Greenock and booked into the Holiday Inn. Josephine went to check in I looked at the local tourist leaflets to try to find somewhere to eat (I was unsuccessful). Josephine interrupted my search almost in tears saying she could not understand a word except that a nearby Indian Restaurant was offering free meals. I knew, cannot imagine how, she had misunderstood smomething. I went and completed check in to turn round to find Josephine standing in open mouth amazement that I was able to understand the young lady and reply with the same, Glaswegian, accent. Later I held a long conversation with a Geology student, another your lady, at Fossil Grove who had done the same Geology course as me. Later still I was challenged by a rather rotund female security guard and my linguistic skills became mixed (I never worked out what I had said) when she accused me of trying to bribe her such that I could gain access to the docks (it amazing where anchors can take you). and the Waverly.

I was brought up east of Stirling but spent a happy time at Glasgow University then worked at John G Stein Head Office at Castlecary.

I can break into Glaswegian at the drop of a hat (or a telephone call from one of my sisters). My 'daily' accent is not strong, but detectable - when I'm queried simply say that like many Scots I'm well educated and that the broad accent is simply a caricature, think Porridge.

When criticised for my lack of understanding or either Cantonese or Mandarin I have to remind the interlocutor I had certificated access to a sleeping dictionary. :)

Jonathan
 
Top