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Slartibartfast View Drop Down
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Points: 29630 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Babel Fish
    Posted: March 07 2007 at 19:01
I was just reading a review by a French guy apolgizing for his spelling. 
 
For all you folks out there who don't speak/write English as your first language or aren't as fluent as you'd like to be there's a web site that provides instant free translations.
 
 
Curious if anyone had tried it out who is multilingual and how well it actuallys works.
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Points: 11746 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 19:04
Babel Fish is actually hilarious. I used that a lot when I was bored and I wanted a have a great laugh.

The translations are often really bad.

RIP in bossa nova heaven.
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Points: 21342 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 19:06
Originally posted by Bern Bern wrote:

Babel Fish is actually hilarious. I used that a lot when I was bored and I wanted a have a great laugh.

The translations are often really bad.

Most online translators are pretty bad because they can't decipher idioms or expressions terribly well.
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Points: 4625 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 19:55
I guess it depends on how bad your English is.
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Points: 721 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 20:02
Babel Fish is a good tool for translating single words, but when you try to translate an entire sentence or more, the results usually don't make a whole lot of sense.
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Points: 1170 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 20:41
I use it for Engrish (translating lyrics or dialogue into Japanese and then back into English). This is what it did to the lyrics of "Watcher of the Skies":

"Keeper and all keepers of sky. _ this as for independently world be be world he. He who life already cannot to surprise looks at the unknown of the eye planet of the prisoner. The earth of this planet shape you attached any creative things. Now rule must come ending. Has life destroyed life for the second time directly? As for those, from the game of the infancy period which has been known many you play at the other place?"
http://www.last.fm/user/Avantgardian
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Points: 29630 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 21:16
Originally posted by Avantgardehead Avantgardehead wrote:

I use it for Engrish (translating lyrics or dialogue into Japanese and then back into English). This is what it did to the lyrics of "Watcher of the Skies":

"Keeper and all keepers of sky. _ this as for independently world be be world he. He who life already cannot to surprise looks at the unknown of the eye planet of the prisoner. The earth of this planet shape you attached any creative things. Now rule must come ending. Has life destroyed life for the second time directly? As for those, from the game of the infancy period which has been known many you play at the other place?"
 
I was thinking about trying a double translation thing myself.  I've read some funny one way translations by real people from Chinese into English before.LOL
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Points: 5109 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 21:41
If you want to see why not to use this, try reading some of Mandrakeroot's older reviews.
a.k.a. H.T.

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Points: 46843 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 21:44
Originally posted by bhikkhu bhikkhu wrote:

If you want to see why not to use this, try reading some of Mandrakeroot's older reviews.


LOL
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Points: 15585 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2007 at 04:32
The reviews guidelines specifically recommend not using on-line translators, for the reasons already mentioned.
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Points: 24439 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2007 at 05:07
Being a linguist by background, I see online translators more or less as the devil incarnate. To everyone who wants to have a laugh and at the same time see why such things should NEVER be used even on pain of death, I recommend reading Umberto Eco's 2003 book on translation (which  I suppose has been translated in English too), by the title of "Dire quasi la stessa cosa" (Saying almost the same thing). The chapter on Babelfish and its ilk features a totally hilarious experiment done with the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. Just to give you an example of what can happen, when translating the English version into Spanish, the expression "the spirit of God" becomes "el alcool de Dios".LOL
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Points: 15585 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 08 2007 at 09:37
In whisky we trust!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2007 at 19:46
Originally posted by Easy Livin Easy Livin wrote:

In whisky we trust!

Mind you, if the site is named after something in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker trilogy (or is cinquilogy), that probably explains the translations that come out Wink
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Points: 6419 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2007 at 19:56
Originally posted by Bern Bern wrote:

Babel Fish is actually hilarious. I used that a lot when I was bored and I wanted a have a great laugh.

The translations are often really bad.
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Points: 13244 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 16 2007 at 20:11
If this makes sense in English, Babelfish is brilliant. If not - don't use it:

the fish is paid duration

(For the Dutch among us - you'll know what this is supposed to read...)
ISKC Rock Radio
I stopped blogging and reviewing - so won't be handling requests. Promo's for ariplay can be sent to [email protected]
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