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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / December 2006Ping Victor (or other Spanish-speaking members)
I have to put a sign up in our break room at work asking the cleaning crew (who speak no English) to not open the dish washer or turn off the dishwasher switch. Can you tell me if this is a fair translation (I used the babelfish web site to get this)? English: Please do not open the dishwasher or turn off the right switch above the sink. Spanish: No abra por favor el lavaplatos ni dé vuelta apagado al interruptor derecho sobre el fregadero. Thanks in advance! Hugs, CatNipped > English: > Please do not open the dishwasher or turn off the right switch above the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > No abra por favor el lavaplatos ni dé vuelta apagado al interruptor derecho > sobre el fregadero. I'd say it like this: Por favor no abra el lavaplatos ni apague el interruptor del lado derecho arriba del fregadero. Cheers. Vcitor >> English: >> Please do not open the dishwasher or turn off the right switch above the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >> derecho >> sobre el fregadero. >I'd say it like this: >Por favor no abra el lavaplatos ni apague el interruptor del lado >derecho arriba del fregadero. >Cheers. >Vcitor Thanks Victor! Hugs, CatNipped >> English: >> Please do not open the dishwasher or turn off the right switch above the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Vcitor For the linguistically challenged among us, what's the difference between the two versions as far as meaning? Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha ============ http://www.jhedge.com >>> Spanish: >>> No abra por favor el lavaplatos ni dé vuelta apagado al interruptor derecho [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > For the linguistically challenged among us, what's the difference > between the two versions as far as meaning? I think most native speakers would understand what was meant in the first message, I'm just using better grammar. :)  SignatureVictor M. Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com >>>> Spanish: >>>> No abra por favor el lavaplatos ni dé vuelta apagado al [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > I think most native speakers would understand what was meant in the > first message, I'm just using better grammar. :) LOL Babelfish isn't known for good grammar, is it? Sometimes translations are downright funny! Jill > LOL Babelfish isn't known for good grammar, is it? Sometimes translations > are downright funny! If you really want funny, try translating a sentence from English to Spanish, then copy the result and translate it back to English. Example done at http://www.freetranslation.com : My cat Tommy has stripes on his belly. Mi gato Soldado Raso tiene rayas en el vientre. My cat Flat Soldier has lines in the womb. >> LOL Babelfish isn't known for good grammar, is it? Sometimes >> translations [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > My cat Flat Soldier has lines in the womb. The same example done at http://world.altavista.com/tr which has more to/from language options: My cat Tommy has stripes on his belly. English to Greek: ? ??ta µ?? Tommy ??e? ta ????de? st?? ?????? t??. Greek to French: Ma ga'ta Tommy a les bandes à son ventre French to German: Mein ga' dein Tommy hat die Bänder an seinem Bauch. German to English: Mine ga ' your Tommy has the volumes at its belly. >>> LOL Babelfish isn't known for good grammar, is it? Sometimes >>> translations [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > German to English: > Mine ga ' your Tommy has the volumes at its belly. Hehehe. Glad to see we human translators are not going to be obsolete any time soon. SignatureMarina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki. Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/ Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/ and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki >>>> LOL Babelfish isn't known for good grammar, is it? Sometimes >>>> translations [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] >Hehehe. Glad to see we human translators are not going to be obsolete >any time soon. I can see how the Tommy -> Soldado (soldier) translation happened, given that Tommy used to be a slang term for British soldiers, but why in the world would Tommy translate to Flat Soldier? SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria >>>> My cat Tommy has stripes on his belly. >>>> >>>> Mi gato Soldado Raso tiene rayas en el vientre. >>>> >>>> My cat Flat Soldier has lines in the womb. > I can see how the Tommy -> Soldado (soldier) translation happened, > given that Tommy used to be a slang term for British soldiers, but why > in the world would Tommy translate to Flat Soldier? Interestingly, I went to that same site and put in the same English phrase, selected "English to Spanish" and hit enter, then took the Spanish phrase (which I could tell was correct, based on the amount of Spanish I do know), and translated it back. No flat soldiers or wombs... Joyce > Interestingly, I went to that same site and put in the same English > phrase, selected "English to Spanish" and hit enter, then took the > Spanish phrase (which I could tell was correct, based on the amount > of Spanish I do know), and translated it back. No flat soldiers or > wombs... Try it at www.freetranslation.com not the other. > > Interestingly, I went to that same site and put in the same English > > phrase, selected "English to Spanish" and hit enter, then took the > > Spanish phrase (which I could tell was correct, based on the amount > > of Spanish I do know), and translated it back. No flat soldiers or > > wombs... > Try it at www.freetranslation.com not the other. That was the one I tried it at. But I just did it again, and I got the flat soldier routine this time. Then I tried it with just "Tommy has stripes on his belly" and it left "Tommy" as is. So, why does the word "cat" turn Tommy into a flat soldier? Especially since they do translate the phrase "my cat" into "mi gato"? The mystery continues... Joyce >>>> My cat Tommy has stripes on his belly. >>>> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > given that Tommy used to be a slang term for British soldiers, but why > in the world would Tommy translate to Flat Soldier? "Soldado raso" is basically, enlisted soldier. Raso also means plain, level. SignatureVictor M. Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM) Send your spam here: uce@ftc.gov Email me here: pistorLITTER@BOXaustin.rr.com >>>>> My cat Tommy has stripes on his belly. >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > "Soldado raso" is basically, enlisted soldier. Raso also means plain, > level. Thanks, that was my guess from what little of my Spanish I remember. So ordinary and flat would be "translations". Wish my mind worked on spoken languages. I can read Spanish quite well. Could understand it when I could hear. But could only manage to speak for the true necessities. Jo Jo >>>>> My cat Tommy has stripes on his belly. >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >"Soldado raso" is basically, enlisted soldier. Raso also means plain, level. That would explain it. Evidently, the translation software can translate a single word into a phrase, but not the reverse. I remember coming across "Tommy" or "Tommy Atkins" as a slang term for British soldiers (specifically, enlisted men) in some of Rudyard Kipling's works. Given the rate at which slang changes, I would be quite surprised if it were still current British slang a century later. SignatureJohn F. Eldredge -- john@jfeldredge.com PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu "Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria >>>> LOL Babelfish isn't known for good grammar, is it? Sometimes >>>> translations [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > Hehehe. Glad to see we human translators are not going to be obsolete any > time soon. I remember many years ago, when the art of computer translation was in its infancy, about an experiment where a sentence was translated from English to Russian and then back to English. The original sentence was, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." The re-translated version was, "The vodka is good but the meat is spoiled." Joy > > LOL Babelfish isn't known for good grammar, is it? Sometimes translations > > are downright funny! > If you really want funny, try translating a sentence from English to > Spanish, then copy the result and translate it back to English. > Example done at http://www.freetranslation.com : > My cat Tommy has stripes on his belly. > Mi gato Soldado Raso tiene rayas en el vientre. > My cat Flat Soldier has lines in the womb. They translated a name?? (Not that this is the only problem with that translation.) Language still requires live humans, it would seem - at least for the time being! Joyce |
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