The Laughing Wolf

The Joys of Machine Translation

Of late, I have been having some correspondence that is going through a computerized translation system. These are good overall, but there are always some areas where they fall down.

The one of late that brings a smile to my face is seeing the line “waiting for your reply with impatience.” In one instance I have little doubt that is the true emotion, but on the others I doubt it. All of which does raise the question in my mind of exactly what word or emotion is being used on the other end. Eagerly? Anxiously? (well, if that is in connotation for finding out about my rates, that could apply) Desire? Interesting.

One of the best machine translations in my book remains some work done with NASDA, the Japanese space agency. Machine translation is good for many things, but can encounter difficulties with technical issues. I loved the reply to a write-up I had done which came back with the phrase “… a microscope named Metallograph.” This had my office mate and I saying almost simultaneously “and his wife, named Metallica.” Of course, what they meant was a metallographic microscope, but it was beyond the capabilities of the program.

This also makes me wonder what my prose looks like on the other end. I can easily imagine someone looking it over, hitting a phrase, and going “What the hell???” Then laughing as they figure out from context what was meant, if not exactly what was said. Then again, I do the same thing some days, wondering just what it was I thought I was writing…

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