Or not, as the case may be! Having had a visit from DorisFM in Mexico I visited her blog and put some of the Spanish through the Google translator. To test the messages I was writing in Spanish on her blog I put the English in to translate to Spanish and then back to English to check. Laughable.
I've used this free service before - and it is good at identifying at least a few words but it may not give you the right meaning or context. It was fun to use it again. So I tried some silly stuff.... translated the first paragraph of my last post:
Oh dear, what has Cheryl unleashed with the story of her First Kiss. From the other First Kiss stories they seem so sweet and innocent..... and young!
from French to German to English comes out as:
Oh expensive, which has Cheryl, which was released with the history of its first kiss. Another first history meringue they seem so tender and innocent..... and of the young people!
that is quite delightful. So here goes another:
My hormones and whatever else were in a tizz. I wore tight red slightly waxed pedal-pushers and probably looked quite hot. Me, all innocent as the day, was exploding from within. By this time the fireworks were all over the place between us.
From English to Portugese and back to English comes out as:
Mine hormones and what others were in one tizz. I slightly consumed pressed waxed pedal-pushers of the red and looked at probably completely hot. I, all innocent as the day, he was blowing up of inside. For this time fireworks was all on the place between us.
Added 24 Oct:
Thank you to Universal Soldier for his link to Poetry in Translation which he put into the comments. It automatically translate sentences from English to German, then to French and then back to German and back to English. It's a surprise that anything remains!
BTW - do we think that George W got to it first? He really said this and I haven't messed around with it:
"I was going to say he's a piece of work, but that might not translate too well. Is that all right, if I call you a 'piece of work'?" George W. Bush to Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2005 [from Bushisms]
But in the end, Bush' comments couldn't be any funnier as they are, so Tony Blair gets the treatment: [from Tony Blair Quotes]
The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.
becomes:
The art of control does not say No. It is necessary to say yes very simply.
Wonderfully Tony Blair also says:
You only require two things in life: your sanity and your wife.
becomes:
They require only two things in the life: Your Sanity and your wife.
Original Comments:
Lovely! That cheered me up no end! Have you ever tried voice recognition software? I found that it didn't understand my accent at all and produced some interesting stuff!
Sunday, October 23, 2005 3:27:00 PM
He was blowing up of inside?
Perfect!
Thanks for a loud chuckle. The family thinks I'm deranged, again, and this time its all your fault..........
:-D
Sunday, October 23, 2005 3:36:00 PM
This is very funny!
(I've read about you on mexican Doris' blog!! ;-) )
Sunday, October 23, 2005 10:27:00 PM
Hey, balzaquiana is here!
And, Doris, I'm the real Doris, this is my name ;)
Monday, October 24, 2005 5:17:00 AM
Ha ha. For more fun with Google translator you can try this link it out - it translates a phrase between 3 different languages and then back to English for you:
http://douweosinga.com/projects/poetryintranslation
Monday, October 24, 2005 8:40:00 AM
I've done this before with poetry - The results are so funny, I'm suprised a game hasn't been invented yet....
Monday, October 24, 2005 3:49:00 PM
I usually use Babelfish for translation. It's produced by Altavista who used to be a leading search engine but I've no clue what they do these days. The name comes from Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy of BBC radio, 5-book trilogy, and movie fame (in chronological order).
I haven't done serial translations with it lately, but it was quite helpful when I had to read an astronomy paper that was written in French. Did I mention that I don't speak French and can barely read their subway signs? But between my Latin, the fact that much of it's in "astronomy" not French, and hints from Babelfish, I was able to puzzle it out. It was fun. :)
Tuesday, November 01, 2005 5:48:00 AM