Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
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You can't always trust the translator
- Thread starter Brooklands
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Dave - that is hysterical. Thanks for posting.
I often wonder if there are often dubious translation results, especially with "live on the spot" translating.
Input to English/Chinese translator computer:
"Out of sight, out of mind."
Output: ēäøč§ēē½ē“
As a test, input the Chinese into a Chinese/English translator computer:
Output: "invisible idiot".
I often wonder if there are often dubious translation results, especially with "live on the spot" translating.
Input to English/Chinese translator computer:
"Out of sight, out of mind."
Output: ēäøč§ēē½ē“
As a test, input the Chinese into a Chinese/English translator computer:
Output: "invisible idiot".
sparkydave
Jedi Knight
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It's fun trying to read technical manuals that were translated. I work on embedded systems, and when trying to debug a problem I was having with a microcontroller, I realized that when the manual was saying "the data in this section of memory can be changed while this operation is performed" was intended to mean "the data in this section of memory WILL BE REWRITTEN AND SCREWED UP WHETHER YOU WANT IT TO OR NOT while this operation is performed". So that's why I spent a couple days trying to figure out why it wasn't working.
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This a quote from another forum - a fellow trying to recommission a CNC machine:
"When I first got this up and running, there was a reoccurring error code along the lines of ā plate filter blockedā. It was accompanied by a very irritating beeper that would go off. The only way to silence the beeper was to hit reset. All fine and well, but if you do that whilst itās running, it stops the programme too
. I had work to get done. Beeper silenced with insulation tape....Still bloody irritating...so it got temporarily disconnected.
My initial thoughts were what is a plate filter? I surmised that given the fact the translation had been done by somebody who was a speaker of at least two, non native tongue languages,( A Portuguese speaking Brazilian who was fluent to a larger,or lesser degree in German and English....No, not that kind of Brazilian,but the longer it went on, the more appealing the Brazilian description became
). So, bearing that in mind, I figured one could confuse ā plateā for ā panelā....Ok, getting somewhere...
So a panel filter....Well ,if there isnāt a large panel filter on the electrical enclosure. It did also have a micro switch on a flap at the bottom. Ok, so if this filter is blocked,it canāt pull the flap up,and switch the micro switch. Rather crude I thought. I tried disconnecting it. No change...I tried bridging it... no change...How odd.
So I bumbled on ,highly unimpressed with the hydraulic Chuck that had a tendency to squeeze all the moisture out of any bit of steel you put in it. Rest assured,it always came out with teeth marks in it from the jaws. This was no good. So, I got hold of a manual for the machine and waded through it tediously. In all fairness,itās pretty comprehensive. However, could I find anything about a Chuck? No. Anything about a hydraulic Chuck? No . There was however reference to a ā Hydraulic plateā.....And thatās when it dawned on me.... Plate was supposed to mean Chuck.It had been telling me all along that the hydraulic filter was blocked...."
"When I first got this up and running, there was a reoccurring error code along the lines of ā plate filter blockedā. It was accompanied by a very irritating beeper that would go off. The only way to silence the beeper was to hit reset. All fine and well, but if you do that whilst itās running, it stops the programme too
. I had work to get done. Beeper silenced with insulation tape....Still bloody irritating...so it got temporarily disconnected.My initial thoughts were what is a plate filter? I surmised that given the fact the translation had been done by somebody who was a speaker of at least two, non native tongue languages,( A Portuguese speaking Brazilian who was fluent to a larger,or lesser degree in German and English....No, not that kind of Brazilian,but the longer it went on, the more appealing the Brazilian description became
). So, bearing that in mind, I figured one could confuse ā plateā for ā panelā....Ok, getting somewhere...So a panel filter....Well ,if there isnāt a large panel filter on the electrical enclosure. It did also have a micro switch on a flap at the bottom. Ok, so if this filter is blocked,it canāt pull the flap up,and switch the micro switch. Rather crude I thought. I tried disconnecting it. No change...I tried bridging it... no change...How odd.
So I bumbled on ,highly unimpressed with the hydraulic Chuck that had a tendency to squeeze all the moisture out of any bit of steel you put in it. Rest assured,it always came out with teeth marks in it from the jaws. This was no good. So, I got hold of a manual for the machine and waded through it tediously. In all fairness,itās pretty comprehensive. However, could I find anything about a Chuck? No. Anything about a hydraulic Chuck? No . There was however reference to a ā Hydraulic plateā.....And thatās when it dawned on me.... Plate was supposed to mean Chuck.It had been telling me all along that the hydraulic filter was blocked....
"The company I retired from had sold the rights to manufacture some of our older design machines to the chinese. We of course supplied all the manuals with the sale.
Later on we ended up buying machines made by the chinese for customers in the US. The manuals had been translated from English to chinese and back to chinese. There were some interesting directions in them.
I will see if I can find some examples.
David
Later on we ended up buying machines made by the chinese for customers in the US. The manuals had been translated from English to chinese and back to chinese. There were some interesting directions in them.
I will see if I can find some examples.
David
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A friend used to own a Japanese motor cycle dealership. One day the got a showroom display unit of some sort with English instructions on how to assemble it. Site rules won't let me disclose the exact wording of the instructions here but it had to do with "screwing part A to part B."
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May have posted before, but here's a personal example of the hazard:
Years ago, I made several mission trips to Ecuador and Honduras. My Spanish was pretty good, but certainly not completely fluent. I got to be pretty good friends with a priest in Ecuador, and just before making a follow-up trip there, I wrote to him to let him know we were coming and to see if there was any particular project he wanted us to work on. Before I sent it, I gave it to a friend who traveled with us, a high school Spanish teacher, to proof-read it for me. Good thing I did! In closing, I had written, "Estoy muy excitado de verte de nuevo." Which was supposed to mean, "I'm very excited to see you again."
Well, "excitado" in Spanish does mean excited, but commonly in a... well, you probably can guess!
Years ago, I made several mission trips to Ecuador and Honduras. My Spanish was pretty good, but certainly not completely fluent. I got to be pretty good friends with a priest in Ecuador, and just before making a follow-up trip there, I wrote to him to let him know we were coming and to see if there was any particular project he wanted us to work on. Before I sent it, I gave it to a friend who traveled with us, a high school Spanish teacher, to proof-read it for me. Good thing I did! In closing, I had written, "Estoy muy excitado de verte de nuevo." Which was supposed to mean, "I'm very excited to see you again."
Well, "excitado" in Spanish does mean excited, but commonly in a... well, you probably can guess!
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