Re: traduttore tradittore

[Hope Ehn Dennis Ehn <ehn...>]

Some other examples of machine translation of English-language idioms:

(I don't remember what the receiving language is supposed to have been.)
ORIGINAL: Out of sight, out of mind.
TRANSLATION: blind, insane

(Supposedly, a translation into Russian.)
ORIGINAL: The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
TRANSLATION: The liquor is agreeable, but the meat has gone bad.

My husband reminds me that the Chevrolet Nova never sold well in
Spanish-speaking countries, for a fairly obvious reason: in Spanish, "no
va" means doesn't run! 

I have a couple of files full of these things, if anyone is interested in 
seeing more.

Hope Ehn            <ehn (at) world(dot)std(dot)com>

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