Translation: The Human Art Returns? (October 15, 2003)
Submitted by Taran on Tue, 05/18/2004 - 16:18
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Getting lost in the translation
Earlier this month the small German town of Homberg-an-der-Efze,
north of Frankfurt, had to pulp an entire print run of its
English-language tourism brochure - after officials used an internet
translating tool to translate the German text.
According to one report, the brochure was "rendered meaningless"
by the online tool. Tourists were promised "casual value", the literal
translation of the German word for "leisure potential", at venues such
as the "free bath" - better known as an "open-air swimming pool". ..
Oh my.
'All Your Base' all over again.
But let's take a step back. Contextual translation has always been important (and has been made something of a cult with 'All Your Base'). Marketing companies have learned the hard way.
Here are a few resources that are funny, but also lend to the credibility of the problem:
These bloopers show that more care has to be taken to assure that
translation is done properly, and contextually. Human Language is a
human art - even your favourite spellchecker will show you this. But
don't take my word on this - check with Holy Mother Grammatica.
Communication is important, and the more important your idea - the
more important it is to you to make sure that what you are
communicating comes across properly. It is not the responsibility of a
spell checker, of a translation device or anything else.
It's up to you to say what you intend to. Take the time. Do it right.
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