This is very similar to a minor plot-point in PK Dick's "The Galactic Pot-Healer." The protagonist is a typical Dick character, out of place in his world. His p

This is very similar to a minor plot-point in PK Dick's "The Galactic Pot-Healer." The protagonist is a typical Dick character, out of place in his world. His pastime is to use the language translation feature of the global computer system (which is appreciably less than perfect) to translate, and re-translate famous sayings and the like enough times to obscure the original, and then submit the mutated phrases to his friends, to see if they can guess the original.