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The original word is 枯れる, which really is normally translated as "withered", or, contextually, "dead" or "dried up". Translating it as "commodity parts" loses t
by polm23 7y ago
The original word is 枯れる, which really is normally translated as "withered", or, contextually, "dead" or "dried up". Translating it as "commodity parts" loses the implication that common sense says the technology is "used up" in some way. It's not a word you'd normally use to praise something.
Here's a bunch of sentences with English translations that use the word:
https://jisho.org/search/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B%20%23sentences https://jisho.org/search/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B%20%23se...
There is also a sense that means "matured" or "tested by time", but I've honestly never seen it outside a dictionary, and in fact for many dictionaries the example usage of that sense is just 枯れた技術, Gunpei Yokoi's term. Example:
https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B-468424 https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B-468424
- fenomas 7y agoYeah I think the article was off-base there - "withered" isn't a mistranslation at all. I'd probably have gone with "dried-up", but to translate it as "weathered" changes the meaning considerably.
- gwbas1c 7y agoI disagree, weathered often implies broken in, established, mature.
- thedudeabides5 7y agoProbably a concept that would be helpful to adopt in the west. Like, tech can be so concerned with the new new, we sometimes forget there's a bunch of old stuff that works pretty reliably, and can be applied in new and creative directions, with a little 'lateral' thinking.
- gauravjain13 7y agoSome pedantry is in order – withered and weathered are different words.
- emeraldd 7y agoThis seems like it might be a situation where the connotations do not translate very well rather than a question of direct meaning.
- eska 7y agoI think withered is a mistranslation (I speak Japanese). E.g. my dictionary mentions 枯れた演技 for "well-seasoned acting". That sounds appropriately positive to describe such technology: old but reliable.
- news_to_me 7y agoJisho is my go-to for Japanese: https://jisho.org/search/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B https://jisho.org/search/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B
- njwi332 7y agoA monolingual dictionary gives 7 definitions. https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B/#jn-46734 https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8... I think the one that best applies here is 4 - 技術や製品などが、その登場から十分な時間が経ち、すでに問題点が出尽くし、解決も済んでいる。最先端のものではないが、不測の事態が発生しにくく、安定して動作することを意味する。 This definition is roughly "Enough time has passed since a technology, product, etc, debuted that its flaws are well known, and development has settled. It means it is not cutting edge, unexpected situations (usages) rarely occur/are difficult to create, and the usage is well understood/stabilised." I tend to see much richer and more precise definitions from a Japanese-Japanese dictionary than from Jisho.