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If this is what powers Facebook workplace (or whatever it is called), don't get too enthusiastic: From my minimal use of it I've seen one case of praise being

If this is what powers Facebook workplace (or whatever it is called), don't get too enthusiastic: From my minimal use of it I've seen one case of praise being translated to an insult[1] and one which was just hilariously funny. [1]: For those who understand Norwegian: "gjere stas på en kunder" became "make fun of customers", i.e. the almost exact opposite. "morgenstund har gull i munn" was translated to "early bird has gold in its mouth" which is just weird.

thatwasunusual 5y ago
> "gjere stas på en kunder" That's not very good Norwegian, is it? :) I think "gjøre stas på" must be considered an idiom, and automatic translation services will always have problems with that. I'm fluent in both Norwegian and English, and I wouldn't know how to translate that expression.
- eitland 5y ago
  gjere/gjøre are equal but I edited the sentence to plural after checking a screenshot and forgot to remove "en". As for how to translate it, I'd say almost anything would better.
  - eitland 5y ago
    > As for how to translate it, I'd say almost anything would better. More specifically, now that I've left the office (and cannot work on the train anyways because the Windows activated "Boil my laptop" once too many on my way out of the office it seems) I'd suggest that something like: - celebrating the achievements of some customers - throwing a party for some customers or something to that effect
    - thatwasunusual 5y ago
      My point is that it's hard to identify - and translate - idioms like these. One of my favorites is the English idiom "make one's hair stand on end", which can be translated (directly) as "fikk ens hår til å stå opp", but we Norwegians prefers "gåsehud" (literally "goose skin") or "fikk hårene til å reise seg" (literally "made the hairs rise") instead. Add to the problem if the scared or excited entity in question is actually called "One." I rest my case.
mdp2021 5y ago
> "morgenstund har gull i munn" was translated to "early bird has gold in its mouth" which is just weird I beg your pardon, but - how would you translate it instead? Edit: sorry, is it because of 'morgenstund' → 'early bird'? It should be illegitimate to go in that direction of metaphor - in fact, the engine probably thought that "morning time" is the metaphor and "early bird" the more direct reference -, nonetheless there is surely a definite link.
- moss2 5y ago
  early mornings are delightful?
  - mdp2021 5y ago
    Before an AI confidently proposes interpretations of metaphors, it must really provide credentials of intelligence. Otherwise, you risk going in the direction of that fault which is a major mark of the "especially unrefined", of taking one's conclusions for stable and truthy instead of tentative. In the specific case, some will interpret "gold in mouth" as "the best time to be active", which is very different from "delightful". So, it is best to remain literal, in order to avoid the pollution of injecting prejudicial interpretations.
- morsch 5y ago
  In almost all contexts I'd translate it as "early bird catches the worm". Maybe there is another common English idiom that matches, but the semantics are very similar. "You snooze you lose" is another option I found. Both don't carry the lyrical aspect. Translating idioms is hard.
- ant6n 5y ago
  That translation is definitely half-way there. Reminds me of mixed idioms like "it´s as easy as falling of a piece of care" or "does the pope shit in the woods?" or "He’s burning the midnight oil from both ends".
  - eitland 5y ago
tralarpa 5y ago
TIL that the German "Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund", and I guess the Norwegian version, too (?), is a translation from Latin "Aurora habet aurum in ore". Apparently, this was, at least partially, meant literally (Aurora was said to have worn gold in her hair and mouth).
- thatwasunusual 5y ago
  Really? I was taught that "Mund" actually means "hand", meaning that you have better chance of success if you get up early in the morning. The English version is "the early bird gets the worm."
- Boltgolt 5y ago
  I find it really interesting how idioms survive, even if the language around them changes. In Dutch it's "Morgenstond heeft goud in de mond" which is in incredibly close to German and Norwegian, and also the only place you would realistically find the word "Morgenstond" as it has fallen completely out of use.

thatwasunusual 5y ago

> "gjere stas på en kunder" That's not very good Norwegian, is it? :) I think "gjøre stas på" must be considered an idiom, and automatic translation services will always have problems with that. I'm fluent in both Norwegian and English, and I wouldn't know how to translate that expression.

eitland 5y ago
gjere/gjøre are equal but I edited the sentence to plural after checking a screenshot and forgot to remove "en". As for how to translate it, I'd say almost anything would better.
- eitland 5y ago
  > As for how to translate it, I'd say almost anything would better. More specifically, now that I've left the office (and cannot work on the train anyways because the Windows activated "Boil my laptop" once too many on my way out of the office it seems) I'd suggest that something like: - celebrating the achievements of some customers - throwing a party for some customers or something to that effect
  - thatwasunusual 5y ago
    My point is that it's hard to identify - and translate - idioms like these. One of my favorites is the English idiom "make one's hair stand on end", which can be translated (directly) as "fikk ens hår til å stå opp", but we Norwegians prefers "gåsehud" (literally "goose skin") or "fikk hårene til å reise seg" (literally "made the hairs rise") instead. Add to the problem if the scared or excited entity in question is actually called "One." I rest my case.

mdp2021 5y ago

> "morgenstund har gull i munn" was translated to "early bird has gold in its mouth" which is just weird I beg your pardon, but - how would you translate it instead? Edit: sorry, is it because of 'morgenstund' → 'early bird'? It should be illegitimate to go in that direction of metaphor - in fact, the engine probably thought that "morning time" is the metaphor and "early bird" the more direct reference -, nonetheless there is surely a definite link.

moss2 5y ago
early mornings are delightful?
- mdp2021 5y ago
  Before an AI confidently proposes interpretations of metaphors, it must really provide credentials of intelligence. Otherwise, you risk going in the direction of that fault which is a major mark of the "especially unrefined", of taking one's conclusions for stable and truthy instead of tentative. In the specific case, some will interpret "gold in mouth" as "the best time to be active", which is very different from "delightful". So, it is best to remain literal, in order to avoid the pollution of injecting prejudicial interpretations.
morsch 5y ago
In almost all contexts I'd translate it as "early bird catches the worm". Maybe there is another common English idiom that matches, but the semantics are very similar. "You snooze you lose" is another option I found. Both don't carry the lyrical aspect. Translating idioms is hard.
ant6n 5y ago
That translation is definitely half-way there. Reminds me of mixed idioms like "it´s as easy as falling of a piece of care" or "does the pope shit in the woods?" or "He’s burning the midnight oil from both ends".
- eitland 5y ago

tralarpa 5y ago

TIL that the German "Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund", and I guess the Norwegian version, too (?), is a translation from Latin "Aurora habet aurum in ore". Apparently, this was, at least partially, meant literally (Aurora was said to have worn gold in her hair and mouth).

thatwasunusual 5y ago
Really? I was taught that "Mund" actually means "hand", meaning that you have better chance of success if you get up early in the morning. The English version is "the early bird gets the worm."
Boltgolt 5y ago
I find it really interesting how idioms survive, even if the language around them changes. In Dutch it's "Morgenstond heeft goud in de mond" which is in incredibly close to German and Norwegian, and also the only place you would realistically find the word "Morgenstond" as it has fallen completely out of use.