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Sometimes they really mess things up when there’s little context. A few basic examples: “file” in English is both a verb and a noun, but other languages have d
by Scoundreller 3y ago
Sometimes they really mess things up when there’s little context.
A few basic examples: “file” in English is both a verb and a noun, but other languages have different words for each. The machine translator will just guess at presenting you the noun or verb.
Other languages have genders for everything, so if a computer is male, but a standalone sentence doesn’t know that, the translator has to take a guess. If it guesses wrong, the sentence will be confusing to the user that thinks it’s about something other than a computer.
That’s just scratching the surface.
- pests 3y agoThis recently was an issue for zip files in UK Windows (or something) being translated as "post code files"
- debugnik 3y agoReminds me of a mistake in Spanish in a TomTom device I have around: "AP" stands for autopista (motorway) but it reads "AP" aloud as apartado postal (PO box).
- Scoundreller 3y agoHave had some satnav apps when set in French translate “dr” in an Anglo street name as “docteur” instead of reading it as “drive”. Just because I set the language to something foreign, it doesn’t mean I’m in that country with its street naming conventions.