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Most of these are authored by what appear to be non-native English speakers. So, the most likely explanation is a translation issue. In engineering literature
by avalys 3mo ago
Most of these are authored by what appear to be non-native English speakers. So, the most likely explanation is a translation issue.
In engineering literature from Russia from the 1960s, one sometimes finds references to a ‘water goat’ in papers that are otherwise about heavy machinery. It turns out this is a twice-translated rendition of ‘hydraulic ram’.
- Joker_vD 3mo agoHey, it's not that easy to chose between "водяной баран" and "гидравлический таран", you know. My favourite example of troubled blind translation is still "naked conductor runs under the carriage".
- fc417fc802 3mo agoNice double entendre but it seems to be a perfectly valid description of electrical wiring in a machine? What was the original intent?
- Joker_vD 3mo agoIt is a perfectly valid description of electrical wiring... but you need to have that context to translate it properly. Technical English translation skills vs. literary English translation skills, if you will.
- JustARandomGuy 3mo agoWhat was "naked conductor runs under the carriage" supposed to be originally? Open driveshaft? Differential?
- ben_w 3mo ago> engineering literature from Russia from the 1960s, one sometimes finds references to a ‘water goat’ Oh, that's where it comes from! My dad told me something close when I was a kid, but according to him it was the early EU doing dictionary translation between English and French and getting "water sheep". I never could find it. Through an unrelated anecdote, in my head this is now bound to the music of "smoke on the water", with a sheep impression for the guitar (bass?) — "Sheep on the water, ba baa baaah, ba ba ba baaah"
- kmoser 3mo agoThat's on par with this (apocryphal) translation of "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" <=> "The vodka was good, but the meat was rotten."
- stymaar 3mo agoAll your base are belong to us.
- cestith 3mo agoSomeone set us up the bomb.
- tdeck 3mo agoThe classic example of this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_as_She_Is_Spoke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_as_She_Is_Spoke > It is widely believed that Carolino could not speak English and that an unknown French–English dictionary was used to translate the earlier Portuguese–French phrase book O novo guia da conversação em francês e português, written by José da Fonseca. It became so popular for comedic reasons in the English-speaking world that it was reprinted many times and reviewed by Mark Twain.