7 ms·
Slightly OT, mi favourite localization error was in Ubuntu when they had that nice netbook interface (that later would become Unity). The network icon label was
by reidrac 12y ago
Slightly OT, mi favourite localization error was in Ubuntu when they had that nice netbook interface (that later would become Unity). The network icon label was "Rojo" in the Spanish localization, that is the word for "red" color. What?
Well, if you translate "Net" to Spanish you get "Red"; and if you translate that again (by mistake), you get "Rojo". There you are :)
- hpshelton 12y agoWhen I worked on Outlook.com, we got feedback from a British user that he couldn't understand what the option to "Connect devices and apps with DAD" meant. Turns out we had forgotten to prevent localization of the "POP" protocol everywhere it was used.
- baby 12y agoOT means Out of Topic? In french we say HS (for Hors Sujet).
- me_bx 12y agoHS may also mean Hors Service (Out-of-order)
- talideon 12y agoIt means 'off topic'.
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- Kiro 12y agoI'm really surprised that this is the first time you've seen "OT" being used. I can only presume it's because you don't normally ready English websites/discussion boards but I still find it intriguing that you've never encountered it before. In Sweden we use "OT" as well but it's referring to "Off Topic" and not something Swedish.
- baby 12y agoI read mostly english websites/discussion boards (reddit, HN) and I know a bunch of abbreviations (IIRC, INB4, AFAIK, QED, IFF, ST...) but I don't remember seeing OT. Learning new stuff everyday :D
- chucksmash 12y agoA fitting reply in the localization discussion!
- psykovsky 12y agoThat's an error only an amateur translator would make. Guess who makes free software translations... A professional translator makes sure to check the context of the translation, it doesn't go blindly translating sentences and words without context.
- reidrac 12y agoTo be fair it was a beta of the "Ubuntu Netbook Remix" and that bug was shortly fixed. I took some screenshots because I really liked the interface, but none of them show the bug because I usually stick to en_GB and the problem was spotted in my wife's netbook (she's Spanish teacher and likes to have the OS interface in Spanish to amuse the kids).
- psykovsky 12y agoNot attacking free software translators. I'm one myself. As amateur as I can be. When one can't code, it can at least translate ;)
- nitrogen 12y agoI only mention this because it occurs in both of your comments in the thread, but... When one can't code, it can at least translate ;) In this context the pronoun "it" would make more sense as "one"; "it" is very rarely used to refer to a person in English. A professional translator makes sure to check the context of the translation, it doesn't go blindly translating sentences and words without context. Again, in this context, "it doesn't" might make more sense as "he or she doesn't", or less formally, "they don't". Hope this helps with your translations :-)
- Fuxy 12y agoAm I the only one that gets confused on what the menus and other things on a non English computer or device actually mean when translated. This coming from someone doesn't speak English as their first language. I speak Romanian, Hungarian and English perfectly but my devices are always in English since it would be harder to figure out what they mean otherwise unless you have the structure memorized already.
- tjradcliffe 12y agoI once got a Spanish translation back and was briefly angry that the translator had left a few strings as "TODO"... "What?!" I asked myself. "To do? Why did they ship me an incomplete file?" Then I looked to see what the "untranslated" strings were: "ALL" (I don't speak Spanish but have enough of a smattering of European languages that it was immediately obvious what was going on.)