On Thu, 18 Jan 2001, Mary Krugman wrote:

> Either this software needs work or the Germans are grammatically challenged.

The software could be improved, surely, but there is a limit to the
ability of machines to accurately and completely translate human languages
from one to another.  Indeed, even highly trained humans have trouble with
this.

My favorite story about this is from a lecture by a woman who translates
modern Hebrew novels into English.  She explained that it was absolutely
vital for the translator to keep up with popular culture to have any hope
of getting the references right.  For example, the word "Mafia" has been
imported into Israeli Hebrew with the same meaning and pronunciation that
the word has in American English.  However, in Hebrew text, with no
capital letters available, the word looks identical to the differently
pronounced Hebrew word meaning "bakery".

Apparently one of her (unnamed) competitors in the field has published a
translation of a novel in which the original Hebrew words for "the great
American Mafia" are given as "the great American bakery."

Or maybe this is just fertile grounds for punning ...

---
Lawrence Kestenbaum, [log in to unmask]
The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com