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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Which came first? http://babelfish.altavista.com/or http://www.babelfish.com/(which I stumbled upon looking for the former) And has anyone found these types of translators useful for anything besides literal word-to-word?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I think the altavista incarnation came first. They ain't even all that hot on English all by its lonesome. E.g., Tip: If you do not want a word to be translated add a x on each side of it. (emphasis mine)
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 161
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 161 |
I find them useful while translating from Russian into English. it saves a lot of time finding individual words. but apart from that... I would translate anything ab novo.
these programs usually do not understand metaphors etc
And I considered it an insult when somebody asked me what program did I use for translating Ian Bank's "The wasp factory"
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I'll take a brick and mortar dictionary any day. Of course, I have to know something about the grammar of the second language and sometimes, if I'm translating into the second language, I need to do some back and forth to avoid misusing homonyms.
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180 |
I've found Babelfish very helpful in creating situations I can recall when I'm having my picture taken for my driver's license and I need to smile. Like the time when I translated "Don't make a spectacle of yourself" into German and translated it back into English, and came up with "Don't form a play automatically."
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