Show HN: What happens when you translate phrases too many times?(nickcammarata.com)
nickcammarata.com
Show HN: What happens when you translate phrases too many times?
http://nickcammarata.com/translatortron/
13 comments
My friends and I had a lot of fun with translationparty.com, and I heartily second the creation of links so people can share. Shakespeare is always fun. Can anyone guess what these two are?
The death of hell for all of us dog, the dog's eyes in front of him, with his teeth, worrying lambs and noble lineage, and the masterpiece of God, a tyrant on the planet Defacer well fail, this is usually called the soul exists in the eyes, bruises, your uterus relax, to pursue our grave.
But I have to by law, larger than this year, the President, a child, but no more expensive orders my mind: What is worse, actually came to this world was sent, but his mother was right: when there a very good exercise, and a son of a bitch, must be recognized
It does better with shorter sentences:
Come on, you in me unsex human spirit, I filled with senior officials of the terrible cruelty of the full ah! Make my blood thick, blocking the access channel and remorse, and that nature, I do not blame the purpose visitings down, the effect is no peace between, for me! Come to my woman's breasts, and take the courage of my milk, the ministers murder
This one came out impressively accurate:
This is a dagger before me, the handle toward my hand?
The death of hell for all of us dog, the dog's eyes in front of him, with his teeth, worrying lambs and noble lineage, and the masterpiece of God, a tyrant on the planet Defacer well fail, this is usually called the soul exists in the eyes, bruises, your uterus relax, to pursue our grave.
But I have to by law, larger than this year, the President, a child, but no more expensive orders my mind: What is worse, actually came to this world was sent, but his mother was right: when there a very good exercise, and a son of a bitch, must be recognized
It does better with shorter sentences:
Come on, you in me unsex human spirit, I filled with senior officials of the terrible cruelty of the full ah! Make my blood thick, blocking the access channel and remorse, and that nature, I do not blame the purpose visitings down, the effect is no peace between, for me! Come to my woman's breasts, and take the courage of my milk, the ministers murder
This one came out impressively accurate:
This is a dagger before me, the handle toward my hand?
That's a good idea! I'll see if I can do that tomorrow. It's 1:23am here and I have school tomorrow :(
In high school US history, there was a daily homework assignment where we had to turn in a 1 page paper on some historical topic (for example, the battle of antietam in the civil war). Teacher never really read the homework- just scanned it for some keywords and made sure no one was copying off of anyone else.
I made a deal with the girl that sat next to me that we would do each others homework on alternating weeks. On her weeks, she'd write two different versions of something similar, paraphrased from the textbook.
On my weeks, I'd copy /paste some blurb from online for her version. Then I'd take that blurb, and run it through babelfish a couple times for mine. Worked great.
One time I got sloppy, and didn't even run mine through the translator. I just handed in identical things in different fonts. She got a check +, and i got a check. I can't describe how furious I was.
I made a deal with the girl that sat next to me that we would do each others homework on alternating weeks. On her weeks, she'd write two different versions of something similar, paraphrased from the textbook.
On my weeks, I'd copy /paste some blurb from online for her version. Then I'd take that blurb, and run it through babelfish a couple times for mine. Worked great.
One time I got sloppy, and didn't even run mine through the translator. I just handed in identical things in different fonts. She got a check +, and i got a check. I can't describe how furious I was.
This is quite entertaining.
In the same vein:
"What Happens to a YouTube Video Uploaded 1,000 Times" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/youtube-video-uploa...)
In the same vein:
"What Happens to a YouTube Video Uploaded 1,000 Times" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/youtube-video-uploa...)
That's also a modern tribute to the original "I Am Sitting in a Room" by Alvin Lucier - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfssj80oNuM
Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Sitting_in_a_Room
haha I quite enjoyed that
If you try if with just the European languages, the translation actually comes through pretty well. Adding Persian or one of the Asian languages is where things get messed up.
Which means... if you want to expand your market, you could probably provide sufficient support to European countries using Google translate to communicate with customers.
Which means... if you want to expand your market, you could probably provide sufficient support to European countries using Google translate to communicate with customers.
If i'm remembering right, that's largely because proceedings from EU and european courts are used as the data for many of these translators, since there is such a copious amount of text that is well translated between the languages and recorded.
In addition to what the guy above (below?) me said, it's because of the similarity of the direction and grammar of the European languages vs. Japanese, for instance, where the verb is at the end. Translation systems typically rely heavily on N-gram models, which are susceptible to these issues.
I highly recommend taking some poetry through this process. I also highly recommend taking the translation back to English after each other language, so you can watch how each translation changes it.
However, this is one case where Google's improvement of their algorithms make the outcome less interesting. I've watched it happen.
I record music as a hobby. In the past 6 years, I've recorded 24 albums in 24 different genres — many film and theatre scores, and "experimental" (groan-worthy term) electroacoustic music. When I'm not quite satisfied with lyrics that I've written, and instead want a can't-quite-put-my-finger-on-it weird mood, I use this exact technique. It translates what I've written into more idiosyncratic forms. There are chains of languages of which I'm most fond, particularly to/from Japanese (seems to be the weirdest of all the asian language translations — gives a lot of weird articles).
However, this is one case where Google's improvement of their algorithms make the outcome less interesting. I've watched it happen.
I record music as a hobby. In the past 6 years, I've recorded 24 albums in 24 different genres — many film and theatre scores, and "experimental" (groan-worthy term) electroacoustic music. When I'm not quite satisfied with lyrics that I've written, and instead want a can't-quite-put-my-finger-on-it weird mood, I use this exact technique. It translates what I've written into more idiosyncratic forms. There are chains of languages of which I'm most fond, particularly to/from Japanese (seems to be the weirdest of all the asian language translations — gives a lot of weird articles).
> I also highly recommend taking the translation back to English after each other language, so you can watch how each translation changes it.
That observation will change the translation though... Unless you went:
A -> Spanish(A) -> English(Spanish(A)) -> German(Spanish(A)) -> English(German(Spanish(A))).
Otherwise you'd be doing:
A -> Spanish(A) -> English(Spanish(A)) -> German(English(Spanish(A))) -> English(German(English(Spanish(A)))), etc.
That observation will change the translation though... Unless you went:
A -> Spanish(A) -> English(Spanish(A)) -> German(Spanish(A)) -> English(German(Spanish(A))).
Otherwise you'd be doing:
A -> Spanish(A) -> English(Spanish(A)) -> German(English(Spanish(A))) -> English(German(English(Spanish(A)))), etc.
You're absolutely right.
It's a lot easier (nay, possible) to do it with the actual Google Translate website, which is where I do all my chained translations. It may seem like extra work, but it lets you get a sense of the qualities of each translation.
Obviously, haha, I've spent more time doing this than most would bother to.
It's a lot easier (nay, possible) to do it with the actual Google Translate website, which is where I do all my chained translations. It may seem like extra work, but it lets you get a sense of the qualities of each translation.
Obviously, haha, I've spent more time doing this than most would bother to.
Well, I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning him. He says that he belongs to someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi. I thought he might have meant old Ben. Do you know what he's talking about?
German -> Persian -> German -> Japanese -> Polish -> English -> Korean -> Chinese -> Italian -> Korean -> Spanish -> Polish -> Chinese -> Japanese
Oh, the game is pretty amazing. I have heard people kenobiraneun Obi. This point, I think this is old. You know?
--
I'm tempted to run some a Terms of Service through the translator a few times and see if anyone notices.
German -> Persian -> German -> Japanese -> Polish -> English -> Korean -> Chinese -> Italian -> Korean -> Spanish -> Polish -> Chinese -> Japanese
Oh, the game is pretty amazing. I have heard people kenobiraneun Obi. This point, I think this is old. You know?
--
I'm tempted to run some a Terms of Service through the translator a few times and see if anyone notices.
[deleted]
This is very similar to a minor plot-point in PK Dick's "The Galactic Pot-Healer." The protagonist is a typical Dick character, out of place in his world. His pastime is to use the language translation feature of the global computer system (which is appreciably less than perfect) to translate, and re-translate famous sayings and the like enough times to obscure the original, and then submit the mutated phrases to his friends, to see if they can guess the original.
It has started getting stuck on translations from (but not to) Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, even though the translations execute quickly when I do them in Google Translate. It happens in Chrome and Firefox. I was able to use it for several minutes before this started happening.
I made a small edit, but I reverted it. Is it fixed now?
Nope. Here's some Japanese it got stuck on:
しかし、陽気なトリックの形ではない私は、また好色そうなガラスを裁判所に請求する。ぶし刻印していますが、、、愛の威厳はニンフをアンブリング悪意に満ちた前に誇示したい、私は、この公平な割合の縮小午前、自然を装うことで機能の浮気、変形は、未完の、私の時間に、この呼吸の世界の前に送ら乏しく、半分はまた、交流したので、弱々しくと時代遅れその犬は私に樹皮私はそれらが停止になることは、なぜ、私は、この弱い配管平和の時間がない喜びは、太陽とデスカントわたし自身の変形に私の影をスパイする場合を除き、時間を離れて渡す必要があります：私は、恋人を証明することはできないため、これらの公正よく話された日を楽しませるには、それゆえに、私は決心している悪役を証明するためにそして、これらの日のアイドル快楽を利用しています
And some Korean:
하지만 미러 사랑, 나 난폭하게 찍혀 법원에 운동이나 트릭에 대한 형상에 있지 않은 내가, 그리고 당신이 당신의 폐하는 공정한 비율을 감소 무자 비한 ambling 요정 내가 전에 잘난 체하면서 사랑하는 함수를 속여서 이 세상의 호흡, 내 도착하기 전에 보낸 기형 자연, 끝나지 않은, 감추기 위해서 어디에 가난한 절반, 그리고하고 약한 밖으로 패션의 날 내가 그들을 위해 내가 그 때문에 튜브를 중지 짖는 개 나 사랑하는이 박람회의 일을 알고 증명할 수 없기 때문에, 그리고 따라서 : 평화의 짧은 시간은 태양에 내 그림자를 감시하라는 게 아니었과 내 자신의 기형에 넣어 지출 시간의 즐거움을 가지고 있지 , 그래서 제가 악역을 증명하기 위해 오전과 당시의 유휴 기쁨을 미워, 잘 구사합니다.
Here's some Persian, too:
اما من ، که هستم برای ورزش کلاهبرداری متناسب نیست ، آیا دادگاه عشق آینه ، من که هستم rudely مهر ، و می خواهند عظمت عشق را به قبل از گستاخ پوره ambling من قدم زنی با تبختر ، که هستم این نسبت عادلانه ، فریب خوردن از ویژگی های dissembling طبیعت کاهش می یابد ، تغییر شکل ، ناتمام ، فرستاده قبل از زمان من رو وارد این دنیا تنفس ، به سختی نیم شکل گرفته ، و این که تا ناشیانه و unfashionable که پوست سگ به من که من متر ' متوقف شده توسط آنها ، چرا من ، در این زمان ضعیف لوله صلح ، هیچ لذتی را هم به تصویب ، مگر آن که به جاسوسی در سایه ام خورشید و نظرات را در تغییر شکل خود من : و بنابراین ، از آنجایی که من می تواند ثابت کند عاشق به عادلانه می دانم این روزها صحبت خوب ، من مصمم هستم تا ثابت تبه کار و نفرت را با لذت از این روزها از استراحت نیست.
It's related to length. This Japanese selection worked fine:
あなたが必要がありますあなたのドリンクやあなたの売春婦を残すと、ドアの維持などを、、あなたショーウェスト以上を持ってあなたは知っておら未満を話す、なたowestはなく、ライドに行くのだより、より多くのあなたは、Setあなたthrowest未満trowest未満貸しポイントつ以上の多数。
As did this Chinese one:
比你不容多，说话比你知道不，借不到，你把所欠的，乘坐更比你走到哪里去，更比你trowest，设置比你throwest少;给你喝，你的妓女，并保持在室内，你就会有更多的两年多的几十点。
P.S. Gone to bed. Thanks for the amusement! I'm sure I'll check back tomorrow.
しかし、陽気なトリックの形ではない私は、また好色そうなガラスを裁判所に請求する。ぶし刻印していますが、、、愛の威厳はニンフをアンブリング悪意に満ちた前に誇示したい、私は、この公平な割合の縮小午前、自然を装うことで機能の浮気、変形は、未完の、私の時間に、この呼吸の世界の前に送ら乏しく、半分はまた、交流したので、弱々しくと時代遅れその犬は私に樹皮私はそれらが停止になることは、なぜ、私は、この弱い配管平和の時間がない喜びは、太陽とデスカントわたし自身の変形に私の影をスパイする場合を除き、時間を離れて渡す必要があります：私は、恋人を証明することはできないため、これらの公正よく話された日を楽しませるには、それゆえに、私は決心している悪役を証明するためにそして、これらの日のアイドル快楽を利用しています
And some Korean:
하지만 미러 사랑, 나 난폭하게 찍혀 법원에 운동이나 트릭에 대한 형상에 있지 않은 내가, 그리고 당신이 당신의 폐하는 공정한 비율을 감소 무자 비한 ambling 요정 내가 전에 잘난 체하면서 사랑하는 함수를 속여서 이 세상의 호흡, 내 도착하기 전에 보낸 기형 자연, 끝나지 않은, 감추기 위해서 어디에 가난한 절반, 그리고하고 약한 밖으로 패션의 날 내가 그들을 위해 내가 그 때문에 튜브를 중지 짖는 개 나 사랑하는이 박람회의 일을 알고 증명할 수 없기 때문에, 그리고 따라서 : 평화의 짧은 시간은 태양에 내 그림자를 감시하라는 게 아니었과 내 자신의 기형에 넣어 지출 시간의 즐거움을 가지고 있지 , 그래서 제가 악역을 증명하기 위해 오전과 당시의 유휴 기쁨을 미워, 잘 구사합니다.
Here's some Persian, too:
اما من ، که هستم برای ورزش کلاهبرداری متناسب نیست ، آیا دادگاه عشق آینه ، من که هستم rudely مهر ، و می خواهند عظمت عشق را به قبل از گستاخ پوره ambling من قدم زنی با تبختر ، که هستم این نسبت عادلانه ، فریب خوردن از ویژگی های dissembling طبیعت کاهش می یابد ، تغییر شکل ، ناتمام ، فرستاده قبل از زمان من رو وارد این دنیا تنفس ، به سختی نیم شکل گرفته ، و این که تا ناشیانه و unfashionable که پوست سگ به من که من متر ' متوقف شده توسط آنها ، چرا من ، در این زمان ضعیف لوله صلح ، هیچ لذتی را هم به تصویب ، مگر آن که به جاسوسی در سایه ام خورشید و نظرات را در تغییر شکل خود من : و بنابراین ، از آنجایی که من می تواند ثابت کند عاشق به عادلانه می دانم این روزها صحبت خوب ، من مصمم هستم تا ثابت تبه کار و نفرت را با لذت از این روزها از استراحت نیست.
It's related to length. This Japanese selection worked fine:
あなたが必要がありますあなたのドリンクやあなたの売春婦を残すと、ドアの維持などを、、あなたショーウェスト以上を持ってあなたは知っておら未満を話す、なたowestはなく、ライドに行くのだより、より多くのあなたは、Setあなたthrowest未満trowest未満貸しポイントつ以上の多数。
As did this Chinese one:
比你不容多，说话比你知道不，借不到，你把所欠的，乘坐更比你走到哪里去，更比你trowest，设置比你throwest少;给你喝，你的妓女，并保持在室内，你就会有更多的两年多的几十点。
P.S. Gone to bed. Thanks for the amusement! I'm sure I'll check back tomorrow.
Clearly a currently "viral" (oh how I hate that over-use, much abused term) concept/idea:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2213898
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2213898
"I love you" does not lose meaning in translation.
Ahhh.. Reminds me of the Starwars subtitles translated back from Chinese into English..
You should totally enable linking to the language setups, now it's hard to share an interesting result.