[X-SW] dictionary

[Steven Rogers]

On Oct 28, 2006, at 11:35 AM, Robert MacLeay wrote:

> To answer Jorge's question, I have found nothing satisfactory  
> myself. The
> best of a terrible lot is good old Babelfish, which does phrases;  
> being able
> to translate the word in context helps.

Yeah - just try typing in a phrase in English, translate it to some  
other language, and then back again. Its more fun than madlibs.  For  
example - take a sentence and go from English to French and back:


E: My dog, my sister, and I all went to grandmother's house and had  
pie, except the dog, who was left out.
F: Mon chien, ma soeur, et I tous sont allés à la maison du grand- 
mère et ont eu le pâté en croûte, excepté le chien, qui a été omis.
E: My dog, my sister, and I all went to the house of the grandmother  
and had meat pie, except the dog, which was omitted.

That's pretty darn good, except that the French seem to assume that a  
pie is an entre and not a dessert. However, if you throw in another  
language - say go to German, then French, then English, it starts to  
get weird fast:

E: My dog, my sister, and I all went to grandmother's house and had  
pie, except the dog, who was left out.
G: Mein Hund, meine Schwester und alle I gingen zum Haus der  
Großmutter und aßen Torte, ausgenommen den Hund, der ausgelassen wurde.
F: Mon chien, ma soeur et tous les I sont allés à la grand-mère le  
chien qui a été omis à la maison et ont mangé le gâteau, exceptionnel.
E: My dog, my sister and all I went to the grandmother the dog which  
was omitted at the house and ate the cake, exceptional.

SR