Translation and papists
a visit to altavista's babelfish translation: convenience receptacle becomes receptacle de convenance becomes angemessenheitsauffangbecken becomes suitability catchment basin.
it really is "an electrical outlet built in to a fixture to provide current for other types of electrical devices." i'm not out of a job yet, machine translation has a long way to go.
a letter on his bible translation by a pissed-off martin luther, who had a thing or two to say about good translation. quotes (translated for Project Wittenberg by Dr. Gary Mann):
"what if i had used the most satisfactory german and translated the salutation: 'god says hello, mary dear.'"
"the letters s-o-l-a are not there. and these knotheads stare at them like cows at a new gate, while at the same time they do not recognize that it conveys the sense of the text - if the translation is to be clear and accurate, it belongs here."
"if your papist wishes to make a great fuss about the word 'alone' (sola), say this to him: 'dr. martin luther will have it so and he says that a papist and an ass are the same thing.'"
and
"ah, translating is not every one's skill as some mad saints think."
how true.