Tag Archives: google_translate

unbelievably bad translation en-de

When I write papers in English, I am sometimes not really sure about how to use a word in the correct context or co-text. For verification purposes, I like to use linguee.de, although the given translations and text examples have to be taken with a pinch of salt. However, I just stumbled upon a translation for the name of  applications called “key stroke loggers” or “key loggers”. A website called prodatadoctor.com suggests that the German term for such software is “Tastenanschlagblockwinde”. Curious about this word, of which I have never heard before, I started to google it. The first hit made me laugh out loud: The German version of the website golden-keylogger.com is just hilarious! I wonder which translation tool they used to get such bad results. Google Translators and Babelfish should be a lot better.

Examples:

“Keyloggers get a lot of bad rap because they spy on people. “

-> “Keyloggers erhalten eine Menge schlechtes Pochen, weil sie auf Leuten ausspionieren.” :-)

It gets even better:

“If you have teenage son or daughter (some of us have both), then you know how crazy they are about chatting and instant messaging. (…) While your kids may not be honest with you about who they are chatting with and what they discuss, you have the way to know exactly what’s going on without invading your kids’ privacy. How? Golden Keylogger!”

-> “Wenn Sie Jugendsohn oder Tochter (einige von uns haben beide), haben, dann können Sie, verrückt sie über das Plaudern und sofortige Nachrichtenübermittlung sind. (…) Während Ihre Zicklein möglicherweise nicht sein können ehrlich mit Ihnen über wem sie plaudern mit und was sie sich besprechen, haben Sie die Weise, genau zu wissen, was los ist, ohne Privatleben Ihrer Zicklein einzudringen. Wie? Goldenes Keylogger!” :-D

I just tried Google Translator. Surprisingly, it is not really better:

“Keylogger bekommen eine Menge von schlechten Ruf, weil sie auf die Menschen zu bespitzeln.”

“Wenn Sie Teenager-Sohn oder Tochter (einige von uns haben beide) haben, dann wissen Sie, wie verrückt sie sind über Chat und Instant Messaging. (…) Während Ihre Kinder dürfen nicht ehrlich zu sein, wer sie sind mit Chat und was sie zu diskutieren, haben Sie die Möglichkeit, genau zu wissen, was los ohne Invasion Ihrer Kinder Privatsphäre. Wie? Golden Keylogger!”

But, hey, Google Translator also knows: “Laughter is healthy” :-D :-) ;-)

copy-catism, the 2nd

…clicking through the Freelance Translators – Interpreters network group on linkedin.com, i found an interesting post about Google Translate and the underlying Terms of Service: ” ‘By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.’ (…) In human language that means that by uploading any content to any one of Google’s services, including Gmail, Docs, and Translate, we allow Google unlimited use of our content and give up all rights to the privacy of information.” (-> cited from http://aqtext.com/blog/google-translate/; June 1st, 2011.)

This information is not only valuable for translators who deal with confidential customer information. I know researchers who translate entire scientific papers or articles from their mother tongue into English with Google Translate. Although Google seems to use the submitted text material mainly for “enhancing” their services and data mining issues, researchers who have agreed to an NDA with their research institute or faculty or who would never talk about sensitive, confidential results before an article gets officially published, should think twice before using Google’s “services”.

Thinking about this a little longer, these TOS also shine a different light on collaboratively writing articles using Google Docs. Just as a reminder: “… you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit.”

-> The perpetual license to publish my original ideas and research findings without referencing. I don’t like that. At all.

*auweia*, as the Germans use to say…