On 07/12/2010 07:04 PM, Lynn Fredricks wrote:
I recall a linguistics professor years ago telling the story
of the supercomputer translator going from English to Russian
and back again. "The spirit is willing but the flesh is
weak" came back as "The vodka is good but the meat is rotten." :)
That's probably a saying in Russia already :-)
No, it's not "reliable" in any absolute sense, but it is very
useful once you have an adequate knowledge base in the
languages you are translating to and from. For single words
it is quick and lists synonyms/approximate equivalents in
various forms. For short phrases it gets you in the ballpark
with verb forms and tenses. But to lean on it
unquestioningly would be linguistic suicide, you're right.
Still, it's an invaluable tool for my current needs.
It can be very, very useful. I used it myself when I need a quick and dirty
translation of some text, but as you say, for single words or getting the
gist of something is where it shines. I wouldn't want someone to learn how
to conjugate from it though.
I bet trying to translate "conjugate" that way could prove most
enlightening.
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