Random Thoughts IV
- Thread starter cowgirl836
- Start date
- Status
Google is decent, but the translations tend to be literal so idioms can slip past. Example: When we say something is "a piece of cake", it is generally translated to something about dessert. Even so, it is 100,000,000x better than "translate by Bing" on Facebook. I have a German "son" who posts both in German and in English, and sometimes I need a little help with translating his German friends' responses. Using FB's Bing translate button, the results are amazingly bad...and amazingly funny! It's kind of like the directions for cheap products made overseas & sold here - the words just don't quite form normal sentences.
Mine are actually local. We have a very international department. Chinese and Spanish are the two I get most often. You have to kind of read between the lines, but occasionally I have to request clarification from the sender.
yeah, I said "sometimes" because I'm sure you can imagine that in my industry.....sometimes uncommon words are used!
"Decent" reminds me of a funny story about Hockey (our German son) when he was here as a student.
I had made a pot roast with all the trimmings. Hockey had never had pot roast before, and when PapaLew asked him what he thought of it, he said he thought it was "decent". He must have read my reaction in my face, because he immediately continued with "I thought 'decent' meant 'good'?"
We explained the nuances of calling something "decent" (how it often means something is okay but not great, but you say decent to avoid hurting the person's feelings), and from that point on, whenever one of us used the word "decent", someone else would counter with "Is that American decent or German decent?"
I had made a pot roast with all the trimmings. Hockey had never had pot roast before, and when PapaLew asked him what he thought of it, he said he thought it was "decent". He must have read my reaction in my face, because he immediately continued with "I thought 'decent' meant 'good'?"
We explained the nuances of calling something "decent" (how it often means something is okay but not great, but you say decent to avoid hurting the person's feelings), and from that point on, whenever one of us used the word "decent", someone else would counter with "Is that American decent or German decent?"
True. I mean if Blake and Miranda broke up after 4 years, it may happen to CG. That is when I swoop down from my tree to rescue.
She probably posted so much about the Blake/Miranda thing as a hint to you. Now isn't the time when you back down, now is the time when you give it everything you've got!
Well most people do want something different from the relationship they just left....
WDSM
Engineer generalization
Also, I feel kinda dirty Googling "handsome lumberjack images"
WDSM
Engineer generalization
Also, I feel kinda dirty Googling "handsome lumberjack images"
I hope your wife sees your search history
I suppose it's too late in the year to try and plant strawberries so I can eat them next year
Engineer generalization
Also, I feel kinda dirty Googling "handsome lumberjack images"
While I object to that generalization, it is accurate for DH, who is actually a computer nerd. CG is the only one who calls him an engineer.
- Status
