Ethnic Balkanization masquerading under the alias "multiculturalism" may lead New York City to translate [city websites into six] different languages and risks the failure of previous attempts, writes National Review contributer Jim Boulet, Jr.:
Washington State's attempt to use translation software led to nothing but complaints.Example: a statement by Washington's Secretary of State Sam Reed, proposing "statewide mandates to restore public trust," was translated into Chinese as "Swampy weed suggests whole state order recover open trust."
Back in college, my diatonic and chromatic harmony professor told a poignant story about the limitations of internet translation software like the popular, web-based Babelfish. He and a few colleagues entered the idiom "Out of sight, out of mind" and instructed Babelfish to translate the phrase into Chinese, then back into English. The result? "Invisible idiot."
FOR THE RECORD: My professor must have used a different program. Babelfish produces "Stemming from sight outside brains," which isn't "invisible idiot" but not exactly desirable for the sake of clarity, either.