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- Posts: 1888
- Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2008 11:54 am
Don_Hilton, oh, me too! The number of times I've answered the question the original poster didn't ask...
Incidentally, I am more or less doomed to using a lit match to look for gas leaks in our lab owing to a small incident with the plumbers a year or two back. We had a possible leak and asked them to look, and two turned up with a gas detector that had a red light on the end of a stick thing. Plumber 1 for some reason held it to plumber 2's left ear, and without thinking, I looked in the right ear... plumber 2 has never quite forgiven me for implying there was no obstacle between the ears (he hasn't forgiven plumber 1 for that matter).
Peter et al., I had also heard "the flesh is weak..." story; Google translate seems vastly better than its predecessors (try it on stable doors. It is very good at guessing from context whether they are doors that aren't unstable, or doors that keep horses inside). But it still messes up proverbs if you translate them to another language, and (and this is important!) back again...
Many years ago, while living in Germany, I bought myself a dictionary of "Redewendungen", i.e. little sayings and expressions. For some while I tried to learn one each day, and worm it into conversation somehow. The results varied from blank incomprehension to hopeless laughter depending on just how badly I'd missed the target. I never once managed to use an expression correctly. Still, it was never quite as bad as the time I accidentally asked a colleague to remove her clothes. Language can be a dangerous thing.
When writing in a foreign language, simplicity and clarity are key. This also applies when writing one's own language for foreign readers.
Incidentally, I am more or less doomed to using a lit match to look for gas leaks in our lab owing to a small incident with the plumbers a year or two back. We had a possible leak and asked them to look, and two turned up with a gas detector that had a red light on the end of a stick thing. Plumber 1 for some reason held it to plumber 2's left ear, and without thinking, I looked in the right ear... plumber 2 has never quite forgiven me for implying there was no obstacle between the ears (he hasn't forgiven plumber 1 for that matter).
Peter et al., I had also heard "the flesh is weak..." story; Google translate seems vastly better than its predecessors (try it on stable doors. It is very good at guessing from context whether they are doors that aren't unstable, or doors that keep horses inside). But it still messes up proverbs if you translate them to another language, and (and this is important!) back again...
Many years ago, while living in Germany, I bought myself a dictionary of "Redewendungen", i.e. little sayings and expressions. For some while I tried to learn one each day, and worm it into conversation somehow. The results varied from blank incomprehension to hopeless laughter depending on just how badly I'd missed the target. I never once managed to use an expression correctly. Still, it was never quite as bad as the time I accidentally asked a colleague to remove her clothes. Language can be a dangerous thing.
When writing in a foreign language, simplicity and clarity are key. This also applies when writing one's own language for foreign readers.
