Answer regard Vlad. Proverbs and citation -good or bad?

[DSP007]

More flood and small phylosopy

Askelaad,
Don't worry about "Ok, thank you for your help so far! (although i didn't understand the first line of your last reply0", because DSP007 always quotes and translates Russian catch phrases and proverbs which mean nothing to people here unless they understand Russian. Proverbs do not translate directly from one language to another....and I am sure that 95% here has no idea who Lenin (mentioned in another post) is and another 5% have only negative impression of him (Lenin was one of the first Communist leaders back at the beginning of last century). There are equivalents for cited "references" but you need to know them....so pay attention only to scientific parts of posts

Здравствуй Влад. Твое замечание верное . Но замечу что во первых "иностранцы придурки , но не дураки" и посмотреть чья цитата могут, если захотят. Гугла с энциклопедией рулят.
Во вторых многие научные ситуации аналогичны бытовым , а способы разрешения бытовых ситуаций аналогичны вне зависимости от языка и сконцентрированы в поговорках и книгах (к примеру в Библии).
Поскольку форум англоязычный сейчас переведу.
Hello Vlad. Your observation is correct.
But I note that in the first place "residents of a foreign country - strange, but not stupid " (с) and see "whose quotation" may, if they wish. Encyclopedias and google rule (direct way). (Associative in russian rule-[rul' = steering wheel ] , positive)
Second, many scientific situations similar to domestic and ways to solve everyday situations are similar regardless of the language and are concentrated in the sayings and books (for instance in the Bible).
Since the Forum will be translated in English now.

[HW Mueller]

Well, if I thought that the chicken and egg had a relation to acid dissociation equilibria I would have gone to the farm and not bother with the university hassle.

[Peter Apps]

DSP

You plainly have a considerable breadth of knowledge in chemistry, and a wider outlook than the instrumental techniques that chromatographers tend to focus on. Nonetheless, even as a first language English speaker I find your posts difficult to understand, and to someone with English as a second or third language they musy be utterly incomprehensible.

In my experience, when communicating with people whose first language is not English it is best to state things in simple terms. If, for instance, I think that someone is making a job more difficult than it needs to be, I say "I think that you are making this more difficult than it needs to be", I do not tell parables about missiles and chickens. Parables, proverbs, folk sayings and catch phrases usually do not translate well from one language to another, and they hardly ever translate at all through automatic translation software. Even if they do translate, they are often linked to specific cultures and traditions that people from different countries do not share.

As an example, try Google translate on this: "Reading google translations from Russian into English is like whipping lame horses and a Sussex cart uphill on a road of boulders into the teeth of gale, while a mountain a feathers, some with the chickes still attached, avalanches downhill around and about". If it comes up with any personal insults I apologise in advance.

It is widely rumoured that the google translation of the "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" comes out as the equivalent of "This vodka is strong but the meat is rotten".

Peter

[DSP007]

Meaning a little different.
Often there is a very simple technical solutions to a problem that is difficult to solve with the help of technical equipment. Especially if " modern, fashionable and powerful, high
precision technical equipment" is not designed for this purpose.
But in order to find a simple technical solution - you need to know foundamental principles and that we want to do ( in process get out) to the smallest detail. As a farmer knows the habits of their chickens.

[H.Thomas]

It is widely rumoured that the google translation of the "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" comes out as the equivalent of "This vodka is strong but the meat is rotten".

I have just tried it - google translates this phrase to German as "Der Geist ist willig, aber das Fleisch ist schwach" and to Russian as "Дух бодр, но плоть слаба". Both translations are correct AFAIK.

That does not disprove your point though - everybody should try to put his or her post in words that the majority of readers can understand. And I can confirm that I also have a hard time getting the meaning of DSP007's posts.

"It's not enough to have no opinion - you also have to be unable to express it!"

[Peter Apps]

It is widely rumoured that the google translation of the "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" comes out as the equivalent of "This vodka is strong but the meat is rotten".

I have just tried it - google translates this phrase to German as "Der Geist ist willig, aber das Fleisch ist schwach" and to Russian as "Дух бодр, но плоть слаба". Both translations are correct AFAIK.

quote]
Another urban legend bites the dust !

Peter

[Don_Hilton]

Some considerations:

On the use of proverbs: Let me put it this way - In my country (USA), it is common for a comedian to pretend a foreign accent and announce in this pretend accent "In my country they have a saying” And then give some string of words which, although all English words, has no sensible meaning in English. The audience almost always laughs. The joke is that the comedian intends for this "proverb" to have no meaning. The humor comes because so many of us have listened to coworkers, friends, and family members who have tried to translate proverbs from the homeland into English - and a quick five or ten word proverb suddenly becomes a discussion of some cultural memory in a distant land. It is no longer a crisp statement of insight.

On the use of stories - be careful that the point is clearly and quickly made. Be sure that the story will be understood by people from many cultures. If a story being used to illustrate a point has to be itself explained - it is not a good illustration. And if the story goes winding through all kinds of irrelevant stuff, it only gets in the way.

Attempts at humor - keep them short and infrequent. There are cultural differences as to what makes for good humor. While Americans and the British both speak English (more or less) what is humorous to one group is frequently not humorous to the other - it is not just a matter of translation.

Respect - There are some analytical techniques that are described on this site that are rather unusual and some are flat out wrong. I have learned to avoid criticizing a technique someone is using for two reasons: 1) Occasionally the strange technique is actually well proven, but used only in a particular discipline. 2) If it is totally wrong, the person writing has either come looking for help or is trying to help -- and with rare exception on this site is willing to discuss and learn.

[DSP007]

You are correct Dr. Mueller.

You do not accidentally watched the movie "Seventeen Moments of Spring?" or it was an accident association?

[H.Thomas]

You are correct Dr. Mueller.

You do not accidentally watched the movie "Seventeen Moments of Spring?" or it was an accident association?

Probably not very many people outside of the Soviet Union have watched this series, regardless of how popular it was there.

You didn't understand the hint, that it was advisable to post "culturally neutral" to be understood, did you?

And we're in a scientific forum here, not on alt.talk.sovok...

[Vlad Orlovsky]

H.Thomas,

In my opinion in this case with HW Mueller and DSP007, DSP007 is implying and referring to this person, which I find very offensive:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Müller_(Gestapo)

I guess he do not realize that some people can post here with their real name and the name might be one of the popular in some of the countries.

I actually now ashamed to be from the same country as DSP.

[H.Thomas]

In my opinion in this case with HW Mueller and DSP007, DSP007 is implying and referring to this person, which I find very offensive:

I'm quite sure he is. Maybe he considers himself to be the reincarnation of Stirlitz

[Vlad Orlovsky]

I guess you are from Russia too.

The link did not post well for the previous post. DSP referred to Russian Series about World War II and one of the Nazi leader during this time (Heinrich Müller)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_M ... _(Gestapo) (for peeole who want to know about the post please cut and paste the whole link)

[lmh]

Don_Hilton, you're right: as an amateur in an academic environment, I often have to do things that are a bit unusual. Being lazy and better at thinking than at finding older literature, and being totally ignorant of good analytical practice, I tend to have a go at making up some method that seems appropriate. If you ever spot me promulgating such a method and consider it downright wrong, you have my complete and unreserved permission to tell me so, provided you explain to me why it's wrong. I'll actually be very grateful if you do! Please don't worry about my feelings. I hope this goes for anyone else who's here to learn.

[HW Mueller]

I don´t understand his contributions, I have other worries than trying to deciver this stuff. Maybe this is a good example to show that personal things should be strictly kept out of a forum of this type.

[Don_Hilton]

lmh: Unless I see something like the suggetion of using a lit match to look for natural gas leaks, I'm going to ask questions first. I have a phenomenal capacity to miss what is going on - which I have demonstrated on this site a time or two. That is one skill I try to avoid showing off.