"Michael A. Terrell" on Tue, 13 Nov 2012
14:12:46 -0500 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

pyotr filipivich wrote:

Babblefish, or Google translates, give you the gist of a work. But
if you want to read something with nuances, "idioms" or the like - it
might not be so good. "The Vodka is strong but the meat is rotten".
etc.


Sometimes it's the only way you can read it, without learning another
language.

Oh I know. I had a heck of a time trying to find the text to a
poem I had sort of learned in Russian class. ("My Comrades" by Boris
Slutsky) "Schmart guy dot I was" - I only copied it down in Russian,
in script. I could read it when I copied it, but not twenty years
later.
The translation that was generated was "close enough" that I
could "clean it up" back to something more inline with what I
remember.
Part of the problems, is as always, poetry does not translate
well, and by machine it is even worse.
--
pyotr
Go not to the Net for answers, for it will tell you Yes and no. And
you are a bloody fool, only an ignorant cretin would even ask the
question, forty two, 47, the second door, and how many blonde lawyers
does it take to change a lightbulb.