Localization Lingo 101
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- cuzittt
- NALocke
- NALocke
- cuzittt
- NALocke
- cuzittt
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» cuzittt - Localization Lingo 101
Nancy-While I enjoyed reading this article, there are some terms that seem more familiar than the ones mentioned in your article.
For example, KCCJ is an acronym I have never used nor seen. Rather, CJK and CJKV (Chinese, Japanese Korean, Vietnamese) are more typically used.
Of course, any number of acronyms may be used that are specific to a specific project or a specific company. For example, one company I worked for often used PFIGS, which added Portuguese to the quartet you mentioned.
I would be remiss if I did not point out your use of Urban Legions in your examples of Localization examples that failed (even if they did come from Simultrans or is widely disseminated).
The Coca-Cola story, for example is not true in the context you provide. Various transliterations were used, including the famous "Bite the Wax Tadpole," but none were the official transliteration by the Coca-Cola corporation. See http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/tadpole.h...
Even worse is the Chevy Nova Urban Legend. As noted in http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/... this rumor is completely untrue, and is silly once one thinks about it.
One error, which may have been typographical, is that Internationalization is shortened to I18N, not I13N.
However, do not take these complaints too seriously. The bulk of the article is useful and is a good overview of acronyms, and the weird world of internationalization.
Brandon Magee
Localization Analyst
eventra
www.eventra.com
-- posted by cuzittt
» NALocke - Thanks for the feedback
Brandon,That's exactly the kind of feedback that I value. Actually, I wondered if the urban legends were bunk. The statistics bandied about (typically attributed to Jupiter, IDC and Forrester) also make me a little leery. Both the legends and the statistics seem to gain credibility, and their veracity diminishes, with time and repetition, a process that reminds me of the child's game "operator."
If I ever have any real budget, I'd love to track back to the source of the legends. I'll keep an eye out for typos.
Thanks again for your input. By the way, the links you supplied don't seem to be functional. I'll fiddle around with them and try to get to the sites cited.
Sincerely,
-- posted by NALocke
» cuzittt - Re: Thanks for the feedback
In response to message posted by NALocke:Nancy-
I think a lot of these Urban Legions persist because they seem truthful, and the thought that anyone with rudimentary knowledge of the language would never "green light" the product name. I mean, of course "No va" means "It doesn't go." But "Nova" doesn't.
The problem with highlighting the "Nova" story, is that it misses the more egregious real errors. The Parker Pen story (also on Snopes) highlights a real problem with translations, the use of false friends. The use of the verb "embarazar" for embarrassed is at the same point logical (for those not knowing the language) and comical (for those knowing the language). Embarazar, of course, is the verb for "to be pregnant."
Of course, any issue with Chinese character transliteration is going to have many potential problems. However, highlighting Coca-Cola (which did not sanction the transliteration which translated to "Bite the Wax Tadpole") unfairly punishes Coca-Cola for stupidity. Pepsi Co., which did sanction the translation which could be construed as "Pepsi brings your Dead Relatives back to Life", should be highlighted.
All these examples bring about problems with translations. To tie this in with the current MT discussion, if Human translators have this many problems, imagine the extra difficulties Machine translations have.
-Brandon Magee
Localization Analyst
eventra
-- posted by cuzittt
» NALocke - Re: Re: Thanks for the feedback
In response to message posted by cuzittt:Brandon,
And text translation represents only a fraction of the challenges by those who would communicate cross-culturally. Seems that researchers at UC San Diego have come up with a "mood cam" designed to make iconic happy faces and the like obsolete in online communications. According to an article published at EETimes and republished on TechWeb, The Machine Perception Lab's invention can now recognize 12 (!!!) moods. The mind reels when imagining the task of "localizing" that little innovation.
I have personal experience of the false friends pitfall. While dining with a member of the Assemblée Nationale (I was a naive au pair), I asserted that French bread was good because it lacked "preservatives." Sounds très French, right? It is. It means condoms. My bilingual marriage is a perpetual hoot (on both sides of the linguistic divide) even though my French (and my Québecois) has improved considerably.
Again, I apologize for perpetuating the Coca Cola myth, and thank you for the link. I'm passing it along in other ways.
Best,
-- posted by NALocke
» cuzittt - Re: Re: Re: Thanks for the feedback
In response to message posted by NALocke:Nancy,
There is nothing really to apologize for in passing along the Urban Legions. We wouldn't be having this fine discussion if you hadn't.
Of course, The problem of false friends is a perpetual problem. However, My High School Spanish teacher related a story of his first trip to Spain, and how he went to a store looking for soap. He kept asking for "Jamón" to wash himself. The storekeeper kept looking at him quizzically. It soon dawned on him that he was asking for HAM to wash himself, as he remembered the correct for was jabón.
It just goes to show, Language learning is not easy.
-Brandon Magee
Localization Analyst
eventra
-- posted by cuzittt
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