tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712189.post1112429780364282738..comments2023-06-28T13:13:10.615+00:00Comments on This AKTing Lark: 23 January 2007: German BightDuncMcRaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11757067564266061317noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712189.post-35336085602387293802007-01-26T11:33:00.000+00:002007-01-26T11:33:00.000+00:00Ah, that rings a long-forgotten German GCSE bell. ...Ah, that rings a long-forgotten German GCSE bell. Ich trage ein rock, that sort of thing. Hmm.<br /><br />Skirt universe is brilliant though, much more poetic and imaginative than the frankly prosaic coat everything ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712189.post-34424126750338788412007-01-24T12:11:00.000+00:002007-01-24T12:11:00.000+00:00I have an answer, sadly rather bland. Apparently '...I have an answer, sadly rather bland. Apparently 'Rock' is a masculine noun in German which can mean either 'coat' or 'skirt'. Babelfish is presumably aware of the German method of sticking two words together to make one brand new word, therefore in reverse it splits up what it assumes is a compound word into constituent parts. So Portland becomes 'Port Land' which leads to 'Harbour Country' and Rockall becomes 'Rock All' which eventually chinese-whispers its way into 'skirt universe', it could just as easily have been 'coat everything'.<br /><br />What confuses me now is why certain other things weren't translated in such a way: why did 'Plymouth' not become 'Layer Jaws' or 'Wight' become 'Forest-based ghost creatures from Lord of the Rings'?DuncMcRaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11757067564266061317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712189.post-34935396622756288472007-01-24T10:59:00.000+00:002007-01-24T10:59:00.000+00:00Maybe it thought it it was translating 'Frock'all?...Maybe it thought it it was translating 'Frock'all?<br /><br />I'll get me coat ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com