Posted on June 08, 2008 by Meg

This post from Simpson’s Paradox on funny vocab in Chinese-English translations might be a giggle to you bibliophiles. It seems like some obsolete words may be making a comeback!

Not to mention the obscure English vocabulary brought back to life by electronic translators. Stick and I went to see an apartment recently because the landlady promised us a bathroom containing a lavabo and close stool. That’s a sink and a toilet to those of you without SCA membership. I don’t know if ad and pamphet translators agree with my students, and feel that the longest semi-synonym provided by the dictionary is the most impressive, and therefore the best choice. But you can easily imagine the humor of these BabelFish translations.