Google translated sign of the time
There are roughly 6,000 languages in existence, and if you’re a human being, your brain can handle only a fraction of one percent of them.
So we understand the temptation to rely on machines for translation.
To which we have one word to say. Don’t.
Not unless you have a fluent human in the loop willing to vouch for the quality of the translation.
Sadly, we are certain these English words we write will not be read by the non-English-speaking Israeli official responsible for translating this sign we found on the Facebook group “Weerd, Mizpelt Inglish in Izreal.”
Arguably, the computer might have done a better job at translating the notice that “the left turn is closed” had someone not omitted a second letter yod from the first Hebrew word, changing the word for “turn” into the word for “face.”
But then, if people got everything right, we wouldn’t be so tempted to rely on equally, though perhaps more interestingly, flawed computer oracles.
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