posted on May 19, 2006 02:57:21 PM new
He's baaaaack! Our friend Pitou (whom some of you may remember by his penchant for spanking) is writing a letter to his parents:
Chers Parents,
Que je vous écris en vous écrivant ces lignes pour vous dire que je viens d`être décoré de deux boutons de plus à ma tunique; nonobstant que le brigadier de chambrée déclare qu'il faut toujours arroser une décoration, je vous prie de m'envoyer un mandat relatif, etc., etc.
Votre fils,
Onésime-Chrysostome Pitou
3. du 4
Any help with translation would be greatly appreciated!
[ edited by pixiamom on May 19, 2006 02:57 PM ]
posted on May 19, 2006 03:09:12 PM new
Here's what BableFish comes up with.
Dear Parents, That I write to you by writing these lines to you to think that I come d`être decorated with two buttons moreover to my tunic; notwithstanding the sergeant of barrack room that always should be sprinkled a decoration declares, please send a relative mandate, etc to me, etc. Your son, Onésime-Chrysostome Pitou 3. of the 4
Yep, it's bable. Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
posted on May 19, 2006 03:55:59 PM new
Have to agree with agate. It may not be perfect but 90+% of the time I can figure out the meaning of the translation. Just takes a good imiganition to fill in the blanks and move the words around.
Also, don't forget that when ANY laungage translator program does its thing it's going to look the same. The program is not able to put words into the proper placement to look "correct" in English. Many foreign laungages don't go by the same screwed up set of rules we use for the English language. German is a good example. Translate a page of German and it will be all broken. That's because in the German laungage they use nouns, verb's and so on in different context and placement when compared to our screwed up laungage. Just like the German laungage is gender based. A fork is feminine, a spoon is masculine and a knife is neutrer. Programs have a hard time putting thing's into context.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
posted on May 19, 2006 04:35:12 PM new
It has got me out of some problems too. as you say mike. not perfect but certainly better then anything i have found. it seems to translate german and comes out in reverse sometimes. but i do get the message and can usually do the business.
[[[ A fork is feminine, a spoon is masculine and a knife is neutrer.]]] never knew that.
posted on May 19, 2006 04:47:45 PM new
Ah....our poor friend Pitou. It's hard to transalte because poor Pitou is also slightly illiterate as well as desiring a spanking as per the previous letter. As he's illiterate I've taken some liberties to read between the lines.
.
.
.
This correspondence is a little nothing. He writes:
.
.Dear Parents,
.
.
I'm writing to let you know that I've been told by my sargeant, who always dresses to perfection like a little dandy, tells me that there's a problem with my uniform, nitpicking on 2 little buttons and my tunic not being just so. It's all relative compared to his penchant for perfection, and frankly, I believe that he's aroused by my good looks. Your son, Pitou, the 3rd of 4.
posted on May 19, 2006 07:39:43 PM new
I haven't put this one into it, but I always have better luck with systran than babelfish. I'll bet part of the problem with this one is it's hundred year old French, and modern machine translators aren't equipped for archaic language.
____________________________________________
posted on May 22, 2006 11:09:58 AM new
Do you still need this translated? Lol. Too funny. I have a fluent friend who can translate it for you if you still need it
posted on May 22, 2006 11:29:45 AM new
Thanks all for the help. I haven't decided which translation to go with yet. I may just list it and let folks do their own translation. It's supposed to be comic but I must be missing something...
posted on May 22, 2006 12:27:07 PM new
Pix - go with the second one. It's funny as hell especially with that pic.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
People put their hand on the bible, and swear to uphold the constitution. They do not put their hand on the constitution, and swear to uphold the bible.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein