We’ve all done it. The fun of Google Translate or Babelfish. Taking in a word or phrase and then piping it through as many translations as possible to get something amusing and awesome. While listening to a podcast today I discovered an amazing site that takes an English word or phrase and then converts it back and forth between languages (uses Japanese/English currently) until it reaches an equilibrium. I have seen one occurrence where it fails to find equilibrium, but it was too naughty to ever repeat. This is fairly fun and the results are more often than not, far and away from the original statement.
Find it here: http://translationparty.com
Here’s what I ended up with for starters:
These kids today just don’t understand.
into Japanese
これらの子供たちは、今日だけで理解していない。
back into English
These kids, just do not understand today.
back into Japanese
これらの子供たちは、ちょうど今日理解していない。
back into English
These kids, I just do not understand.
back into Japanese
これらの子供 たちは、私は理解していない。
back into English
These kids, I do not understand.
back into Japanese
これらの子供た ちは、私は理解していない。
back into English
These kids, I do not understand.
Equilibrium found!
This is a real translation party!
I look forward to any amusing output in the comments :)
Enjoy!
–ben