A tapestry of words
1
FOUND IN TRANSLATION
Google Translate is a wonder. It conveys words or phrases in the (many) languages I don’t speak or whose vocabularies I haven’t deepened, and it makes communication a lot easier. What a gem of a product to have in my pocket when I’m traveling, reading, writing, living.
Here’s how I use it when typing an email to a beloved great-aunt whose primary language is German: compose the email in English. Copy and paste the entire thing into Google Translate. Retrieve the translation. Email both the English and the translated German versions to my aunt. Done and dusted.
What I’ve never once done, primarily because I don’t have the skill, speaking only rudimentary versions of a few languages other than my native tongue, but also because it would take a lot of time and care, is review the translated text to make sure the translation captures my sentiment and voice.
A lot is lost in translation. When I write to someone whose primary language differs from mine, I try to avoid idiom and slang, I write short sentences in simplified structures, none of these run-on sentences with commas and semicolons sprinkled along the way that you’re so accustomed to here. Simplification and directness are the extent of what I can do to make the machine translation spit out the closest approximation of my original intent. (I think. I can’t check because I neither speak nor read any other languages fluently. I must trust the machine. And I do. I’m pretty sure it’s doing a good enough job.)
Recently, though, I read / watched / marveled my way through an interactive article where a literary translator demonstrated how she translates a single sentence from a book. It is no mean feat, my friends.
When I consider translation, I think simplistic things like: “one word in this language is usually equivalent to another word in that language” and “basic sentence structure varies.” What hadn’t settled into my mind until diving deeper into the process is: “translation is poetry” and “translation is intent” and “translation is rhythm” and “translation requires deep knowledge” and “translation is art.”
Machine translation is convenient and quick, and yes, it’s great for sending an email in my language to someone who speaks another language, and it’s useful for stumbling my way through communicating in a language I speak at a 101 level, but it doesn’t capture nuance or spirit or local dialect or voice. When we translate work by machine, we lose the artistry the writer wove into their words—the output blunted, dulled, sanded, smoothed. Novelists and poets, those who sculpt worlds that take shape in our imaginations, deserve their work to be handcrafted by another person who can unravel it word by word and weave those threads back into something as honed, captivating, and intricate as the original.
2
THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE
Ooh, I love a good interactive data visualization experience. Today’s topic: dark patterns.
You might be wondering what a dark pattern is. Is that like a plaid in black and navy? No (though that would be hot). On ye olde internet (super-squirrel-random-aside moment: I just learned that “ye olde” is a made-up term that we currently ascribe to Olde English but is just a parody of language past. /squirrel), we read, peruse, browse, consume, shop, subscribe. So many verbs. You can do anything in this internet place … except for get off that dang mailing list you didn’t subscribe to in the first place that emails you every freaking day.
How did you get on this list anyway? Let The Pudding take you on a journey into the world of dark patterns.
3
THE DARKNESS INSIDE
Is there anything more validating than when science confirms my life choices?
My family might make fun of my sleep-mask-clad visage every night, but now I can tell them that science says I'm getting better sleep and encoding memories more deeply by sleeping in the darkest dark I can create for myself, so ppppblt. (That's me attempting to type out the sound of *blows raspberry*.) I might look like a giant bug while I sleep in an eye mask with cups protruding from my face, but it’s worth it.
4
HOW BIG IS TOO BIG
There’s so much data being generated that new prefixes had to be invented to accommodate the measurement thereof. Particle physicists, take note.
5
EMOJI BLENDER
Ever wanted to design your own emoji but lacked either the motivation or the artistic/design-software skill? Your time is now. Use the emoji blender to craft personalized emoji. I made an emoji of two hedgehogs in love. Now, what’s the perfect chat to insert that into? Send me your ideas.