Language & "translation" fun

A Consuming Experience

Blogging, internet, software, mobile, telecomms, gadgets, technology, media and digital rights from the perspective of a consumer / user, including reviews, rants and random thoughts. Aimed at intelligent non-geeks, who are all too often unnecessarily disenfranchised by excessive use of tech jargon, this blog aims to be informative and practical without being patronising. With guides, tutorials, tips - and the occasional ever so slightly naughty observation.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Add this post to Del.icio.us, Digg or Furl | Create Watchlist

OK, some of this isn't new at all, but I missed it before and I know I wasn't the only one. So - here's a collection of (kinda) language or translation funnies or just plain fun.

Google is hyperglotic, we all know that. But did you know that Google's Language Tools page, which lets you use Google's interface in the language of your choice, includes as options:

Bork, bork, bork!
Elmer Fudd - are ya feewing wucky, huh??
Hacker
Klingon
Pig Latin

(as well as the more expected Esperanto and Interlingua)?

I'd completely missed those before. If you did too, try those links above - they really work. And your selected "language" is maintained in the interface in your search results too. Plus, those languages are offered as options in the "Google in Your Language" program!

I also like these:

Flip - create upside down text - it's fun to enter stuff and copy/paste the upside down result in emails to your mates! noʎ ǝɹɐ ʍoɥ ǝɹǝɥʇ ıɥ. Not quite translation, but hey.
English-to-12-Year-Old-AOLer Translator - self-evident. Converts English to text speak etc.
Pop Culture Translator (Flash) - click on a still photo to play the accompanying video clip complete with "English translation" voiceover. Absolutely hilarious, I especially like the "translations" of Sean Paul and Ozzy Osbourne. And Brad Pitt's Oirish. Oh, I love all of them.
The Dialectizer, the granddaddy of them all I believe, and still funny - translates entered text or a web page into Redneck, Jive, Cockney, Elmer Fudd, Swedish Chef, Moron, Pig Latin, or Hacker, in case anyone has managed not to have come across it yet. Shame that some sites have actually asked not to be "translated", including Google - despite the great sense of humour they showed in doing the language thang on their own site (if you try to enter http://www.google.com/ to translate on that site, you get "We regret to inform you that the owner of the web page you are trying to dialectize has requested that it not be translated by The Dialectizer.") Well I'm hopefully enough of a good sport that here's A Consuming Experience in cockney.

And of course, in case you haven't seen it before, I still like the text to speech tool where you can type in anything to have it read out in your choice of voices and accents, and even download the WAV audio file to email to a friend.

Labels: fun, humour

Add this post to Del.icio.us, Digg or Furl | Email this post to a friend | Edit | New