I've solved the world's problems.........

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RSWells
Member Elite

since 2001-06-17

Posts 2533

0 posted 2003-04-23 09:30 PM

Bear with me and decide how much is tongue and how much cheek.

What we need is one world language (surely a statement that will irk true poets).

First a bible story;
"The biblical tale of Babel describes how, in the early days of the world, all mankind spoke one language. Journeying from the east, they came to the great plains of Babylonia," (ironically today Iraq) "and settled. They wished to build a tower so high that its top could reach heaven; however God was angry with their arrogance, and as punishment for this excessive human pride, similar to that shown in Eden," (a real place Edin in Iraq) "God divided the people by giving them different languages and scattering them over the face of the earth."
      Genesis 11;1--11;9 (King James Version)

Those who have wanted to translate works from other languages may be aware of AltaVista's website "babel fish". It is a noble effort but sometimes (well often) falls short. But it prompted this experiment. I took the famous first verse from Katharine Lee Bates (hey wasn't she in "Misery"? or was that Regis' partner?)song

       America The Beautiful

    O beautiful for spacious skies,
       For amber waves of grain,
    For purple mountain majesties
       Above the fruited plain!
    America! America!
       God shed His grace on thee
    And crown thy good with brotherhood
       From sea to shining sea!

I allowed babel fish to translate it from English to French, from French to English, to German and back to English. My reasons should be obvious for anyone current on world events (particularly world misunderstandings) This is how that translation read ;

    "O beautifully  for roomy the skies, vaguely
      ambers the grain,
     The majesties crimsons the mountain
     over the fruit camps level!
    America! America! Hangar of the God its
     beauty on good thy of thee and of crown
      with the brother shank of the sea
     toward to the bright sea!

Now until we can all agree (yea right) on a common language I recommend that instead of the Germans allowing the French to get them upset (that's a switch) They consult the Japanese (from the original axis of evil). The Japanese translation from this mess at this point is far more poetic and sufficiently bureaucratic that none should find offense. Again from babel fish;

   Beautifully O it is wide for the sake of the sky
   namely vaguely the crimsons of the royalty
   which the ambers grain namely the
   mountain in regard to camp of the fruit
    makes horizontal
   America! America! the hangar thee of God
   to the bright sea beauty of the thy where
   the crown which has the shank of the
    sibling of the sea is good!

Now who could get angry with that?

Whadya think? Maybe pig Latin?

Poet deVine

Administrator

Member Seraphic

since 1999-05-26

Posts 22612
Hurricane Alley

1 posted 2003-04-23 11:05 PM

ouyay avehay ayay oodgay ideahay!

Mysteria

Member Laureate

since 2001-03-07

Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada

2 posted 2003-04-24 12:25 PM

eghay urshay osdey!

KristieSue

Senior Member

since 2003-01-31

Posts 1460
PA, US

3 posted 2003-04-24 08:09 AM

ouyay areyay allyaya utsnay! LOL

Pretty interesting translations though!

Failure isn't failure if a lesson from it is learned ~ KS

RSWells
Member Elite

since 2001-06-17

Posts 2533

4 posted 2003-04-24 08:59 AM

Ankthay oooyay allyay, iyay inkthay.

Sunshine

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-25

Posts 63354
Listening to every heart

5 posted 2003-04-24 09:15 AM

Tammy Blessing
Member

since 2002-08-26

Posts 366
PA

6 posted 2003-04-24 12:20 PM

igpay atinlay isay otnay ympay ingthay... but a Utopian language? That's quite an idea!

Midnitesun

Member Empyrean

since 2001-05-18

Posts 28647
Gaia

7 posted 2003-04-24 09:40 PM

ROTFL. I did almost the same thing one night, from English to French to Japanese to Spanish then Italian, and back to English. Man, the result was a total jibberish!
Come to think of it, maybe JIBBERISH IS the international language?

Balladeer

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-05

Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA

8 posted 2003-04-24 10:16 PM

If jibberish were the international language, Toerag would be a translator at the U.N.!!

Richard, I admire a mind that come up with an idea like this for thought....nicely done!

blueyedlioness
Member

since 2003-04-24

Posts 289
USA

9 posted 2003-04-25 12:44 PM

That. Is. GREAT!

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