• Deciphering the Matrix Digital Rain
    Turns out The Matrix's code isn't really made of sushi recipes. I fed it to Google Translate and got back an industrial parts catalog, three real cultures, and one day spa.
  • The poetic tension of Google Translate on the website versus the Google Translate formula in Google Sheets
    My goodness, that was a long title.
  • I am the Tickle Monster
    Wear a shirt that says 闹痒痒怪物 in Chinese. Wait for someone to ask what it means. Say, "I am the Tickle Monster." Consequences follow.
  • Wishing someone ‘happy birthday’ in a language neither of you know
    The literal translation for 'Happy Birthday' in 80 languages. For instance, Indonesian 'Congratulations on your year repetition!'
  • Learning to write a phrase in Hindi
    My wonderful wife wrote a gracious message on my Facebook wall for Father’s day. In her message she mentioned, “joie de vivre.” Not knowing what this phrase means, I headed over to one of my favorite resources on the internet,…
  • The German word for spam
    What is the German word for spam? I was hoping it would be something awesome like, Schmerzlichmail. However, it’s simply “Spam.” But the article makes it fun… in the German languages there are three different ways of saying “the”: der,…
  • How to say “honeymoon” in 65 languages
    Honeymoon is such an interesting word. The Japanese have a fun way of translating the word (as covered on my wedding blog). The French literally translates it as “moon of honey,” as seen on Etymonline.com: 1540s, hony moone, but probably…
  • Try typing random letters into Google Translate and see which language it detects
    The Croatian language has a lot of the letters k, v, and z. Type of bunch of those letters into Google Translate like this: vzkvzvkzv zk vzkvzkzv kzvkz vzk vz kv zvzvkvz kvzkzv kzvkzvzvzv kvzkzv Google thinks that it’s Czech.…
  • Google Translate Circle
    Translate some lyrics in English and translate them into Japanese and back into English. You end up with some pretty funny results. The Pledge of Allegiance ends up becoming: “United States of America of flag to and that I swears…
  • 91 different ways of saying crazy
    Ever call someone crazy in an IM or text? Perhaps you even get a little creative and call that person ker-azee. Now you can never run out of ways to call someone crazee with this list of 96 different spellings…
  • Can I speak Estonian?
    Ma ei räägi eesti keelt, mida mälu. Ma ei oska eesti keelt läbi Google Translate. Minu murre on Google Translate murre Eesti. Võin rääkida iga töö Eesti Google Translate olemasolu. Minu väga sõnad siin on tõend selle kohta vööri alla,…
  • Freetranslation cycle
    Go to freetranslation.com, translate some English into another language, and then convert it back to english. ENGLISH: I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under…
  • DJ Otzi “Burger Dance” song translated from German to English
    There’s a new dance song by DJ Otzi called “Burger Dance” Here’s the German: Oooooooooohhh…. The Pizza Hut, the Pizza Hut, Kentucky fried chicken in the Pizza Hut, the Pizza Hut, the Pizza Hut, Kentucky fried chicken in the Pizza…
  • Translation
    You know those online translator sites that translate stuff into other languages automatically? Of course things get lost in automatic translation, so here’s a fun game: 1) Take a phrase in English 2) Put it into an online translator like…