In Google we trust

When I receive any mail (be it electronic or paper) containing the tax authority’s logo, I forward it to professionals (lawyers or accountants) or trusted Hungarian friends for translation, maintaining a strict adherence to the axiom of not shooting the messenger.

For other random acts of Hungarian mail I have taken up the pastime of Google translating. It’s an entertaining pastime and if you have not yet tried it, I suggest you start now.

I often hear Hungarians say there is no word or definition in English for certain Hungarian words or phrases. This is probably true for most languages. Apparently Canada’s  Inuit have seven words for ‘snow’ while recently arrivals such as my ancestors had only one word. However, we recent arrivals can probably trump the Inuit with our colourful assortment of adjectives we use to describe the word ‘snow’, especially in February. Or better, April.

The subtly of language colours in the corners, nooks and crannies and delicacies of diction. They are the fine hair brushes defining detail in the shadows. They are nuance. It is often here where we gather in cultures and keep strangers out. “You don’t understand’, a euphemism for ‘strangers are not invited’. It is inevitable that these differences will disappear as our friends at Google create more and more sophisticated algorithms to address these anomalies of lexicon.

But for now, Google translate remains a great source of entertainment. For example, consider the Hungarian word, ‘határozott’. Taken without context, one will not be at a loss for words but have an abundance from which to choose. Definite. Decided. Distinct. Unfaltering. Gritty. Game. Manly. Strong-minded. From here we move from the world of algorithms to world of logarithms. For example, ‘game’ in English can have several meanings ranging from forms of entertainment to hunting adventures.

Nooks and crannies morph into tangents and non sequiturs.

I cannot imagine what happens to English-language expression when it is pushed through the Google translate grinder or pulled out through the Magyar filter. “We are so that your teeth should be future time” is an all-time favourite of mine; an excerpt pulled from a dental clinic’s expensive, four-colour brochure.

In Google’s defence, the Hungarian language, like her currency, is not in the mainstream and therefore not at the top of Google’s priorities, as are, for example, street views of Sudbury, Canada; a place where some conspiracy theorists claim the American’s faked the moon landing.

Google translate will change and improve, if for no other reason that Google does face competition; BING (Because It’s Not Google) being a dominant one. However, by comparison, BING is dreary. For ‘határozott’, BING provided but one possible definition: “fixed’. In English, ‘fixed’ has several meanings, not all of them positive.

I firmly believe in the future, all the shadows will be detailed no matter what language we speak. Marry that with voice recognition software and we will be able to travel to all corners of the world and speak with anyone, understanding every nuance found in even the most remote recesses of culture and language.

Until that day, I remain entertained by Google.

Are you ‘határozott”? Férfias? A különböző society? Or simply a megkülönböztethető individual? Sort of. Maybe. Perhaps. Who knows?