Translating Human

I don’t understand what you said.

Fortunately for me, I have help “translating” what you said (or, more accurately, wrote) – thanks to “tech” and the Internet.

Do not get me wrong, I do not use these services very often (most people communicate to me in fairly decent English) but when I need them, I need them. If you know what I mean.

When I run across a phrase, or some website, so rude as to be in some language other than American English, I first go to Babel Fish. Babel Fish allows me to ‘paste’ up to 150 words into the ‘translator box’, choose my language – to – English (in my case) conversion, and – click – I will instantly have a rough idea of what’s being said. Or I can enter a website’s URL, and the whole page will be ‘converted’.
I have yet to try using Google’s Goggles app on my ‘droid (see, Does Your Android Wear Goggles?)

When someone is using American English, but their choice of phrase or colloquialism (“expression”) is unfamiliar to me (maybe because I don’t get out enough..) I use one of three ‘options’:
* if I suspect the phrase is young and hip ‘street talk’ or popular slang, I go straight to the Urban Dictionary.
* if I suspect the phrase is regional, or from an era before my time, I look in Phrases.net.
* [Parents take note] if I am asked to decipher a teenager’s chat ‘texting’ (more accurately, “lingo”) – which is deliberately not meant for adults to understand – I use either Lingo2Word, which is a ‘paste in’ instant translator very much like Babel Fish, or NoSlang.com which has the same tool as well as a dictionary. NoSlang is a bit more comprehensive.. it includes “net speak” (Internet slang).
Bonus Quick link: 25 Internet Slang Terms All Parents Should Know)

And last but not least.. I can ‘Google it’.

I think, out of all of those.. I use Urban Dictionary the most. But I am not a parent. If I were, I would bookmark NoSlang…

Today’s free link: Download FREE Microsoft Office Training Manuals and Quick Reference Guides

“Most people only know the basics of this powerful Office Suite and only challenge themselves to learn more when the the environment they are working in demands its. Any edge you can get to make your job easier, with Microsoft Office, can pay dividends in the end; not only for you, but for those you are working for.“

Bonus bonus: Take a look at Google today. They have one of their “artsy” name mods up…

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Deciphering Texting (aka "Lingo")*

Folks– obligations require a re-posting today.

I have an embarrassing confession to make–I don’t always know how to translate what someone has text-ed into English. I need a Text-to-English dictionary. This is just one more fact, added to an already long list of facts, that tells me I’ve gotten old. We didn’t have ‘texting’ when I was a teenager.

At first, I thought texting (aka “lingo”) was simply X-treme Abbreviation. And then, I thought it might be a combination of vanity license-plate Language and X-Abbreviation. This thinking allowed me to read some of what I saw, but not all. I could decipher “gr8″ and “l8r”, but not “ttyl”. It didn’t help that I wasn’t a “text-er” myself (Use a cell phone and give myself ear cancer? Not this fella!).

And then it dawned on me– these kids are using an Adult-proof secret code. They don’t want me to decipher it. The world suddenly made a lot more sense. When I was a lad, my friends and I had used code too.

Fortunately, there are resources available for those of us who are lingo-challenged. If you see “A/S/L”, but don’t understand what it means, you can find out (age/sex/location?) — and if you are a parent concerned about your child and what they’re doing and saying on the Internet and in chatrooms — I suggest you do.

If you’re like me, and just want to learn, and try to increase your “hipness” quotient (or just avoid some terrible faux pas), you will also find these translation resources useful and interesting. My favorite of these online dictionaries is Lingo2Word. With it, you can paste in text, and have it automatically deciphered for you.

Related link: Lingo2Word. “Lingo2word is devoted to demystifying the new Internet shorthand language of Text messages, Chat rooms and Emails. We are devoted to the fun of text messaging in all forms, there is a whole new fun language out there just waiting for you!”

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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The lingo that you do

Folks– business obligations require a reposting today…

I have an embarrassing confession to make–I don’t always know how to translate what someone has text-ed into English. I need a Text-to-English dictionary. This is just one more fact, added to an already long list of facts, that tells me I’ve gotten ‘old’. We didn’t have texting when I was a teenager.

I think part of my problem stems from the fact that we have had an explosion of an “extreme” (or maybe I should say “X-treme”) phenomenon in this country. Everything has become X-treme this, and X-treme that. There are the X-Games featuring X-treme Sports, X-treme Motorcross, X-treme Snowboarding…we even had X-treme Football for a while. Guys are no longer content jumping their motorcycles across small creeks, they want to fly, and they do loop-the-loop’s now.

At first I thought texting was simply X-treme Abbreviation. And then I thought it might be a combination of Vanity Licenseplate Language and X-Abbreviation. This thinking allowed me to read some of what I saw, but not all. I could decipher “gr8” and “l8r”, but not “b4n”. It didn’t help that I wasn’t a “texter” myself (Use a cellphone and give myself ear cancer? Not this fella!).

And then it dawned on me: these kids are using an Adult-proof secret code. They don’t want me to decipher it. The world suddenly made a lot more sense. My friends and I had used code too.

Fotunately, there are resources available for those of us who are “lingo”-handicapped. If you see “A/S/L”, but don’t understand what it means, you can find out (age/sex/location?) — and if you are a parent concerned about your kid and what they’re doing and saying on the Internet and in chatrooms — I suggest you do. If you’re like me, and just want to try to increase your “hipness” quotient (or just avoid some terrible faux pas), you will also find these translation resources useful and interesting. My favorite is below:

Free link of the day: Lingo2Word. “Lingo2word is devoted to demistifying the new Internet shorthand language of Text messages, Chat rooms and Emails. We are devoted to the fun of text messaging in all forms, there is a whole new fun language out there just waiting for you!”

Copyright © 2007 Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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