Mistranstlation of "hematopoietic"

[rpierce000]

We have all seen "hematopoietic" in our auto translators and wondered what it meant. Rich Crooks and I finally broke down and asked and here is what came back (the wonders of computer translators...):

 

Wow this one took some working out !!

 

The correct translation for  http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m91393415 is:

KATO 10-510,-511,-512;  500 series Nozomi Shinkansen 16 carriage basic set plus extension sets; BRAND NEW

 

The correct translation for http://page19.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/x181150852 is:

As new; KATO 10-279 E-2 series model 1000 Hayate Shinkansen 6 car extension set

 

 

Even with the correct translation I’m sure you can’t work it out … (I couldn’t !!).

 

After a little detective work, it appears that the Auto Translator is translating “extension sets” as "hematopoietic".

And the reason that it’s doing it is that the word used for “extension sets” is peculiar to model railways. It isn’t used anywhere else. And in Japanese, it has the same sound (albeit a different spelling) to "hematopoietic".  The auto-translator is presumably assuming that there has been a spelling mistake.

(This is similar to "there" and "their" in English – same sound but considerably different meaning).

 

So in the case of the first URL above, Kato 10-510 is a 4 car set which is powered. 10-511 is a 4 car extension set, and 10-512 is an 8 car extension set. So they are selling a package which combines a basic kit plus the 2 extension kits to make a 16 car train.

 

 

Incidentally, the auto-translator is also mistranslating ‘cars’ (or ‘carriages’) as “both” – and as a result is putting it in completely the wrong place in the sentence.

(In this case, the abbreviation for ‘car’ happens to have exactly the same spelling as the Japanese for ‘both’).

[bill937ca]

You could try using Excite to do the translation.  The default is English to Japanese, but it will also do Japanese to English. To learn how it works translate the translator with Google.

 

http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/

[The_Ghan]

Bob,

 

Down here in Australia we have two types of people:

 

1. The majority of us would understand what hematopoietic meant but deduce that there was some translation error and understand that the word extension should have been used;

 

2. A small minority would see the set was hematopoietic and go and order one that was compatible with their own blood group, eg: A+ or, if they weren't sure of their blood group they would order, say, a Kato 10-511 in O+, just to be sure.  This group of people is currently running our nation!!!     

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[clem24]

This doesn't translate full websites but it's a fun, albeit, pointless tool:

 

http://www.translationparty.com/

 

Essentially translates back and forth between English and Japanese using Google Translator until both phrases are the same. The little comment at the bottom is sometimes quite amusing.

[bikkuri bahn]

Actually, the Japanese term (増結) or "zouketsu" is a railway (and primarily EMU-specific) term, which describes the combination of two trainsets to form a (longer) single train, which is a common operation at junction stations or on services with multiple destinations. The opposite operation of decoupling a train into two or more parts is called "kaiketsu" (解結). The model railway manufacturers have adopted this term for their extension packs, apparently.

 

Kaiketsu scene at Koganei Station on the Utsunomiya Line (Tohoku Main Line):

[brill27mcb]

You could try using Excite to do the translation.  The default is English to Japanese, but it will also do Japanese to English. To learn how it works translate the translator with Google.

 

http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/web/

 

Actually, Bill, I think they have gone away from Excite's translator to the Google Chrome browser's internal translator, which Rich C. tells me gives a more readable translation than Excite -- at least most of the time!  :-)

 

Rich K.

[Guest JRF-1935]

I'd like to thank Bob Pierce for the research done on "hemotopoietic"  When I first saw this term being used by the Google Translator - I said (to myself) what the heck does "stem cells" have to do with Japanese trains and models!

Understand now the mis-translation by Google, as even Japanese friends can't translate most of  the information on the back of model RR products.  Seems to be a whole different language when dealing with RR terms.

I used to use the Excite Translator, but have found the Google Chrome Translator is better for defining terms in English, especially on Yahoo Auctions Japan.

Although there are some "glitches" with the Google Chrome Translator, I like it much better than Excite.  I thank Bob for recommending it.

BTW if you haven't dealt with Bob or BT_Trains,  you should.  He's competative, fair, and a very nice Gentleman to deal with.

Rich C