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ISRAEL: Babylon babble causes a diplomatic incident

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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The source for this Nov. 8 posting, the Jerusalem Post, reported that an Israeli journalist’s use of the online translation engine Babel Fish resulted in a series of incomprehensible questions to the Dutch foreign minister. That report was incorrect; the translation engine he used was Babylon.

You’re about to leave for an educational seminar in the Netherlands, where your group will meet the foreign minister. The Dutch Consulate wants to know in advance what you intend to ask him.

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Your English is not very good, your Dutch nonexistent.

What do you do?

Faced with that problem, an Israeli journalist got the bright idea to type his group’s questions in Hebrew and run them through Babylon , the automated online translation service.

The output, according to the Jerusalem Post, was a series of mangled sentences and a diplomatic embarrassment.

‘Helloh bud, Enclosed five of the questions in honor of the foreign minister,’ the journalist’s e-mail began. ‘The mother your visit in Israel is a sleep to the favor or to the bed your mind on the conflict are Israeli Palestinian, and on the relational Israel Holland.’

It continued with five nearly incomprehensible questions, and several other mentions of ‘mother.’

One question that was meant to read: ‘What, in your opinion, needs to be done regarding the Iranian threat to Israel?’ became ‘What in your opinion needs to do opposite the awful the Iranian of Israel.’

The Dutch Foreign Ministry was not amused. It is considering canceling the group’s trip and filing a formal complaint.

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‘How could this e-mail possibly have been sent?’ an irritated Israeli diplomat asked the Jerusalem Post.

Ask Babylon , bud. It mistakes the Hebrew word for ‘if’ (ha’im) for the Hebrew word for ‘mother’ (ha’ima) and translates ‘Dome of the Rock’ as ‘bandages of the knitted domes.’

— Richard Boudreaux in Jerusalem

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