Last Saturday afternoon, I was in a meeting for the Philippine Web Design Conference (website coming soon, hee) and during our off-topic moments, Shari mentioned that Google’s Filipino translation of sex and boobs were iyotan and boobella, respectively. Iyotan, I somehow understand because as far as I know, that’s the Ilocano term for sex (which still isn’t Filipino). But boobella?! Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t boobella gay lingo? I wouldn’t be surprised (but I’d be appalled) if Google translated whatever as churva.
Of course I had to Google-translate my blog. As expected, it barely made any sense and it was a barrel of lulz. Some screencaps:
I’m sure all of us can let a few errors pass, but…it is beyond me how Fernando Poe Jr came to be the Filipino word for cemetery? Since when did Da King become a place where we bury our dead?
So not only is my name not a name, there’s also a Filipino equivalent to it! Talga! All over my translated site, Google replaced Helga with it. I made a quick Google search and I came to two conclusions: talga is how the SMS-obsessed citizens of this country spell talaga (English translation: really) or it’s a legit word in some dialect. I need someone to enlighten me.
It’s like reading something a pa-sosyal tween wrote, really.
Google Translate is still in beta so there’s a whole lot of room for improvement. If you’d like to make things less lulzy, there’s a way to send them feedback on how to improve their translations. Taken from their FAQ:
How do I provide feedback to Google?
You can provide us feedback when translating text by clicking the “Suggest a better translation” link or when translating web pages by hovering over the translated text (to display the original text tooltip) and clicking the “Suggest a better translation” link.
Now let’s see how Google would translate online trading.
Hi, I'm Helga Weber and welcome to my personal site. I'm 25 and in the process of learning how to make adventurous life choices. I dislike old people but I love grandma clothes. My goal in life is to build a ball pit right next to my bed. Currently searching for the perfect house coat. My lover is the greatest. 
WAHAHAHAHAHA I just laughed so much. I’m so trying this!
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My blog’s even worse.
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October 21st, 2008 at 1:19 am
LOL “ade let the dogs out” TRANS: “wala talagang boobs?” LOLLOLOLOL!!
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HAHA! I tried it. Aliw!
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LOL. I’mma go try this for my blog.
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OMG!! HAHAHAHAHA. Fernando Poe, Jr FTW!!
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“ang aking kasintahan ay ang pinakamalaking.”
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Para akong nasa FilipinoFriendFinder.com lolz :P
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October 22nd, 2008 at 5:17 pm
… what were you doing in FilipinoFriendFinder.com?
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i still cant stop LOL-ing
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Maybe your English is wrong.
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Hmmm that’s weird. I never thought those translators were ever accurate anyway!
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[...] in point: Helga recently had her blog processed by Google Translate. For some reason, “trips to cemeteries” became “paglalakbay sa Fernando Poe [...]
Ahahaha! Sinu kayang Google pinoy staff nagtranslate nyan.
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I wonder if Google hired real Filipinos or just hairless monkeys for the job.
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LOL!!! Fernando Poe Jr!!!!!!! hehehe natawa ako dun ah. :P
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o shiet. hahaha
thats a pretty hot tool though.
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OMG! Lansihin-o-pagpapagamot? What does that mean?? Man those words are deep!
And yes, didn’t you know new tagalog dictionaries are now replacing libingan for Fernando Poe Jr.? Duh.
I should start using the term boobella when describing Kim Kardashian’s, well, boobellas. Haha.
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That’s hilarious :-D
Looks like some smartypants have been intentionally messing up Google Translate by making bad suggestions.
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Um. RIP, FPJ, Bless his soul.
I have to try this on my blog. Hee. :D
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hahaha..lolz..nakakaaliw ang mga translation..ima going to try that one!
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that was hilarious! online translations are never accurate. I copy + pasted some translated phrases to my Portugese RO buddy years before and he said it was funny but made a little sense.
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That Fernando Poe Jr translation is quite a mystery.
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I totally have to do this to my own blog. Google needs to hire better people too…
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IYOTAN MEANS A PLACE FOR A SPECIFIC PLACE FOR SEX IYOTIN IS A WORD FOR EX..I WILL FUCK…IYOT MEANS SEX…
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benta! hahaha
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