OMG! I don't know if Imus has one of these couches in his house or not, but I'm curious who wrote the translation software... and what dictionary were they using at the time.
Mommy, what color is that? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070419/ap_ ... acial_slur)
I do think it's kind of hopeful in a way that some one can reach the age of seven with out hearing the N word though.
Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
-
jemagirl (imported)
- Articles: 0
- Posts: 1291
- Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2004 2:02 am
-
Posting Rank
-
Bagoas (imported)
- Articles: 0
- Posts: 275
- Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 4:35 pm
-
Posting Rank
Re: Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
Why is she trying to make a Federal case out of this ? Why doesn't she cut the damned label off so that her friends from St. Lucia can sit on the couch ?
It's an unfortunate translation error. So ? She doesn't want an apology. I assume she hopes to capitalize on this by trying to extract exorbitant "damages" from the manufacturer for the "harm" that was done by this error.
I've got some advice for her. Lady, be damned glad if nothing worse than this ever happens to you. GROW UP !
It's an unfortunate translation error. So ? She doesn't want an apology. I assume she hopes to capitalize on this by trying to extract exorbitant "damages" from the manufacturer for the "harm" that was done by this error.
I've got some advice for her. Lady, be damned glad if nothing worse than this ever happens to you. GROW UP !
-
jemagirl (imported)
- Articles: 0
- Posts: 1291
- Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2004 2:02 am
-
Posting Rank
Re: Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
I think she's taking a bit too far as well. At least we don't have to hear how she bought some one's amputated finger to put in the chillie.
Re: Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
This dizzy bitch and those like her are the reason that the world is in the shape it's in today. Can't she just cut the tag off, have a chat with her kids about racism explaining "back it the day of that word," and be done with it? Good grief ... someone take a Ti-Fighter over there and blow her up!
TORONTO - Doris Moore was shocked when her new couch was delivered to her home with a label that used a racial slur to describe the dark brown shade of the upholstery.
The situation was even more alarming for Moore because it was her 7-year-old daughter who pointed out "n----- brown" on the tag.
"My daughter saw the label and she knew the color brown, but didn't know what the other word meant. She asked, 'Mommy, what color is that?' I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. I never thought that's how she'd learn of that word," Moore said.
The mother complained to the furniture store, which blamed the supplier, who pointed to a computer problem as the source of the derogatory label
Kingsoft Corp., a Chinese software company, acknowledged its translation program was at fault and said it was a regrettable error.
"I know this is a very bad word," Huang Luoyi, a product manager for the Beijing-based company's translation software, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
He explained that when the Chinese characters for "dark brown" are typed into an older version of its Chinese-English translation software, the offensive N-word description comes up.
"We got the definition from a Chinese-English dictionary. We've been using the dictionary for 10 years. Maybe the dictionary was updated, but we probably didn't follow suit," he said.
Moore, who is black, said Kingsoft's acknowledgment of a mistake doesn't make her feel better.
"They should know what they are typing, even if it is a software error," she said. "In order for something to come into the country, don't they read it first? Doesn't the manufacturer? The supplier?"
Romesh Vanaik, owner of Vanaik Furniture where Moore bought the sofa, said it has been a best seller. He said he checked his stock but found no other couch with the offensive label.
He added that he had not known the meaning of the N-word.
"It's amazing. I've been here since 1972 and I never knew the meaning of this word," said Vanaik, a native of India.
His supplier, Paul Kumar of Cosmos Furniture in Toronto, denied responsibility and refused to give the name of the couch's Chinese manufacturer.
"It's not my fault. It's not the manufacturers' fault," he said, adding that Kingsoft was to blame.
Huang said Kingsoft has worked to correct the translation error. In the 2007 version, typing "dark brown" in Chinese does not produce the racial slur in English. But if the offensive term is typed in English, the Chinese translation is "dark brown," he said.
Moore is consulting with a lawyer and wants compensation. Last week, she filed a report with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Commission spokeswoman Afroze Edwards said the case is in the initial stages and could take six months to two years to resolve.
Moore, 30, has three young children, and said the issue has taken a toll on her family.
"Something more has to be done. We don't just need a personal apology, but someone needs to own up to where these labels were made, and someone needs to apologize to all people of color," Moore said. "I had friends over from St. Lucia yesterday and they wouldn't sit on the couch."
___
Associated Press Writers Rob Gillies in Toronto and Audra Ang in Beijing contributed to this report.
TORONTO - Doris Moore was shocked when her new couch was delivered to her home with a label that used a racial slur to describe the dark brown shade of the upholstery.
The situation was even more alarming for Moore because it was her 7-year-old daughter who pointed out "n----- brown" on the tag.
"My daughter saw the label and she knew the color brown, but didn't know what the other word meant. She asked, 'Mommy, what color is that?' I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. I never thought that's how she'd learn of that word," Moore said.
The mother complained to the furniture store, which blamed the supplier, who pointed to a computer problem as the source of the derogatory label
Kingsoft Corp., a Chinese software company, acknowledged its translation program was at fault and said it was a regrettable error.
"I know this is a very bad word," Huang Luoyi, a product manager for the Beijing-based company's translation software, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
He explained that when the Chinese characters for "dark brown" are typed into an older version of its Chinese-English translation software, the offensive N-word description comes up.
"We got the definition from a Chinese-English dictionary. We've been using the dictionary for 10 years. Maybe the dictionary was updated, but we probably didn't follow suit," he said.
Moore, who is black, said Kingsoft's acknowledgment of a mistake doesn't make her feel better.
"They should know what they are typing, even if it is a software error," she said. "In order for something to come into the country, don't they read it first? Doesn't the manufacturer? The supplier?"
Romesh Vanaik, owner of Vanaik Furniture where Moore bought the sofa, said it has been a best seller. He said he checked his stock but found no other couch with the offensive label.
He added that he had not known the meaning of the N-word.
"It's amazing. I've been here since 1972 and I never knew the meaning of this word," said Vanaik, a native of India.
His supplier, Paul Kumar of Cosmos Furniture in Toronto, denied responsibility and refused to give the name of the couch's Chinese manufacturer.
"It's not my fault. It's not the manufacturers' fault," he said, adding that Kingsoft was to blame.
Huang said Kingsoft has worked to correct the translation error. In the 2007 version, typing "dark brown" in Chinese does not produce the racial slur in English. But if the offensive term is typed in English, the Chinese translation is "dark brown," he said.
Moore is consulting with a lawyer and wants compensation. Last week, she filed a report with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Commission spokeswoman Afroze Edwards said the case is in the initial stages and could take six months to two years to resolve.
Moore, 30, has three young children, and said the issue has taken a toll on her family.
"Something more has to be done. We don't just need a personal apology, but someone needs to own up to where these labels were made, and someone needs to apologize to all people of color," Moore said. "I had friends over from St. Lucia yesterday and they wouldn't sit on the couch."
___
Associated Press Writers Rob Gillies in Toronto and Audra Ang in Beijing contributed to this report.
-
jemagirl (imported)
- Articles: 0
- Posts: 1291
- Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2004 2:02 am
-
Posting Rank
Re: Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
The scary part is she's a parent. Three kids kids and what is she teaching them? How to sue some one for a software glitch.
-
dingbat (imported)
- Articles: 0
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:46 am
-
Posting Rank
Re: Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
Blimey, it all gets a bit out of hand at times doesn't it?
It reminds me of a regular headline we get here in the UK, around Christmas time, it's usually in the Daily Mail (right-wing national newspaper), the headline goes something like this :
"Christmas is Banned"
And the story which follows tells how some council, somewhere in the UK, has banned the use of the term 'Christmas' in case it offends anyone, instead we are asked to believe that we must write 'Happy Holidays'.
These articles in themselves aren't totally wrong. Some ridiculously pc councils DO indeed institute these types of rules but the REAL joke is that no-one, that I've ever met, who is not Christian, objects to the use of 'Christmas', it's only the Christian-pc councils who think people might object.
I'm a Theravadin Buddhist and I couldn't care less one way or the other about Christmas but it certainly doesn't offend me.
EVERY SINGLE YEAR we get these headlines, the outrage, the fury, the expostulation, (nearly always from the good old Daily Mail) and the implication of the article is that non-Christians have stirred this up. The REALITY is very different. However, every year, like clockwork, my mother rings me up and says 'have you seen what THEY'VE done now? They've banned us from having Christmas' - so she, along with many other people, believe it.
The difficulty, for me, with a pc agenda is that, if you're not very careful, you can end up with a facist dictatorship. I'm all for egalitarianism, I don't believe in prejudice against anybody, ever, full stop. But I have no particular wish to prevent people from either (a) making genuine mistakes (as in this case) or (b) expressing their views (however unpalatable they may be).
As a slight aside, I was in M&S the other day (M&S is a British high street store, a bit middle-class), I was doing some food shopping. I was queuing up to pay and the woman in front of me dropped a banana yoghurt. A teeny, tiny bit fell onto her (very posh) trousers, most of it went on me. She screeched at the top of her voice and the manager came running. She said she would sue THEM for THEIR carelessness in making joghurt pots which might break if you dropped them! They offered her any new pair of trousers she might want from their store, also offered her free shopping (that she already had on the till) and also dry cleaning for her trousers. She was satisfied. She went off. The cashier looked at me, totally covered in banana yoghurt and offered me a cloth to wipe it off...
It reminds me of a regular headline we get here in the UK, around Christmas time, it's usually in the Daily Mail (right-wing national newspaper), the headline goes something like this :
"Christmas is Banned"
And the story which follows tells how some council, somewhere in the UK, has banned the use of the term 'Christmas' in case it offends anyone, instead we are asked to believe that we must write 'Happy Holidays'.
These articles in themselves aren't totally wrong. Some ridiculously pc councils DO indeed institute these types of rules but the REAL joke is that no-one, that I've ever met, who is not Christian, objects to the use of 'Christmas', it's only the Christian-pc councils who think people might object.
I'm a Theravadin Buddhist and I couldn't care less one way or the other about Christmas but it certainly doesn't offend me.
EVERY SINGLE YEAR we get these headlines, the outrage, the fury, the expostulation, (nearly always from the good old Daily Mail) and the implication of the article is that non-Christians have stirred this up. The REALITY is very different. However, every year, like clockwork, my mother rings me up and says 'have you seen what THEY'VE done now? They've banned us from having Christmas' - so she, along with many other people, believe it.
The difficulty, for me, with a pc agenda is that, if you're not very careful, you can end up with a facist dictatorship. I'm all for egalitarianism, I don't believe in prejudice against anybody, ever, full stop. But I have no particular wish to prevent people from either (a) making genuine mistakes (as in this case) or (b) expressing their views (however unpalatable they may be).
As a slight aside, I was in M&S the other day (M&S is a British high street store, a bit middle-class), I was doing some food shopping. I was queuing up to pay and the woman in front of me dropped a banana yoghurt. A teeny, tiny bit fell onto her (very posh) trousers, most of it went on me. She screeched at the top of her voice and the manager came running. She said she would sue THEM for THEIR carelessness in making joghurt pots which might break if you dropped them! They offered her any new pair of trousers she might want from their store, also offered her free shopping (that she already had on the till) and also dry cleaning for her trousers. She was satisfied. She went off. The cashier looked at me, totally covered in banana yoghurt and offered me a cloth to wipe it off...
Re: Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
Dingbat,
What is the penalty there, had you just beat the hell out of her?
"Cat-fights" (women beating each other up) are not uncommon in the Wal-Marts or even K-Mart department stores here. Most of the time, the local police don't even respond to them.
What is the penalty there, had you just beat the hell out of her?
"Cat-fights" (women beating each other up) are not uncommon in the Wal-Marts or even K-Mart department stores here. Most of the time, the local police don't even respond to them.
-
dingbat (imported)
- Articles: 0
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2007 4:46 am
-
Posting Rank
Re: Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
Paolo wrote: Sat Apr 21, 2007 5:32 am Dingbat,
What is the penalty there, had you just beat the hell out of her?
"Cat-fights" (women beating each other up) are not uncommon in the Wal-Marts or even K-Mart department stores here. Most of the time, the local police don't even respond to them.
Paolo,
How very rude of you to suggest that I might pass the time street brawling, I'm an academic you know!
On the other hand, put me in one of those New York City cage fights for middle class professionals and I'll scrap with the best of 'em.
-
Riverwind (imported)
- Articles: 0
- Posts: 7558
- Joined: Sun Dec 30, 2001 1:58 pm
-
Posting Rank
Re: Old Chinese/English tranlation software causes problems
Paolo wrote: Fri Apr 20, 2007 7:22 pm Moore, who is black, said Kingsoft's acknowledgment of a mistake doesn't make her feel better.
"They should know what they are typing, even if it is a software error," she said. "In order for something to come into the country, don't they read it first? Doesn't the manufacturer? The supplier?"
Tell me ms moore, how long have you been walking on water?
River