Re: [Gaim-i18n] Re: Bad language in Gaim

[Richard L. <rl...@wi...>]

On Tue, 2006-04-25 at 09:32 +0200, Bjoern Voigt wrote:

I said I expect translators to fully understand what they're
translating. If it's not obvious and there aren't comments (which, I
agree, there could be more), then ask. I don't think that's unreasonable
at all. Ask about the string here.

You asked. That was exactly what I was suggesting.

My other point was that we're not always going to change the English
strings to make literal translations easy. If Gaim was written in German
and you used German idioms, I wouldn't expect you to change it to make
the English translation easier. I'd figure out what it meant and then
translate it into something appropriate.

> 1) What means "you can see the butterflies mating" in src/gtkaccount.c:1297?
> 
>    Answer: 

It's in a callback function that's registered as a pop-up handler for
the port entry field in proxy options. Right-click on that field and
you'll see the string. I'd assume easter egg. (NOTE: I had never seen
this code before I looked at it just now.)

If I was a translator, I probably wouldn't bother with it. Or, I'd take
the opportunity to translate it to a cutesy saying in my language and
enjoy the fact that I know there's a "hidden" string which I created.

> 2) Why is Syd Logan a "lazy bum" in AUTHORS and in src/gtkdialogs.c:100?
>  
>    Answer: 

I've always assumed inside joke.

> 3) What is a "TOC host" in src/protocols/toc/toc.c?
> 
>    Answer: 

Without looking, I'd assume a server for the TOC protocol.

> 4) What does "SSL Handshake Failed" in src/protocols/irc/irc.c:432 and src/protocols/jabber/jabber.c:451 mean?
> 
>    Answer: 

The process of negotiating an SSL connection failed. This is standard
technical jargon.

> 5) What is a "Channel HMAC" in src/protocols/silc/chat.c?
> 
>    Answer: 

Without looking, I'm not sure if channel means chat or a communications
channel (the connection). But HMAC is a standard technical term.

... Looking at the source, it's immediately clear (given Channel Topic
is right there) that this is talking about a "channel" as in "chat".

> 6) What does ""You feel a disturbance in the force..." in plugins/psychic.c means?

Feels like a Star Wars quote to me and Google confirms that. (NOTE: I'm
probably in the minority of Americans here, but I've never seen any of
the Star Wars movies.)

If you knew, or could find, the translation of that quote in Star Wars
for your language, that might work. Otherwise, this type of cultural
reference is hard to deal with. If you can't think of a fun cultural
reference that users of your translation will understand, I'd suggest
using a translated version of something boring like, "Your psychic
powers say you are about to receive a message." or something.

> 7) Why Ethan calls the psychic plugin a stalker plugin?
> 
>    "If we're going to support crappy stalker-enablement plugins, we should at least make an effort to ensure that they don't require C99."
> 
>    (from  svn log plugins/psychic.c)
> 
>    Answer: 

Because it pops up a conversation window when someone starts typing to
you have not previously had a conversation open. There's hardly a
legitimate need for that -- you'll be getting the message in a few
seconds when they send it.


I can't find any good documentation on adding "translation comments" to
gettext. I see them mentioned all over the place, especially in
reference to .po files, but I don't know how to add them. Granted, I
haven't looked that hard. If someone has a reference, we could add a
translation comment to #6 and maybe #2.

Richard