OT: English-German translation hiccups. Was: Re: Poulson 6 times more powerful than Tukwilla?

On Tue, 10 Jul 2012 05:27:23 +0000, Phillip Helbig---undress to reply
wrote:

In article <xLmdnUSlPZk9-2bSnZ2dnUVZ_o6dnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Richard B.
Gilbert" <rgilbert88@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

Didn't IBM once win a bid which DEC lost---bei suggesting a VMS
solution while DEC suggested a unix solution?

WTF was "lost---bei" supposed to mean?

"bei" ---> "by"

The first is German, the second is English. They are pronounced the
same. Sometimes "bei" means "by" but usually not.

I think subconsciously my brain processed "bei" with the correct
pronunciation and meaning. I didn't really notice it as an error.

I live and work in a very international environment and have learnt how
to get the intended meaning of both minor and major mistakes made by non-
native speakers in English, German and French.

I can even manage major howlers and (usually) keep a straight face, my
favourite being "We hardly worked on this project" (and yes I have seen
that in writing).

Today's example from a native German speaker:

"Slayer of subversion servers, senior memory manager"

Now is that a manager of senior memory of a senior manager of memory?
Context says the latter to me, but I still don't understand what it is
intended to convey.

Seen here:

http://twitpic.com/a5zcwb


Please proof-read before hitting send! If English is not your native
tongue, Google translate may be helpful.

Alas, English is my native language, but I've lived in Germany for
almost 30 years. It was late when I wrote that. :-(

To err is human but for a cockup of gigantic proportions you need a
computer.
- origin unknown

--
Paul Sture
.

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