# Do we have a thread for SlackerInc yet? Maybe we should **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461 "2018-12-02T20:21:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 43
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/843 "2020-09-06T10:41:21Z")
Slacker quite obviously just uses Google translate and then tweaks it a bit. Unless he can produce a video with him speaking to a native French speaker off the cuff, along with a sworn statement by that French speaker that it wasn’t scripted, then I don’t even buy that he speaks French beyond a few years in high school. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/844 "2020-09-06T10:52:09Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I think we all know, whether we’re going to admit it or not, that if we showed both paragraphs to 100 people who are reasonably well read in English but unfamiliar with Proust, the vast majority would prefer my prose. Sure, buddy, whatever you have to tell yourself. Call us when the French ambassador is pinning a medal to _your_ chest, mm’kay? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/845 "2020-09-06T10:54:33Z")
Metempsychosis translating as reincarnation? You must have learned everything from the people who brought us Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone. This thread reminds me of Prince, who, unlike the guest star of the thread, was a genius. But he was one of the rare people who were a genius but had to let you know he was a genius. With most of them it’s obvious that they’re a genius, so most people who try too hard to let you know how smart they are, aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/846 "2020-09-06T11:30:36Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > {…} I don’t even buy that he speaks French beyond a few years in high school. {…} How dare you sir? He has a _decent_ fluency and a dictionary. What else is required to be the world’s greatest translator of two books? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/847 "2020-09-06T12:37:48Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Slacker quite obviously just uses Google translate and then tweaks it a bit. LOL, riiight. That’s why my main tool is _Larousse_. Which is, you understand, not a French-English dictionary, but a French-_French_ dictionary. I don’t claim that I could do what those translators at the UN do. Hell, even if I didn’t have to keep up in real time, like if I were tasked with translating a French film and could pause and rewind, I would have a tough time. Following what they are saying when they speak fast and slur words together is really tough. But when it is _written_, that is a whole different deal. Although I do find that when French presidents give addresses to the nation, I can generally understand that very well. (They speak clearly and use proper grammar.) And Google Translate is trash. It’s not as bad as it used to be, and I have no doubt that someday it will be uncanny (a dark day for translators everywhere, but it’s futile to fight technological progress). As of right now, though, it’s nowhere near good yet, much less great—especially not for the purposes of literary translation. ETA: Although my receptive auditory French comprehension ability is not the best when dealing with “street French”, my pronunciation is quite good for an American who didn’t learn the language until adolescence. If any of you who speak French want to Discord chat with me and hear it for yourself, be my guest. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/848 "2020-09-06T13:32:58Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Now, remind the class how long you’ve been translating, how many works you’ve translated, and what awards you’ve received for your work. Maybe he will get them in his next oui-carnation. 😇 He truly deserves an award for missing idioms and posts, the “Hello, Sailor” pun explanation was posted already in post #788. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/849 "2020-09-06T14:36:25Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > By credentialist standards, I’m a nobody. Well, not _just_ by credentialist standards. And FWIW, the French ambassador could pin a medal on your chest and you could have all manner of letters after your name, and I’d still think you’re a disingenuous, racist, piece of shit (among other things). Anyway, there’s lots of perfectly fine people in the world who aren’t geniuses, and lots of turds who are. You are a turd regardless. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/850 "2020-09-06T15:05:47Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’m trying to take French source material and make an English-language novel people will find to be a brisk, enjoyable read and not “sound translated”.  So the dumbed-down Readers Digest version? Because people don’t read Proust looking for a brisk, enjoyable read. Unless you were joking here. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/851 "2020-09-06T16:16:47Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Maybe the Proust experts would not, but that’s not the audience I’m translating for. I’m trying to take French source material and make an English-language novel people will find to be a brisk, enjoyable read and not “sound translated”. If a translation of Proust results in a ‘brisk, enjoyable read’ then the translator has no clue whatsoever what he’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/852 "2020-09-06T16:26:37Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > If a translation of Proust results in a ‘brisk, enjoyable read’ then the translator has no clue whatsoever what he’s doing. Exactly. The very fact that **SlackerInc** believes he is “improving” on Proust really doesn’t need further comment. The level of utter cluelessness is simply breathtaking. Perhaps his next project will be to re-write Shakespeare to be brisker and “more enjoyable.” ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/853 "2020-09-06T16:28:23Z")
Shakespeare is far more enjoyable in the original Klingon, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/854 "2020-09-06T16:34:29Z")
I knew Slack was racist; now I’m beginning to think he’s an unhealthy level of narcissist as well. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/855 "2020-09-06T16:34:37Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > LOL, riiight. That’s why my main tool is _Larousse_ . Which is, you understand, not a French-English dictionary, but a French- _French_ dictionary. That’s the one with all the pictures, right? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/856 "2020-09-06T16:36:37Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I’ve made several thousand dollars from my translations over the past year. I had to declare this money on my taxes. I’m not getting filthy rich from it (so far), but I think that makes me a professional. If you’re making just “several thousand” dollars from translating works of “literature,” this just confirms that your clients are amateur writers, and you are an amateur translator (even if people who can’t afford a good translator pay you for it). Even for translating non-literary works of any length, this would be a trivial amount. A competent professional capable of a faithful translation of a literary work would command a lot more. I currently have a contract with a good translator to translate one of my books into Spanish, and just that one contract alone is worth more than “several thousand” dollars, even though it’s a non-literary work and rates here in Panama are lower than in the US. As usual, your boasting simply confirms that you don’t have any idea what you are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/857 "2020-09-06T17:13:02Z")
Thank you, Slacker, for continuing to provide about the best example of the Dunning-Kruger effect I’ve ever seen up close. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/858 "2020-09-06T18:15:19Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I knew Slack was racist; now I’m beginning to think he’s an unhealthy level of narcissist as well. I already asked. He’s assured me that wasn’t it; we’re all just jealous. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/859 "2020-09-06T19:18:24Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Thank you, Slacker, for continuing to provide about the best example of the Dunning-Kruger effect I’ve ever seen up close. [That boy ain’t right.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1C8C7op9LU) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/860 "2020-09-06T19:25:50Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > Shit can turn ugly quick. Kinda like your mom! ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/861 "2020-09-06T19:34:31Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Shakespeare is far more enjoyable in the original Klingon, anyway. Ah, yes, to endure the cables and photon torpedoes of unlucky luck. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461/862 "2020-09-06T19:50:21Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > You know, you could save yourselves a lot of desperate twisting around by just saying “Okay, fine: I admit your translation does read better (even if I’m unsure whether you should take so many liberties). But you’re still an asshole, and you have some cockamamie political ideas.” You know, Slack, I’ve never subscribed to the idea that disagreeing with someone’s politics requires one to condemn _everything_ they do and say. You hold some political opinions that I find repulsive, but if you produced a good translation, I wouldn’t hesitate to say so. In this case, I can’t say so. Lydia Davis’s rendition of that passage is much more readable than yours. It is clear, has a pleasing rhythm, and contains strikingly vivid phrases like “little road” and “imminent sweetness.” Your version has a wordy, congested quality, and made my eyes glaze over. I’m definitely one of those people you described as “reasonably well read in English but unfamiliar with Proust.” I’ve never read any Proust, and my French is pretty minimal, so I can’t speak to which version is more accurate or more Proust-like. This is simply my reaction to the two excerpts you presented. I liked hers; I didn’t like yours. Sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-we-have-a-thread-for-slackerinc-yet-maybe-we-should/825461.md?page=44)