# Esperanto **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 11, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535 "2016-05-11T12:02:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/1 "2016-05-11T12:02:39Z")
Re [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1759/why-are-some-shortwave-radio-broadcasts-in-esperanto): Interestingly (or not), Google apparently translates the word “Esperanto” as “Darby,” or so I gather from the translation of the **People’s Almanac** excerpt. That is: _“La inteligenta persono lernas la interlingvon Esperanto rapide kaj facile. Esperanto estas la moderno, kultura lingvo por la internacia mondo. Simpla, fleksebla, praktiva solvo de la problemo de universala interkompreno, Esperanto meritas vian seriozan konsieron. Lernu la interlingvon Esperanto.”_ translates as _The intelligent person learns the lingua Darby quickly and easily. Esperanto is the Moderno, a cultural language for the international world. Simple, flexible, praktiva solution of the problem of universal understanding, American deserves your serious konsieron. Learn the lingua Darby._ Darby? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/2 "2016-05-11T23:10:10Z")
Interesting…I know Spanish, and I was able to translate that pretty much immediately. Then again, I could probably have figured it out if I only knew English. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/3 "2016-05-11T23:11:58Z")
It’s easy for any speaker of a European language to pick up. But Europe isn’t the world. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/4 "2016-05-12T04:12:58Z")
And not if the European language in question is Basque, Hungarian, Estonian, or Finnish. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/5 "2016-05-12T14:56:55Z")
**RiverRunner** , check this out: Using Google Translate, going from Esparanto (a) to English (b). Asterisk denotes an ungrammatical construction: (a) _La inteligenta persono lernas la interlingvon Esperanto rapide kaj facile._ (b) The intelligent person learns the lingua Darby quickly and easily. (a) _La interlingvon Esperanto rapide_\* (b) The lingua Darby quickly\* (a) _La interlingvon Esperanto rapid_\* (b) The lingua American fast\* (a) _La interlingvon Esperanto_ (b) The lingua Darby (a) _La Esperanto_ (b) The American Now … go back to that first sentence and yank “interlingvon” out of there: (a) _La inteligenta persono lernas la Esperanto rapide kaj facile._ (b) The intelligent person learns Esperanto quickly and easily … I wonder where the heck “American” was coming from in some of those translations? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/6 "2016-05-12T15:11:11Z")
And … using Google Translate, going from English to Esparanto: English: I speak Darby Esparanto: _Mi parolas Esperanto_ English: This book is written in Darby Esparanto: _Tiu libro estas skribita en Esperanto_ English: Darby speakers Esparanto: _Esperanto-parolantoj_ English: Darby-speaking countries Esparanto: Esperanto-parolantaj landoj … Might simply be an inside joke from one of the Google Translate developers? Or perhaps a joke submitted by an Esperantist via a word-list of some kind? I guess it could be some kind of error, too. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/7 "2016-05-12T15:14:35Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > Using Google Translate, going from Esparanto (a) to English (b): > > … > > (a) _La Esperanto_ > (b) The American Same parameters, except making “Esperanto” into the feminine (?) “Esperanta”: (a) _La Esperant **a** _ (b) The English Then change the ending again: (a) _La Esperant **e** _ (b) The Esperanto ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/8 "2016-05-12T22:05:41Z")
Googling on “Esperanto to english”, I found [this](http://en.eprevodilac.com/prevodilac-esperanto-engleski) online translation program. It translated the original from the column to: > [@](#): > > The intelligent person learns the lingua Darby quickly and easily. Esperanto is the Moderno, a cultural language for the international world. Simple, flexible, praktiva solution of the problem of universal understanding, American deserves your serious konsieron. Learn the lingua Darby. Given that the translation is identical, including the same non-translated words and the same subtitution of “Darby”, it appears to me they are just using google translate. > [@bordelond](#): > > (a) _La inteligenta persono lernas la interlingvon Esperanto rapide kaj facile._ > (b) The intelligent person learns the lingua Darby quickly and easily. > > (a) _La interlingvon Esperanto rapide_\* > (b) The lingua Darby quickly\* I don’t know why you have that marked as ungrammatical. You are quoting and then translating a sentence fragment. Of course it isn’t going to read like a full sentence. However, if you look in the context of the original sentence, “the lingua Darby quickly” is perfectly grammatical. “An intelligent person can learn the language Esperanto quickly and easily.” “… the language Esperanto quickly…” is just a clipped bit from that statement. Similarly, the next bit is also a sentence fragment, and thus one cannot judge the grammar of the excerpt on its own. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/9 "2016-05-12T22:10:03Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I don’t know why you have that marked as ungrammatical. I just meant that the fragment was not a full sentence that, _in and of itself_, followed the grammatical rules of the language. If others disagree, or feel I used the word “ungrammatical” in error, I have no issue. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/10 "2016-05-13T13:44:16Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > **RiverRunner** , check this out: > > Using Google Translate, going from Esparanto (a) to English (b). Asterisk denotes an ungrammatical construction: > > . . . > > (a) _La Esperanto_ > (b) The American > > … > > I wonder where the heck “American” was coming from in some of those translations? That . . . is really weird. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/11 "2016-05-17T16:40:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s easy for any speaker of a European language to pick up. But Europe isn’t the world. What? That can’t possibly true. Oh, you probably also mean the United States. Right? Europe, and the U.S. That’s the world right there. Oh, and of course Canada – our little brother to the North. Did you know they’re actually an independent country? It’s so cute, they even have their own flag! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/12 "2016-05-22T23:14:39Z")
How do you say “vomitorium” in Esperanto? 😕 I posted here just so I won’t see that word every time I log on. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/13 "2016-05-28T13:48:54Z")
“_Elirejego_”. (Large exit; literally ‘out go place big thing’) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/14 "2016-05-30T02:59:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Interesting…I know Spanish, and I was able to translate that pretty much immediately. Then again, I could probably have figured it out if I only knew English. 🙂 American (and Non-Spanish) speaker here. No problemo. Hmmm, wish I needed an easy language credit at a liberal arts college… Thought: I wonder if there’s an Esperanto accent? Being a made-up language, I’d bet the answer is "That’s the beauty of it – everyone gets to speak it in their own accent! A Brit can add an Intrusive R, a Canadian can throw in an “Eh?”… …and an American can say “Hey, I can figure out the Starbucks menu in any country without learning another language.” ps, anyone else trying not to remember the [C. Estes Kefauver Memorial High School yearbook](http://gonzotoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/National_Lampoon_1964_High_School_Yearbook_Parody_1979.pdf) (Dacron, Ohio)? The wide-angle photo of the Esperanto Club was captioned _“Left to right: Mrs. Hampster, advisor”._ ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/15 "2016-05-30T20:30:31Z")
The mystifying question still to me is why Darby? Sure, it could be a joke but there has to be a definitive answer somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esperanto/754535/16 "2016-05-30T21:31:26Z")
An increasing number of words in English are now derived on the spot, as needed, from the international scientific vocabulary. Which is Latin and Greek, So, really, Latin and Greek are not dead languages, they were just sleeping. Drive by any public building and look at the signs out front. Schools are called attendance centers, jails are called correctional institutions, and hospitals are community medical campuses. The dump is a recycling and disposal facility, and the pound is a canine reclamation and redistribution enclosure. A future time traveler from ancient Rome, after another few decades of this foolishness, will have no trouble understanding those signs, without bothering to learn troublesome words like school, jail, hospital, dump and pound.