Babelizer first run

Babelizer is an interesting piece of MacOS software that translates from Language A to Language B and back again until the mutations stop.

Babelizer is a toy that humorously exposes the inadequacy of machine translation. You type in a phrase, choose a language, and the Babelizer uses the Altavista translation web site to translate between English and your chosen language until the result no longer mutates.

I tried the classic Machine Translation samples of folklore, "Out of sight, out of mind" and "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." I was unable to generate "Invisible idiot" or "Th e liquor is agreeable but the meat has gone bad," but I had the following results. (You should have Unicode encoding…)

Out of sight, out of mind.

出於視域, 在頭腦外面。
Stemming from sight, outside brains.
源於視域, 外部腦子。
Source to sight, exterior brain.
來源看見, 外部腦子。
The origin sees, exterior brain.
起源看見, 外部腦子。
The origin sees, exterior brain.

마음에서 광경에서.
From mind from spectacle.
가관에서 마음에서.
From spectacle from mind.
마음에서 가관에서.
From mind from spectacle.

Da vista, dalla mente.
From sight, the mind.
Da vista, la mente.
From sight, the mind.

Hors de la vue, hors de l'esprit.
Out of the sight, of the spirit.
Hors de la vue, de l'esprit.
Out of the sight, spirit.
Hors de la vue, esprit.
Out of the sight, spirit.

Από τη θέα, από το μυαλό.
From the view, from the brain.
Από την άποψη, από τον εγκέφαλο.
From the opinion, from the brain.
Από την άποψη, από τον εγκέφαλο.

心からの視力から。
From vision from heart.
中心からの視野から。
From range of vision from center.
中心からの視野の範囲から。
From range of range of vision from center.

Fuera de vista, fuera de la mente.
Outside Vista, the mind.
Fuera de Vista, la mente.
Outside Vista, the mind.

I like the Spanish "Outside Vista" and the Chinese "Exterior brain" the best. If we could just pair those two halves up…. Meanwhile, back at "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.":

El alcohol está dispuesto pero la carne es débil.
The alcohol is arranged but the meat is weak.
Se arregla el alcohol pero la carne es débil.
The alcohol is fixed but the meat is weak.
El alcohol es fijo pero la carne es débil.
The alcohol is fixed but the meat is weak.

정신은 기꺼이 한다 그러나 살은 약하다.
The spirit puts out the flag and omits the flesh but it does.
정신은 밖으로 깃발을 두고 살을 생략한다 그러나.
The spirit the flag lets at the outside and it will live it omits but.
깃발이 외부에 시키는 정신 그것 생략한다 그러나 살.
Spirit it the flag makes outside it omits the flesh.
정신 깃발이 밖에 그것을 만들는 그것은 살을 생략한다.
Only the spirit flag will make it it omits the flesh.
단 정신 깃발은 살을 생략하는 그것을 만들l 것이다.
Only the spirit flag the l thing which will make it it omits the flesh.

精神は喜んでであるが、肉は弱い。
Mind is rejoicing,, but the meat is weak.
心は、喜んでいるが、肉は弱い。
You rejoice heart,, but the meat is weak.
中心を、喜ばせるが、肉は弱い。
You make the center rejoice, but the meat is weak.
中心を喜ばせるが肉は弱い。
You make the center rejoice, but the meat is weak

Το πνεύμα είναι πρόθυμο αλλά η σάρκα είναι αδύνατη.
The spirit is willing but the flesh is impossible.
Το πνεύμα είναι πρόθυμο αλλά η σάρκα είναι αδύνατη.

De geest is gewillig maar het vlees is zwak.
The spirit is willing but flesh is weak.
De geest is gewillig maar het vlees is zwak.

Der Geist ist bereit, aber das Fleisch ist schwach.
The spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak.
Der Geist ist bereit, aber das Fleisch ist schwach.

Greek has a tendency to exaggerate here, "weak" becoming "impossible". Only Dutch spits it back unmangled. German doesn't whack it too bad, either. Japanese seems happy that you've shown everyone at the Center a good time, while Korean takes it to another astral plane where spirit flags the I thing and omits the flesh. Fair warning to anyone relying on MT to take a look at the round trip result and see if that indicates that the intended message may have survived the first translation. Of course, even a perfect return result doesn't guarantee an unintended meaning in the L2.