Microsoft using MT EN>DE / Microsoft übersetzt mit MÜ

Cannot Access Pacific Rim External Drive in MS-DOS

wird zu

Auf External Drive in MS-DOS Wiener Schnitzel nicht werden zugegriffen kann

bei Microsoft:

bq. ACHTUNG: Der folgende Knowledge Base Artikel wurde durch ein maschinelles Übersetzungssystem ohne jegliche menschliche Mitwirkung übersetzt. Microsoft stellt diese Artikel deutschsprachigen Benutzern, die der englischen Sprache nicht mächtig sind, als Hilfe zur Verfügung, damit diese den Inhalt dieser Artikel verstehen können. Microsoft übernimmt keine Gewähr für die sprachliche Qualität oder die technische Richtigkeit der Übersetzungen und ist nicht für Probleme haftbar, die direkt oder indirekt durch Übersetzungsfehler oder die Verwendung der übersetzten Inhalte durch Kunden entstehen könnten.

Es muss aber doch menschlich Mitwirkung irgendwo Pacific Rim mit Wiener Schnitzel übersetzt haben, oder? Jedenfalls scheint der Spaß im Internet schon bekannt zu sein. Danke an Manfred in der TT-Liste bei Yahoo.

Microsoft is using machine translation to translate some help pages. But something is mysterious about this one.

Bidding for translation jobs / Bieten für Übersetzungen

Céline has an excellent post, Why I don’t like bidding systems, on the problem that translators seemed to be judged by how cheap they are. She suggests that lawyers aren’t treated in the same way (and this is true whether or not their prices are fixed – in Germany there is a fee scale, but lawyers can contract out of it). Of course, lawyers usually have a monopoly. Unlike quite a number of translators in Germany, I don’t believe translators should be “verkammert” [umlaut removed, ed.), and I think payment has to be left to the market.

Since I first read the post this morning, there have been a few comments. The first is by Christian Hansel of Babelport. I can see that those who run such websites have different interests from the translators who use them, but they seem to be successful. I can’t accept the suggestion that there is anything altruistic about them, since running such a site either brings in money through advertising or charges, or if not, it helps create a reputation and therefore goodwill, which has an economic value.

Trevor also comments.

i.V., i.A., ppa.

The German abbreviations i.V., i.A. and ppa. often cause translators problems. There is no real English equivalent. But even if the terms can’t be translated without a footnote, and a footnote would be overkill, still, the translator may sometimes need to explain what the abbreviations mean, and in some rare cases this will be important.

Robin Stocks has a recent entry quoting a book on the subject.

I wanted this to be the solution to all my problems, but I’m not sure that it is. It’s the first time I’ve seen the use of two signatures at once discussed. I note i.V. is explained as in Vollmacht. It is usually given as in Vertretung, but the meaning of the two phrases is similar.

I have a feeling that no-one will be helped if I publish my latest notes on the subject, but here they are. Has anyone got examples, by the way? A few scans of ends of letters – real ones or from German books on commercial correspondence – would be very helpful.

Some abbreviations used by people in Germany signing letters
i.V. in Vertretung (as agent for)
i.A. im Auftrag (on the instructions of)
ppa. per procura (as a Prokurist)
(gezeichnet)

These abbreviations have legal meanings. They have no equivalent in international correspondence

Normally their legal meaning is not important in a translation
pp.
by
for

Someone suggested on a mailing list:
ppa. Power of attorney (ppa. = per Prokura the signatory is a Prokurist) [this is too weak though]
i.A. Power of representation
i.V. Authorized signatory

So i.A. could be (but never is!) written:
pp. [name] (authorized representative)

and i.V.
pp. [name] (authorized to sign)

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