Aijaz Ansari

View this picture before reading further…

This picture is hilarious because the words “Meat ball” were transliterated into Arabic. The resulting Arabic words (ميت بول) were then interpreted (incorrectly) as Arabic, THEN translated into English. The first word “Meat” can be misread as the Arabic word for “is dead”. The second word “ball” is how an Arabic speaker would pronounce the name “Paul.” Therefore, the English description of this dish is “Paul is dead.”

This is a toot about #ML & #AI

Jul 25, 2023 at 5:20amIvory for iOS
Show threadLeo DionJul 25, 2023
@aijaz I don't recognize the dish. Is it kafta?
Show threadBugsprietSep 11, 2023
@aijaz not so long ago, a Turkish dish "Kumpir" - a baked potato with stuff - came to Germany. The name was a Turkish interpretation of "Grumbeere" that means ground/earth pear in a german dialect, which is a local word for potatoe (German: Kartoffel)
Show threadJan EdenSep 18, 2023
@Bugspriet @aijaz A literal translation of "Grumbeere" would be ground berry, while a better known German synonym for potato is Erdapfel (= pommes de terre in French).
Show threadBugsprietSep 18, 2023
@jan @aijaz But the development of „berry“ in that word came from the same source that became pear or german Birne, which rather descriped the form (old pira, bire, nl peer)
Show threadMiss ConductSep 11, 2023
@aijaz but I Paul delicious? That sauce looks good.
Show threadNizar Kerkeni 🇹🇳 نزار القرقنيSep 11, 2023
@aijaz ping @ButterflyOfFire 😜
Show threadPete Prodoehl 🍕Sep 11, 2023
@aijaz I knew it! The rumors were true!
Show threadConor NashSep 11, 2023
@aijaz @derwinmcgeary@octodon.social or are they trying to tell us something https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_is_dead
Paul is dead - Wikipedia

Show threadjouiSep 11, 2023
@aijaz fehlfarben - Monarchie und Alltag , one of my all time favourites. https://youtu.be/1gKwduFVsV4?si=Q8EWyRIi4svaQMrp I had no idea.
Fehlfarben - Paul ist tot ( 1980)

YouTube
Show threadinkbotkowalskiSep 12, 2023
@maz @aijaz came here for this!
Show threadvronimus_ironimusSep 13, 2023
@maz @aijaz I wanted to post this
Show threadAllan ChowSep 11, 2023
@aijaz yes. That is what it is, your honor.
Show threadAndrew FeeneySep 11, 2023
@aijaz "What kind of "meat" is this anyway?"
Show threadSarah WSep 12, 2023
@andrewfeeney @aijaz
Dead. But not necessarily Paul.
Show threadAndrew FeeneySep 12, 2023
@Sarahw @aijaz But we can’t explicitly rule it out?
Show threadSarah WSep 12, 2023
@andrewfeeney @aijaz
We can't! 😜
Show thread🆘Bill Cole 🇺🇦Sep 12, 2023

@andrewfeeney @aijaz Walrus seems to be the most likely candidate…

Coo Coo Cachoo

Show threadDasSep 12, 2023
@aijaz this is why I often back-translate when I'm using an app to type and ask someone in a totally different language, to check if the first translating is ok.
Show thread4AllIntentsAndPurposesSep 12, 2023
@aijaz 💯
Show thread🏳️‍⚧️NotPike🍀Sep 12, 2023
@aijaz Reminds me of this clasic... 😅
Show threadYour Future ExSep 12, 2023
@notpike @aijaz When your translator takes everything literally
Show threadtoybox [fr]Sep 12, 2023
@notpike @aijaz Do you collect them? https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/nov/01/5
Lost in translation: road sign carries email reply

Swansea council erects Welsh road sign reading 'I am out of the office at the moment' after an email misunderstanding

The Guardian
Show threadSecret Slutty S AfricanSep 12, 2023

@notpike @aijaz God damn it but the best way to smoke is in Arabic!!

Buzzkills.

Show threadCoffee (Team CW)Sep 12, 2023

@notpike Do not unfurl the furl truck. Very bad things will happen.

@aijaz

Show threadReay JespersenSep 16, 2023

@notpike @MichaelPorter @aijaz Reminds me of my previous gig working at an info centre that had a decor of “Welcome” written in many languages.

Years into my job there —- years after it had opened — a nice young Arabic guy informed me that, by the way, the Arabic lettering literally spelled “Arabic”. 🙄

Show threadPeterSep 12, 2023
@aijaz so the Arabic word for meat and dead are the same word? Or very close spellings?
Show threadSami KoskinenSep 12, 2023
@aijaz If this spreads, sooner or later some #AI powered search engine will link to this page among results for meatball... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_is_dead
Paul is dead - Wikipedia

Show threadKévin ⏚Sep 12, 2023
@sampe @aijaz I think you found the only positive of AI
Show threadGed|NetSep 12, 2023

@aijaz

#Giggles & #Funnies
#Meatball

Show threadtxerren 🇵🇸Sep 12, 2023
@aijaz This is brilliant XXD
Show threadTattie (old account)Sep 12, 2023
@aijaz the vodka is good but the meat is rotten. (Apocryphal, I know).
Show threadDeniz OpalSep 12, 2023

@aijaz

@PSiReN

#NoNeedToWorry

#OkWorryALittleBit

Show threadGoose of StrathearnSep 12, 2023
@aijaz Saw something similar in a Persian shop in Germany once where a jar of mixed pickles had been labelled as mingled vinegar.
Show threadcatchSep 12, 2023

@aijaz just to check do by transliterated do you mean the Arabic is phonetically spelling out 'meat ball'.

Reminds me of Japanese (non machine learning, actual usage) takes 'allergy' as a borrow word, converts the written word to katakana which is a syllabury, something like 'ah leh ruh gee', instead of a direct conversion of the sounds to 'ah leh ji' which would work fine.

Show threadJensSep 12, 2023
@aijaz wait so the word for "is dead" looks similar to the Arabic script phonetics of the English word "meat"?
Show threadGunChleocSep 12, 2023
@aijaz The Welsh have a word for it - #Scymraeg (= scum + cymraeg) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-45012357
Google Translate serves up 'scummy Welsh' translations

Scymraeg - or the mistranslation of English-to-Welsh phrases via Google Translate- is a problem.

BBC News
Show threadChristine SchuhmannSep 12, 2023

@aijaz

Maybe the cow's name was Paul?

Show threadJoanna CzechowskaSep 12, 2023
@aijaz Isn't that a rumour from the 1960s?
Show threadtemporarily a fish (angy)Sep 12, 2023
@aijaz PAUL IS DEAD. Now we eat him.
Show threadXymonSep 12, 2023
@aijaz I am the walrus koo koo kachoo 🎶
Show threadKai BernauSep 12, 2023

@aijaz

LMW 28IF

Show threadMedea Vanamonde🏳️‍⚧️ ♀Sep 12, 2023
@aijaz best read listening to the Beatles song “Revolution # 9”
Show threadWhatever WorksSep 12, 2023
@aijaz OK, now I'm having suspicions about the source of the meat in those meatballs....😨
Show threadAlan Langford 🇨🇦🧤🧊摏Sep 12, 2023
@aijaz Yes, waiter, I'll have the Abbey Road Special please.
Show threadLucien TrainSep 12, 2023
@aijaz This is interesting! There was a famous song of the band "Fehlfarben" in the 80s (Germany) called "Paul ist tot", which means Paul is dead.
Show threadLucien TrainSep 12, 2023
@aijaz Here it is:
https://youtu.be/bbAR6TJLzYY?si=recDKKQAs9-3aMeA
Fehlfarben - Paul Ist Tot (Live im WDR Rockpalast, Köln, 1982)

YouTube
Show threadYour Autistic Life FR/EN/ESSep 12, 2023

@aijaz

"Let me check into my phrasebook... Oh, I'd like to order some 'Paul is dead' please."

"Good god! Is your hovercraft full of eels???"

#MontyPython

Show threadThomas ReyerSep 12, 2023
@aijaz Who knows what the meat was from. Jim?
Show threadChibaniSep 12, 2023
@aijaz
- Mooooom, I don’t like Paul….
- well, leave him on the side of your plate and eat your vegetables.
Show threadPeter PrincipleSep 12, 2023

@aijaz

A generation of Beatles fans who spent hours playing songs backwards: "We KNEW IT!!"

Show threadLiverpoolWizSep 12, 2023
@aijaz I can't decide whether something was lost or gained in this translation. Perhaps the dish will end up being called Paul's balls? #meat #gastronomy #translation #Arabic #English
Show threaddas-gSep 14, 2023
@DevraWiz @aijaz https://social.vivaldi.net/@forrestguid/111053641849529314
Forrest H. Leeson (@forrestguid@vivaldi.net)

@aijaz@mastodon.social "Suddenly / I'm not half the man I used to be..."

Vivaldi Social
Show threadc.reider Sep 12, 2023
@aijaz turn me on dead man
Show threadJustin DearingSep 12, 2023
@aijaz the spice must flow
Show threadFrederik CreemersSep 12, 2023
@aijaz The Beatles were truly way ahead of their time.
Show threadkleinertodSep 12, 2023
@aijaz Kein Freispiel drin.
Show threadkleinertodSep 12, 2023
@aijaz https://youtu.be/1gKwduFVsV4?si=BdJsXWXiX47j76Er
Fehlfarben - Paul ist tot ( 1980)

YouTube
Show threadObsoleteSep 12, 2023
@aijaz
I'd at least try them once