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   Curioso 🍉 🇺🇦 (jgg) (jgg@qoto.org)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Mar-2026 21:50:11 JST Curioso 🍉 🇺🇦 (jgg)

   in reply to

   @cstross @Gargron

   I feel pretty dumb telling this to the master, but translating a literary work is much more than changing one word for another. Even it you keep all the meaning, it gets weird and doesn't flow; each language has its own rhythm and cadence. A good translator frequently has to completely rewrite a paragraph to keep the sense, the emotions and the flow of the story. Even worse, he needs to make it faithful to the original, which having intermediate versions can make harder.

   I'm not a professional translator, but I have tried to translate some public domain stories, and found that automatic translation is a hindrance. I had to rewrite nearly all, looking always to the original version. It was too easy to drift far from it and get the text and the author absolutely distorted.

   It is a work of art and love, not something a machine can do at all. Not even a part of it.