tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Dec 09 11:49:58 1994

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Re: Warp drives (the next wodge)

According to Niall Hosking:

..[my comments about copping out on translating this warp drive
stuff deleted] 
> Fair enough, but the interest here is supposed to be the challenge of
> translating the Klingon, not of whether or not you enjoy the subject
> matter. You can let someone else deal with it.

Okay, let me be more specific. There are a lot of posts that
come in and require my attention. If I was not up for that,
then I should never have volunteered as Beginners' Grammarian
(BG).

In this case, I feel like the project you are attempting is so
far beyond your skill level that you are not really learning
very much from it. More specifically, I'm not even convinced
that you are TRYING to learn from it. It feels like you just
want some "really cool" text translated for you. Period.

Meanwhile, it is a difficult assignment AND I'm not personally
enjoying it.

If I felt like you were coming closer to translating this
yourself; that you just needed a nudge here and there, then it
would not matter to me that I did not find the text
interesting. Meanwhile, you clearly don't have a clue as to how
to handle the majority of the grammar in this text. You are not
doing the work yourself.

It is not your fault that you don't have a clue. You are not
SUPPOSED to be able to translate stuff this hard yet. You have
not yet made the effort to translate simpler things. How are
you supposed to be able to do THIS yet? Simple. You aren't.

If you want to try something closer to your skill level so you
actually learn from it, I'll be happy to help you. Also, if you
want me to translate something I'm interested in, I'll probably
do it even if I don't think you are learning anything from it.
It was the combination of neither being personally interesting
NOR convincingly educational that got me.

[my crackpot theories deleted]
 
> Kind of irrelevant here, but an interesting read anyway. Sounds awfully
> Flat-Earthish though. If it were true, a lot of people in my Department
> are going to be very upset, not to mention out of a job.

Not really. It could be true and make no difference whatsoever.
If it were false, but became accepted in the scientific
community, then all those bad things would happen to your
coworkers. In fact, being true and being accepted in the
scientific community are unrelated functions...

Note that I did not say that they were inverse functions. They
are simply unrelated. Some true things are accepted. Some false
things are accepted. Some true things are rejected. Some false
things are rejected. The scientific community sustains its own
virtual reality that sometimes corresponds to Reality. The Flat
Earth is one example of a "fact" that was once widely accepted
in the scientific community. Now, they have the Big Bang...

> A little ungracious for the beginners grammarian:
> 
> 'Hey I disagree with your Science/Art/Religion/Lifestyle/etc., so I'm
> not only going to lecture you on this, but I'm going to not translate it
> for you.'

Well, I could similarly cast your submission as:

Hey, here's some text I can't nearly translate. I'm not showing
many signs of trying to do any of the work myself, and I am not
really interested in learning to speak Klingon. I just want to
be able to show somebody else this really cool text written in
Klingon, so will you do it for me, even if you don't enjoy the
topic?

Meanwhile, I think we are both deeper people than these shallow
descriptions suggest. I apologise for lecturing. You
accidentally hit a topic for which I have great interest and no
outlet. Meanwhile, I still don't want to translate your text.
Surely somebody else her might.

> I'd have thought this fair enough if you felt the article too
> complicated for you to translate, but it seems unfair to discriminate on
> the grounds of content, especially when said content is *not* offensive.

It is not offensive. It is just a simple burden. Translating
this stuff is not easy. That's why you can't do it. I could do
it if I really wanted to, but I don't. It takes a long time and
I don't get anything out of it. I don't even get to feel like
I'm helping someone learn how to speak Klingon. For me, it is
just work. 

> charghwI', you provide a great service normally, it is a shame to see
> you get upset by something like this. Unless I'm missing a joke of
> course.

Hey, when people are face to face, they often misinterpret each
other's meaning and feelings get hurt. Here, the cues are even
more scarce and the opportunities for miscommunication are far
greater. I wish to show no sign of disrespect, and I appreciate
your appreciation for what I do most of the time (but didn't do
this time).

I'm okay. Your okay. Okay?

But I STILL don't want to translate your stuff until I sense
that you are closer to being able to do it yourself so you can
actually learn from the experience.

> Remember IDIC.

Hey. It's my lifestyle.

> LLAP
> 
> {qSeroHS veyn}
> -- 
> Niall Hosking
> aka Kserokhs Vaene
> [email protected]

charghwI'
-- 

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  ">   | Get a grip.
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