Lost in Translation

by Stefani Koorey

First published in April/May, 2005, Volume 2, Issue 2, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.

What happens when an English phrase is translated (by computer) back and forth between 5 different languages? Translation software, however, is not equipped for 10 consecutive translations of the same piece of text. The resulting half-English, half-foreign, and totally non sequitur response bears almost no resemblance to the original. 

We translated the Lizzie Borden doggerel and this is what we got!

Original English Text:

Lizzie Borden took an axe,
gave her mother forty whacks,
when she saw what she had done,
she gave her father forty-one.

Translated to French:
Lizzie Borden a pris une hache,
a donné sa mère quarante bat,
quand elle a vu ce qu’elle avait fait,
elle a donné son forty-one de père.

Translated back to English:

Lizzie Borden took an axe,
gave his/her mother forty beats,
when it saw what it had done,
it gave its forty-one of father.

Translated to German:

Lizzie Borden nahm eine Axt,
gab seiner/ihr Mutter vierzig Schläge,
als es sah, was es getan hatte,
es gab sein forty-one des Vaters.

Translated back to English:

Lizzie boards took an axe,
gave its/it to nut/mother of forty impacts,
when it saw, what it had done,
it gave its forty one of the father.

Translated to Italian:

I bordi di Lizzie hanno preso un’ascia,
hanno dato its/it a nut/mother di quaranta effetti,
quando ha visto, che cosa esso aveva fatto,
esso hanno dato relativo quaranta del padre.

Translated back to English:

The edges of Lizzie have taken an axe,
have given its/it to nut/mother of forty effects,
when it has seen, that what it had made,
it have given relative forty of the father.

Translated to Portuguese:

As bordas de Lizzie fizeram exame de um machado,
deram its/it a nut/mother de quarenta efeitos,
quando viu, que o que tinha feito,
deu o parente quarenta do pai.

Translated back to English:

The edges of Lizzie had made examination of an axe,
had given its/it to nut/mother of forty effect,
when it saw, that what had fact,
it gave relative forty of the father.

Translated to Spanish:

Los bordes de Lizzie habían hecho la examinación de un hacha,
habían dado its/it a nut/mother del efecto cuarenta,
cuando vio, que qué tenía hecho,
dio a pariente cuarenta del padre.

Translated back to English:

The edges of Lizzie had made the examinación of an axe,
had given its/it nut/mother of effect forty,
when it saw, that what had fact,
it gave relative forty of the father.