O’Malley Staffer to Clinton Campaign: Stop the Google Translate

[azmom]

So in an effort to appeal to Spanish-speaking Latino voters, the Clinton campaign not only tweeted one really bizarre, contextless tweet but it was accompanied by an English video. It was awkward, sloppy and spoke of lazy Hispandering.




http://www.latinorebels.com/2015/08/06/omalley-staffer-to-clinton-campaign-stop-the-google-translate/

[Evergreen Emerald]

1. Who is he to tell Clinton what to do and how to run the campaign?

That does not sit well with me.

[bigtree]

2. ever use Google translate?

...it produces clipped and often inaccurate English translations.

translation of Hillary's tweet:

We have had many grandparents in @lacasablanca, but we have never had a grandmother.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. So what phrasing would you use? We have had tons of grandparents, no grandmothers in that office.

How is that inaccurate? Would you have used 'gran Padre'? What is the part that offends you and how would you correct it?

[bigtree]

9. ugh

...it's you again, personalizing this.

I never said it offended me. I pointed out that her campaign made an inaccurate translation. Why that made a negative impression on the writer at Latino Post needs to be left to them to defend. I assume they were referring to posting the botched phrase in Spanish which was disassociated from the English-speaking video they included. It did seem a bit 'awkward' a pairing, as they said.

As for the O'Malley staffer, she's making a good point. It's probably not a good idea to rely on Google translates for interpretation of phrases. As I specifically pointed out with not trace of 'offense,' it often produces clipped and inaccurate translations...maybe abuelo was fine. Maybe it was usage, or maybe it was just the use of google translates that was being criticized as a lazy effort.

I do think it's a good idea to pay attention to the criticism and try and understand why this writer objected to this.


here's something she posted an hour ago on facebook (presented without comment or offense) :

Hillary Clinton ·1 hr
How to say “Go Hillary!” in Spanish. Cómo decir “Go Hillary!” en español.

[azmom]

10. Hemos tenido is not proper usage in spanish

It should say Han habido

[tritsofme]

4. Are you....serious?

Tweeking a Clinton staffer for making a mistake on social media doesn't "sit well"? Pretty absurd.

[Joe the Revelator]

5. Oh, the humanity!!!!

[jwirr]

7. It is not just about her. A mistake like this could cost the Democratic Party votes no matter who

the candidate is. And not just on the presidential level.

[frylock]

13. Why use Google Translate when you have the most diverse campaign staff in the history of ever?

[artislife]

3. Hispandering!!

I have never heard that term...did you make it! It is brilliant either way and thank you for introducing it to my vocabulary.

Oh, that is misfortunate about the tweet and video. It kind of reminds me of a story, I heard at a Qigong event.

There was a woman who was invited to a Chinese event. She wasn't Chinese and didn't speak the language but thought it would be fun to make a badge with Chinese symbols to honor the event. She copied the symbols off the menu of her favorite restaurant, probably thinking they were the name. Knowing most Chinese restaurants, they have great name that invoke an image.

She was having a great time at the party when a Chinese man who could read her symbols, started laughing. He asked her what she thought she was saying. He said, no what you have on your badge is " Cheap but good."

Language has so much more than mere words, it invokes how a people think and relate to the world. That is why many languages spoken in different regions are differnt from each other.

[oasis]

6. "Cheap but good"

Wow

[MineralMan]

11. And never get a tattoo with Chinese characters.

At some point, you will meet someone who understands them, and a tattoo that reads "Huge Asshole" is probably not a great idea. Tattoo artists have senses of humor, too. Especially don't get one if you're in a port city where Chinese is spoken. Then, you'll be certain of having something embarrassing permanently inscribed on your skin.

[azmom]

12. It's not only the language. Hispandering to us

With a tweet about having a grandparent in the whitehouse is offensive. We care about the issues.