Tuesday, September 11, 2007

What did you just call me?

So my Spanish friend was talking to me in Spanish, and since I -- like any good American -- don't know Spanish, I was using the translator that comes in Dashboard to make sure it said what I thought it said before replying.

...Anyway. She said: "Espero que tuviste un buen dia, Ben", which I thought (correctly) to mean "I hope you had a good day, Ben".

However! When I plugged it into my translator, this is what it said: "I hope you had good day, Horseradish tree". ...Exsqueeze me? Horseradish tree? You must be joking, I thought to myself. So I typed "Ben" into the Spanish side, and, lo and behold, it translates to "Horseradish tree".

The following is a fun progression:

Ben --> "Horseradish tree"
Horseradish tree --> "árbol del rábano picante"
árbol del rábano picante --> "tree of the sharp radish"
tree of the sharp radish --> "árbol del rábano sostenido"
árbol del rábano sostenido --> "tree of the maintained radish"
tree of the maintained radish --> "árbol del rábano mantenido"

And from there it's pretty much the same thing. I just thought it was funny. I just don't see how the hell "Ben" means "Horseradish tree". Can someone please explain the etymology of that, please? Thanks.

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