Babel Fish at it again

A friend of mine, who works at packaging internet content, such as worship services, in XML for rendering on a worship planning web site and a confirmation curriculum web site, emailed a couple of instances where certain things didn't quite get translated right. A miracle of speaking in tongues might be in order.

The developer I work with just told me he saw a translation from Russian into English of what should have been "the spirit and the flesh," but was rendered as "vodka and meat."

The subject came up when I mentioned that the foot washing rite in Spanish is "Lavatorio de los Pies," which, obviously, Babel Fish calls "Lavatory of the Feet."