My previous post was about an author who sounded like he wrote in another language and used some kind of tool to translate into English.

For fun, I tried to translate William Gibson’s striking first line from Neuromancer into other languages and back again into English using Alta Vista Babelfish.

Here are the results:

Original Text: The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead station.

English->Korean->English: The up sky of the harbor was color of the television which is regulated in the reverse which dies.

English->Chinese->English: The sky above the port is the television color, is tuned the station which dies to.

English->German->English: The sky over the gate was co-ordinated the color of the television, to a dead station.

English->Italian->English: The sky over the orifice was the color of the television, syntonized to one out of order station.

English->French->English: The sky above the port was the color of the television, granted to a dead station.

English->Russian->English: Sky above the port was the color of television, disposed to the dead station.

Now to mix it up a little.

English->Portuguese->French->Greek->English: The sky above the harbour was the colour of television, her that is regulated in a fruitless post.