翻译软件翻错了

丽丽，我昨天一个人去饭馆吃饭，用手机的翻译软件看菜单，自己点菜。

Lili, yesterday I went to a restaurant by myself and used the translation app on my phone to read the menu and order for myself.

真的吗？翻译软件应该很有用，你点了什么菜？

Really? A translation app should be pretty useful. What did you order?

我看到一道菜，软件把它直接翻译了，我看了那几个字，很害怕，觉得这道菜里面一定有蚂蚁。

I saw one dish, and the app translated it directly. I read those characters and got scared, I thought this dish must have real ants in it.

什么？蚂蚁？你说的是不是蚂蚁上树？

What? Ants? Are you talking about Ants Climbing a Tree?

对，就是蚂蚁上树！我还问服务员，蚂蚁新不新鲜，她笑得说不出话来。

Yes, exactly, Ants Climbing a Tree! I even asked the waitress whether the ants were fresh. She laughed so hard she couldn't answer.

蚂蚁上树里面没有蚂蚁，也没有树，是肉末和面条，你想多了。

There are no ants in Ants Climbing a Tree, and no tree either. It's minced pork and noodles. You were overthinking it.

那为什么要叫这个名字？软件翻译的这几个字，不是一个都没有翻译错吗？

Then why is it called that? Didn't the app translate every single character correctly?

字是对的，但是意思不是软件说的那个意思。以前的人觉得，面条上面的肉末，样子很像很多小蚂蚁在树上爬，所以就给这道菜起了这个名字。

The characters are correct, but that's not what the name actually means. People long ago thought the bits of minced pork sitting on the noodles looked like little ants climbing up a tree, so that's the name they gave the dish.

这样啊，这个名字说的不是里面有什么，是它的样子。

I see. So the name isn't describing what's inside, it's describing what it looks like.

对，很多老菜名都是这样，说的是一个老故事，或者是菜的样子，不是里面放了什么。软件不知道这些故事，只会直接翻译字。

Right, a lot of old dish names are like that. They describe an old story, or what a dish looks like, not what's actually in it. The app doesn't know those stories, it only translates the characters directly.

我懂了，软件只会直接翻译字，但是两个字放在一起的意思，跟这道菜没有关系。

I get it. The app only translates the characters directly, but what the two characters mean put together has nothing to do with the actual dish.

你说得对，这就是问题。字对了，意思还是可能错。

You're right, that's exactly the problem. The characters can be correct and the meaning can still be wrong.

但是我还是觉得翻译软件很有用，我们说的话，它很多时候都翻译得对，只是遇到这种老名字的时候会翻译错。

But I still think translation apps are useful. Most of the time it translates what we say correctly. It's just these old dish names that trip it up.

没错，我也是这么想的。以后你在菜单上看到奇怪的名字，先问问我，我给你讲讲这些名字后面的故事。

Exactly, I think so too. Next time you see a strange name on a menu, ask me first, and I'll tell you the story behind it.

好，下次我们一起去吃饭，你给我讲故事，我请你吃蚂蚁上树。

Deal. Next time we go eat together, you tell me the story and I'll treat you to Ants Climbing a Tree.