How not to support multiple languages (a minor WTF from the WWW)



  • OK, I've a minor WTF from the intrawebz to share.

    This site [ http://www.drinkiq.com/ ] which some liquor mogal knocked up to show how responsible they really are forces you to select your country and then directs you to the relevant content for your country. Not all the countries in the list have site, and in fact quite alot of the countries sites result in a 404: Page Not Found (eg. Belarus, and Great Britain). If you do select a country that is supported, then most of the text is regionalised, however the large Flash clip featuerd on the page features just cycles through the same 5 common laguages regardless of your selection - English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese (unsure which, sorry).

    It's all rather silly if you ask me (and I realise, that you didn't).



  •  TRWTF(C)(R)(TM) is that according to the age check, 28 is not old enough to legally buy/drink alcohol in France (tested in MFX 3.5)

    (Yeah I know, TRWTF is that I actually tried to visit the site)



  • @nat42 said:

    quite alot of the countries sites result in a 404: Page Not Found (eg. Belarus, and Great Britain)
    Well, do YOU want those nasty belarusans and GBers drinking more?



  • Another WTF:  Selecting Canada uses US-en, which is wrong. CA-en is right.  Canada uses neither British nor American spelling exclusively.



  • @shepd said:

    Another WTF:  Selecting Canada uses US-en, which is wrong. CA-en is right.
    Um. “ca” is for Catalan. en-CA is Canadian English. ISO 639-1.



  • @shepd said:

    Another WTF:  Selecting Canada uses US-en, which is wrong. CA-en is right.  Canada uses neither British nor American spelling exclusively.

    How is that really a WTF?  American English seems like it would be the closer than British English.  It's pretty whiny to care which variant you get, honestly.  Some sites with large numbers of users on both continents might need separate US and UK (and maybe even Canadian) versions, but how often is that necessary?  Regional variations are pretty easy to understand if you are versed in one of them.  I'm not going to be confused or offended if a site with heavy traffic from the UK uses British English, just as I think it's stupid when the occasional moroic Brit whines about this site being American English.



  • @shepd said:

    Another WTF:  Selecting Canada uses US-en, which is wrong. CA-en is right.  Canada uses neither British nor American spelling exclusively.

     Yeah, but all literate english speaking Canadians can read and understand "american" (US-en). If a "canadian" translation is not available, then the most appropriate selection is "american".

     TRWTF is refering to USoA citizens as "americans". Last time I checked there were a few countries in north america (let alone all of the americas).

     I'll never forget the ebay seller who listed that they ship to North and South America then refused to ship to canada, "I only ship to north and south america!"



  • @dubbreak said:

     TRWTF is refering to USoA citizens as "americans". Last time I checked there were a few countries in north america (let alone all of the americas).

    It's only a WTF to you because you have no knowledge of history.  Residents of the United States have been called "Americans" for a long, long, long time.   And as I point out to every idiot who makes this ridiculous argument, the United States is the only nation that has "America" in its name.  Stop being such a whiny, ignorant bitch and let it go.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @dubbreak said:

     TRWTF is refering to USoA citizens as "americans". Last time I checked there were a few countries in north america (let alone all of the americas).

    It's only a WTF to you because you have no knowledge of history.  Residents of the United States have been called "Americans" for a long, long, long time.   And as I point out to every idiot who makes this ridiculous argument, the United States is the only nation that has "America" in its name.  Stop being such a whiny, ignorant bitch and let it go.

     

    Ok, so let it stand that US citizens are "americans". It is still a huge WTF that and american would think that North and South American mean the northern and southern regions of the US. That's ignorant.

    I'd ask what they teach in US schools, but I know since I went to school in the US.



  • @dubbreak said:

    It is still a huge WTF that and american would think that North and South American mean the northern and southern regions of the US.

    I never disagreed with that.

     

    @dubbreak said:

    I'd ask what they teach in US schools, but I know since I went to school in the US.

    We have a thread on that.  Although, by now it's probably been derailed by scat fetishists who just want everyone to know how normal they are.



  • @shepd said:

    Another WTF:  Selecting Canada uses US-en, which is wrong. CA-en is right.  Canada uses neither British nor American spelling exclusively.

     

    Have they fixed in the in the last little bit? It selected en-AU for me, and selecting Canada it did pick up en-CA.

    The WTF I found was trying to read the text in the banner - it kept flicking to the other slides. Also the drinks calculator doesn't like it if you press enter - it will just direct you to another page. I've noticed that behaviour on a lot of ASPX sites - what is going on there?



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @shepd said:

    Another WTF:  Selecting Canada uses US-en, which is wrong. CA-en is right.  Canada uses neither British nor American spelling exclusively.

    How is that really a WTF?  American English seems like it would be the closer than British English.  It's pretty whiny to care which variant you get, honestly.  Some sites with large numbers of users on both continents might need separate US and UK (and maybe even Canadian) versions, but how often is that necessary?


    For the most part, the tone of the writing is what determines if you need to distinguish between versions of English. As long as you're writing in a formal tone, the differences are mostly in spelling, with the occasional "gotcha" word (eg. "to table" as parliamentary procedure). On the other hand, if you're writing in an informal tone, the differences start to pile up: you wouldn't speak of rooting someone's box in Australia (unless you're into that sort of thing), knocking them up has very different meanings in the US and the UK, and an action described as "knocked her flat" won't get you arrested for battery in England.



  • @Carnildo said:

    (eg. "to table" as parliamentary procedure)

    What does that mean in Inferior English?

     

    @Carnildo said:

    On the other hand, if you're writing in an informal tone, the differences start to pile up: you wouldn't speak of rooting someone's box in Australia (unless you're into that sort of thing), knocking them up has very different meanings in the US and the UK, and an action described as "knocked her flat" won't get you arrested for battery in England.

    So you learn.  Even in America, there are some regional differences in language.  If you encounter an phrase that doesn't make sense, you can usually infer the regional meaning from context or look it up.  I read a lot of stuff from the UK and, as a result, I've become acquainted with the idioms you've pointed out, in addition to many others.  Now, sometimes it makes sense to make your writing a bit more directed, and when that's necessary, you can do it.  But the notion that Canada, America and England all need separate "translations" is a bit silly.



  • @Zemm said:

    It selected en-AU for me...

    Now, Australia definitely needs its own translation.   Your tiny minds would explode at the glitz and glamour of American, British and Canadian worlds.  Better that we explain things through parables about kangaroos and prison colonies.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Carnildo said:

    (eg. "to table" as parliamentary procedure)

    What does that mean in Inferior English?

    Inferior countries don't have tables, so instead they say "to that-part-of-the-floor-we-don't-shit-on."  It's a bit wordy, but that's not really a problem because usually their parliamentary meetings devolve into bloody fist fights long before anything can actually be decided.


  • @bstorer said:

    Inferior countries don't have tables, so instead they say "to that-part-of-the-floor-we-don't-shit-on."  It's a bit wordy, but that's not really a problem because usually their parliamentary meetings devolve into bloody fist fights long before anything can actually be decided.

    Particularly during Question Time, our parliamentary procedings resemble a bunch of nine-year-old boys having a playground argument, but with fancy furniture. So I guess that means the answer to "is Australia an inferior country?" is FILE_NOT_FOUND.




  • @Zemm said:

    Also the drinks calculator doesn't like it if you press enter - it will just direct you to another page. I've noticed that behaviour on a lot of ASPX sites - what is going on there?
    UpdatePanel and ASP.NET’s other failed attempts at making writing Web apps more like writing traditional apps, I would guess. But I’ve only written ASP.NET/C# once, so I couldn’t possibly say for certain.


  • Garbage Person

    @snover said:

    @Zemm said:

    Also the drinks calculator doesn't like it if you press enter - it will just direct you to another page. I've noticed that behaviour on a lot of ASPX sites - what is going on there?
    UpdatePanel and ASP.NET’s other failed attempts at making writing Web apps more like writing traditional apps, I would guess. But I’ve only written ASP.NET/C# once, so I couldn’t possibly say for certain.

    If an updatepanel is causing that, they're using it hugely wrong.


  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Zemm said:

    It selected en-AU for me...

    Now, Australia definitely needs its own translation.   Your tiny minds would explode at the glitz and glamour of American, British and Canadian worlds.  Better that we explain things through parables about kangaroos and prison colonies.

     

    Where the bloody hell are you?



  • @Zemm said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @Zemm said:

    It selected en-AU for me...

    Now, Australia definitely needs its own translation.   Your tiny minds would explode at the glitz and glamour of American, British and Canadian worlds.  Better that we explain things through parables about kangaroos and prison colonies.

     

    Where the bloody hell are you?

    I'm going with Alaska. Srs beans.



  • TRWTF is try selecting "1900" as your birth-year in Iran/Iraq: Apparently, prohibiition is still in effect there.



  • @Indrora said:

    TRWTF is try selecting "1900" as your birth-year in Iran/Iraq: Apparently, prohibiition is still in effect there.

    You don't know much about Islam, do you?



  • @Indrora said:

    @Zemm said:
    Where the bloody hell are you?

    I'm going with Alaska. Srs beans.

    Did "East Coast Represent!" give it away?



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @Indrora said:

    @Zemm said:
    Where the bloody hell are you?

    I'm going with Alaska. Srs beans.

    Did "East Coast Represent!" give it away?

    So you live on the east coast of Alaska, right?  Can you see Russia from your house?


  • @bstorer said:

    @morbiuswilters said:

    @Indrora said:

    @Zemm said:
    Where the bloody hell are you?

    I'm going with Alaska. Srs beans.

    Did "East Coast Represent!" give it away?

    So you live on the east coast of Alaska, right?  Can you see Russia from your house?

    It's that country with the gay-ass hockey fans, weak beer and bearded, psychotic programmers, right?  Yep, I can see it.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    bearded, psychotic programmers
    But... Welbog doesn't have a beard!



  • @shepd said:

    Another WTF:  Selecting Canada uses US-en, which is wrong. CA-en is right.  Canada uses neither British nor American spelling exclusively.

    I'm not entirely clear on this - isn't Canadish simply US English with "eh" and "zed"?


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