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Subject:Re: Across Cultures From:Steve Fouts <sfouts -at- ELLISON -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 14 Jan 1994 09:15:56 CST
LaVonna says:
|}
|} Here's a tangent for a Friday:
|}
|} Do you have any stories or examples from personal
|} experience of communication being hindered or
|} confused because the persons involved were from
|} different cultures?
|}
This one took me the better part of a day to figure this one out. The
manual had been written in France and translated into English by a group
of non-native English speaking folks, then run through an English
spell-checker. The result was this:
"When replacing the microprocessor, make sure the pin orientation is
correct. Note: Pin 1 is marked with a serigraphic encryption."
Huh? How does one encrypt a pin? Turns out that word started out as a
slightly misspelled "inscription." A serigraphic inscription turned out
to be a screen printed dot (serigraphy is a form of screen printing)
above pin one. Didn't exactly require Scotland Yard, but it had me
stumped for a moment or two.
Note: Thanks Ken, for proofing my .sig for me!
_______________________
/ ___ __/__\ \ / / _\ Steve Fouts
/___ \| | ___\ | / __\ sfouts -at- ellison -dot- ti -dot- com
/ / \ | \ / \
/_______/__|_______\_/________\ Unprovided with original learning,
uninformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition,
I resolved to write a book. -- Edward Gibbon
