What Apple is offering is a form of hands-free, real-time conversation across multiple languages. The babel fish idea of Douglas Adams in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (above) in real life.
In Greece there is a wonderfully dexterous word, malaka. When someone uses it, they might be letting you know they’d share a foxhole with you or maybe a pint. Similarly, they might be cursing you as the worst person they’ve ever known, or just saying you’re an idiot.
The way someone says malaka is fundamental to understanding what they mean when they say it. Even non-Greek speakers can generally get the emotional gist of it. That’s because how we speak is fundamental to what we mean.
In Hiberno-English, it could be how we say something is grand, whereas calling someone a cladhaire as Gaei
Continue Reading on The Irish Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.