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submitted 3 days ago by Zagorath@aussie.zone to c/sigh_fi@quokk.au

TranscriptionA series of Tweets by @Foone, each replying to the last:

Here's the question I always have with universal translators in sci-fi: how do they know when to stop translation? Like say an alien asks about deserts on earth, and the human lists "the sahara desert, gobi desert and kalahari desert" Alien: You just said "desert" six times.

("Sahara" is Arabic for "desert". "Gobi" is Mongolian for "desert", and "Kalahari" is Tswana for "desert")

Man, the aliens are going to think we're so bad at naming. Cause really, aren't we?
Brit: Behold, the beautiful River Avon!
Alien: Ahh, the River River. You humans have such a knack for naming things.

"Here we are in Chad, looking upon the mighty Lake Chad!"
"Ahh yes, the land of Lake, bordering the Lake Lake. Another fine human name. "

"And here's Nyanza Lac, in Burundi. As you can tell by the fact that it's named Lake Lake in Bantu & French, it's a la... actually this one's a city. A city named Lake Lake"

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[-] nagaram@startrek.website 27 points 3 days ago

All of a sudden "Darmok" is a much less stupid episode.

[-] BenevolentOne@infosec.pub 3 points 2 days ago

Allow me to translate this for everyone looking at this comment and trying to figure out what it means and can't be bothered to google it.

You MUST IMMEDIATELY go find/stream/steal Star Trek - The Next Generation S5E02 - "Darmok" before participating in this thread.

And if you don't understand it, watch it again until you do.

You're welcome.

[-] 18107@aussie.zone 24 points 3 days ago
[-] Deceptichum@quokk.au 3 points 2 days ago
[-] 18107@aussie.zone 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I know someone made this joke before, but I can't find it.

You made this? I made this.

[-] Aviandelight@mander.xyz 5 points 3 days ago

I'm laughing at this far more than I should be.

this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2025
379 points (100.0% liked)

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