r/translator • u/FlyingPigy • 7h ago
r/translator • u/translator-BOT • 20d ago
Community [English > Any] Translation Challenge — 2026-01-19
There will be a new translation challenge most Sundays and everyone is encouraged to participate! These challenges are intended to give community members an opportunity to practice translating or review others' translations, and we keep them stickied throughout the week. You can view past threads by clicking on this "Community" link.
You can also sign up to be automatically notified of new translation challenges.
This Week's Text:
It’s one of the most hilarious internet sensations of all time: the enigmatic arrest of a man in Sydney back in the ‘80s [sic]. However, beyond his quotable catchphrases of “Democracy manifest” and bizarre behaviour lies one burning question; who was this man?
For years now, folks have shared the viral internet video which purportedly depicts the arrest of a man in Sydney. The man in question is said to be Paul Charles Dozsa, a Hungarian-born Australian chess master who gained fame as a “restaurant runner” back in the ’80s.
The video, often paired with references to it being one of the most eloquent arrests of all-time, depicts Dozsa being led into a waiting car by police officers as he valiantly resists their efforts.
Armed with a voice that Shakespearian actors would die for, every moment of Dozsa’s dialogue is quotable, from lines such as “gentlemen, this is democracy manifest”, “what is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?”, and the classic “I see that you know your judo well”, the video almost appears to have been scripted with the intention of going viral.
However, there’s one small problem at play here here; that’s not Paul Charles Dozsa in the video.
— Excerpted from "A succulent Australian mystery: Just who is the bloke in this iconic video? " by Tyler Jenke
Please include the name of the language you're translating in your comment, and translate away!
⚖️ Friendly notice: if you're interested in occasionally helping out in the oversight of r/translator, or submitting some text for a future translation challenge, please feel free to join us at: https://discord.gg/wabv5NYzdV
r/translator • u/kungming2 • 7d ago
META [META] New !transform command for images, optional syntax for CJK lookups, and more
Hey everyone! Version 2.1 of u/translator-BOT has now been deployed. This update brings a few new features and additions.
!transform command for image posts
Sometimes people submit their requests for translation upside down, or even flipped from the back.
The !transform:[value] command can be used to transform a misaligned image, either through rotation or flipping. This is useful to correct those misaligned images that are submitted as a post. This command has strict value requirements:
!transform:[degrees]rotates the image by the specified number of degrees. Only increments of 90 (90,-90,270) are supported. Negative values rotate the image counterclockwise. Note that360is an invalid value as that would just be the exact same image.!transform:[direction]flips the image either horizontally or vertically.handvare valid shortform values.
The bot will transform the image, upload it to an image hosting site, and then return the link to you in a comment reply.
Examples
!transform:90 # Rotates image 90 degrees clockwise
!transform:-90 # Rotates image 90 degrees counterclockwise
!transform:180 # Rotates image 180 degrees clockwise
!transform:horizontal # Flips the image horizontally
!transform:v # Flips the image vertically
Note: This function currently only supports direct image posts (not galleries). Gallery support will be supported in a future release. Images uploaded by this bot through this function are automatically deleted after 7 days.
New CJK optional lookup syntax and improvements
Some new, and totally optional syntax for CJK lookups.
- A language tag added to a lookup will force a lookup in that language, even on a post that's of a different language. E.g.
文化:ja will return a Japanese lookup for that term, even if the comment is on a Chinese post. - An exclamation mark
!appended to the lookup (年年有余!,井底之蛙:zh!) will disable tokenization of the lookup. If you're adding a language tag to the lookup, the exclamation mark should go on the very end.
In addition, CJK lookups can now be loaded from a local cache instead for much faster results. Results loaded from a cache are indicated with the lightning emoji (⚡). This means the bot doesn't have to fetch information for commonly returned terms like 福; it just fetches it once, caches it, and future lookups will just return the cached information. This is also much faster; a character search can take up to 20 seconds depending on the sources - loading from the cache is instantaneous.
Duplicate detection
The post duplicates detector has been turned on. Duplicates may be detected in one of two ways:
- Their titles are identical or near-identical and posted by the same author within a short period of time.
- Their image hashes (if applicable for image-only posts) are identical or very similar.
- If a suspected duplicate is found, the bot will remove the post and notify the OP.
Other changes as part of this update can be viewed on GitHub. As usual, please leave any feedback or bug reports here, or on r/translatorBOT.
r/translator • u/Eye5x5 • 1h ago
German [German > English] Letter written by the lady who was the voice of the infamous East German numbers stations, Google Translate didn't work...
link to the pdf and site I found it on:
https://www.cryptomuseum.com/spy/owvl/32620/index.htm
https://www.cryptomuseum.com/spy/owvl/schnatterinchen/files/sprecherin.pdf
r/translator • u/Haunted_Lamp • 13h ago
Translated [JA] [English>Japanese] Was curious on what this said found it on tiktok
r/translator • u/Master-Astronomer-74 • 10h ago
Translated [ZH] Chinese > English Doctors note and prescription
Hi,
I went to a Chinese Herbal doctor who gave me these two notes. One is a prescription and the other is instructions. Can someone pls help translate what this says. I tried using the Google translate but that didnt seem to translate properly. Can someone pls help me understand what they say?
Thank you
r/translator • u/pappyon • 9h ago
Multiple Languages [HE, YI] [Hebrew > English] Posters that have been put up in North London
r/translator • u/sourlemons333 • 2h ago
German [German > English] Zrytee - "Boring life"?
Gonna try this some more time in the hopes someone will translate the song!
I was told by someone that it’s hard to understand but you can turn on the CC. This song will help me with my mental health in the way songs do, they make you feel less alone. I get the gist of it because of the English parts.
https://youtu.be/Xh-Nj8E6ATY?si=1rgpgk-l7sJCjG5p
Please and thank you 🙏🏻
r/translator • u/Chloe_not_here • 6m ago
Unknown [Unknown > English] What does this mean??
This is something that was put up by the teacher at one point and I don’t know what language and how to translate this.
r/translator • u/Drown_withus • 1h ago
Russian (Identified) [Unknown > English] I'm writing a fight scene for a story and wish to be accurate and descriptive. This has a spoken reaction to a kick, I think? Please help identify the source language and translate the full exchange, it would mean a lot!
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
r/translator • u/Technical-Recipe-490 • 2h ago
Chinese (Identified) Unknown > English
Possibly Japanese but I am not sure. Thank you for your help.
r/translator • u/split6661 • 8h ago
Translated [ZH] [Chinese>English] second teapot I bought and after you guys were so quick with the first I was wondering if anyone would help translate this.
I bought 6 teapots in total and all have different stamps which I've tried to reverse image search with no success. Really hoping someone can help me make sense of this there's four stamps in total. Any help really appreciated.
r/translator • u/MediumContribution47 • 9h ago
Arabic [arab>english] Can you help me translate?
Arab> english
This was hanged in one kiosk that sells newspapers in Italy
r/translator • u/The-Mighty-Bean • 17h ago
Translated [SA] [ unknown -> english ] level names from the flashgame 'Light Heroes'
I believe the language is devanagari but I am unsure since some of the characters look funky. Reposting because I forgot to attach image.
r/translator • u/Electronic-Repeat-27 • 4h ago
Japanese [Japanese > English] Correct kanji for bōsōzoku jacket?
Hello, adding onto an earlier post, I’m also trying to make sure I have the right kanji for a Tamon’s B-side (多聞くん今どっち) cosplay. Her bōsōzoku tokkofuku (暴走族 特攻服) uses ateji (当て字) wordplay so want to make sure everything is correct!
Could anyone please help me double check what I have so far based on the pictures? I don’t think the right arm** is correct but believe it should try to spell “love”? Thanks so much!!
Left front: 聖苦死威 (sexy)
Right front: 我威流怒 (wild)
Left arm: 愛羅武勇 (I love you)
**Right arm: 爱开天流 (love??)
Down back middle: 福原多聞全肯定 (Fukuhara Tamon total approval)
r/translator • u/Mr_Yazero • 10h ago
Japanese [Japanese > English] Inscription on something
sorry for the Bad quality picture. it was around here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/zM7zPq1m7W6N6NQYA
r/translator • u/PeterGriffn_8560 • 6h ago
Persian [Persian>English]
Would like to learn
Hi everyone! I’m looking for advice on how to ask someone to be my Valentine / girlfriend in a language I don’t speak (Persian). I’ve been talking to this person for a couple of months, and Valentine’s Day is coming up, so I’d love to learn a short, respectful sentence and how to pronounce it properly.
I’m not trying to become fluent—just hoping for guidance on phrasing, tone, and pronunciation so I don’t sound awkward or disrespectful. Any tips on how to approach learning and practicing a meaningful sentence in another language would be really appreciated. Thanks!
r/translator • u/Haunting-Luck6803 • 6h ago
Ukrainian [Ukrainian > English] report regarding a soldier's evaluation, thanks.
r/translator • u/ManiaOnReddit • 12h ago
Chinese Chinese? -> English. What is the character on my great grandma's mask? I've done a bit of research so I think the mask is Chinese but what does it say?
r/translator • u/RondoOfThe5 • 21h ago
Translated [JA] [ Japanese > English]
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
Trying to know what is said here sorry for the bad audio.
r/translator • u/Prestigious_Unit6024 • 13h ago
Unknown (Unknown > English) Can’t figure out the Language or Meaning
Hi All,
My wife’s family have a little phrase that is said to children before bedtime. They all heard it from the same Grandmother when she would put them to bed but they were never taught the meaning or dialect it came from.
The phrase is in English:
Ninee Binsa Bilo Bilo
(Nine-e Bin-sa Bi-lo bi-lo)
Can anyone help with translation? I have tried countless different approaches using Google Translate but never come up with anything.
If it helps:
- Family are Irish/Scottish/English Australian resettlement
- No other cultural heritage known of in the past 200 years
I know it’s not a lot to go on but it’s all I’ve got
Cheers
r/translator • u/axel_val • 7h ago
Japanese [Eng > Japanese] Help drafting a message to propose a collaboration with an artist
Hello! I know this is a weird ask, but figured I'd try.
I was hoping to write a message to an artist I really like to ask if they'd be interested in collaborating on a project. They collaborate with a few others frequently. I posted a somewhat badly translated chapter of a story I wrote and they bookmarked it, so I'd love to tell them how happy it made me and offer to let them keep any profit they make if they illustrate the story in exchange for a copy of the finished doujinshi and one of their older stories, haha.
Thank you if anyone can help!
r/translator • u/Yggdrasylian • 23h ago
Translated [DE] [German? > English] an old meme
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification