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WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages

wordsafety.com

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Re: WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages

#201

Post by pyre »

thekevan wrote: post #125
pavlov wrote: post #25

Hey guys, I made this last week as a two-evening side project. Happy to see it posted here, thanks randall! I know the word lists aren't complete. This was the best I could do given the time constraint, the fact that I don't actually speak 19 languages... And also, after two evenings of googling dirty words, I started feeling like I'm about to acquire Tourette's in some unknown language ;) I'll update the database wi…

You may want to look at slang as well. I tried both "knob" and "bell end". It said both were safe. Maybe they may be safe-ish in the US, but in Britain they are definitely slang words that could result in quite a chuckle if you named your app that.

Or "root" in Australia.

Re: WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages

#202

Post by Retr0spectrum »

pavlov wrote: post #25

Hey guys, I made this last week as a two-evening side project. Happy to see it posted here, thanks randall! I know the word lists aren't complete. This was the best I could do given the time constraint, the fact that I don't actually speak 19 languages... And also, after two evenings of googling dirty words, I started feeling like I'm about to acquire Tourette's in some unknown language ;) I'll update the database wi…

I'd be intrested to see the browser and OS stats.

Re: WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages

#203

Post by strathmeyer »

mcorrand wrote: post #16

"bite" is safe according to this tool. Any french speaker does a double take when they see that word though, especially in certain sentences. For reference: https://askafrenchguy.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/petite-bites-... Edit: Yes, I have submitted it to the database, it should get vetted eventually. A crowdsourced process for the vetting could be fun too!

It's not searching for 'sounds like', it doesn't think 'fuc' or 'fuch' are bad words.

Re: WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages

#204

Post by danieltillett »

amyjess wrote: post #172
elros wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding the Chevy Nova, I always found that story very hard to believe. While it may seem plausible for someone who does not speak Spanish, someone who does would quickly note the fact that "no va" is pronounced /no'βa/ (stress on the second syllable) while Nova would be pronounced /'no.βa/ (stress on the first syllable). These two sounds would not be perceived by a Spanish speaker as being the same.

Yes, I've heard that saying "Nova" is read as no va is like saying "notable" is read as "no table". (of course, the classic Spanish screw-up is the Mitsubishi Pajero, which has no excuse whatsoever: that's unambiguously the Mitsubishi Wanker)

I always thought that someone in Mitsubishi named the Pajero knowing exactly what it meant in Spanish as a joke.

Re: WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages

#205

Post by krapp »

danieltillett wrote: post #199
bitwize wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's "peepee" in English but you are likely to get a chuckle if you name your product "pipi". Back in 2006 Nintendo ran into this problem with the Wii ("wee" or "weewee" is also slang for urination eapecially among children.)

I always thought this was deliberate. You are telling me no one in Nintendo knew what Wii would mean to kids?

What it means to foreign kids. It's not surprising that a Japanese company wouldn't have that fine a grasp on English nuance.

Re: WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages

#209

Post by pluma »

personlurking wrote: post #149
sandworm101 wrote: post #148

It's missing rather a big one. "Mist" means something very different in german. My point: Is this connected to dictionaries or is it all crowdsourced data?

Isn't 'mist' like 'darn' in English?

"Darn" is a minced oath. Mist, simply means "crap" or "manure". A pile of manure is called "Misthaufen" (crap heap), a pitchfork for handling manure is called "Mistforke" or "Mistgabel" (crap fork). It's a bit vulgar but so is the subject matter.

But you can also use it as a general expression of discontent: "Mist!" is something you might exclaim if you just dropped something expensive and fragile. It's still vulgar but it's something you'd find far more appropriate around the young ones than the harsher "Scheiße!" (shit).

It's basically the little brother of "shit" in the same way as "dumb" is the little brother of "retarded".

You might legitimately hear someone curse at the "Mistkatze" (Katze = cat) that just peed on the bed, or the "Mistauto" (Auto = car) that refuses to start or simply shout "So ein Mist!" when they find out they've spent the past hour aligning the wallpaper upside down.

The equivalent of "damn" would be "verdammt" and there are minced oaths for that in German as well (although nowadays they're generally considered cute and not something you'd use only because you're mild-mannered or religious).

Re: WordSafety – Check a name for unwanted meanings in foreign languages

#210

Post by thisisnotatest »

danieltillett wrote: post #199
bitwize wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's "peepee" in English but you are likely to get a chuckle if you name your product "pipi". Back in 2006 Nintendo ran into this problem with the Wii ("wee" or "weewee" is also slang for urination eapecially among children.)

I always thought this was deliberate. You are telling me no one in Nintendo knew what Wii would mean to kids?

I thought they chose the name to fit their inclusive, inviting target with the console. "Wii Play Sports" -- yes we do!
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