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Ask HN: What are software bugs called in other languages?

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Re: Ask HN: What are software bugs called in other languages?

#21

es-ar: "bug" we usually mix technical words in English in the middle of sentences in Spanish. The correct word in Spanish is "error" (the phonetics is something like "eh-rrohr"), but it's a generic word for errors, not only software bugs. My guess is that the other countries in America that speak Spanish use this mix, but in Spain they may use the translated version.

Falla.

Re: Ask HN: What are software bugs called in other languages?

#22

es-ar: "bug" we usually mix technical words in English in the middle of sentences in Spanish. The correct word in Spanish is "error" (the phonetics is something like "eh-rrohr"), but it's a generic word for errors, not only software bugs. My guess is that the other countries in America that speak Spanish use this mix, but in Spain they may use the translated version.

From my working experience in Spain, "error" is a more generic term. The word "bug" is commonly used to specify an error in the software.

Re: Ask HN: What are software bugs called in other languages?

#23
In Malay, it's officially called "pepijat". Debug is "nyahpepijat". It sounds jarring because it means "insect", and "reverse insect".

So most of the time we just use the word bug, and it's a third of the syllable count.

Interestingly the word clicks a lot better with the other English use of "bug", which is to sneak a microphone into a room.

From a poetic angle, "pijak" means step (on). I don't know if that's the etymology, but it evokes the idea that "pepijat" is something with a lot of little steps and something you want to step on.

With a computer bug, you can't really step on it, but with a microphone bug you can.

Re: Ask HN: What are software bugs called in other languages?

#24
In French (France and Quebec), people use "bogue" (even though they tend to pronounce it like "bug"). It means "burr", aka the spiky chestnut hull.

To debug is "déboguer", which only means to debug (and not opening/removing the chestnut burr).

Alternatively, "défaut" is also used (defect). Sometimes the more general "erreur" (error) can be used.

However, the English word "bug" is getting used more and more (along with "débuguer", the French way to turn "to debug" into something usable in the language).

Re: Ask HN: What are software bugs called in other languages?

#26

In Hebrew it's mostly bug (באג). However there is an official translation "teqel" (תקל). It is a derivative of a root that means "to stumble". It suggests a resolvable setback more than an "error".

Here I was thinking it was Paamayim Nekudotayim.

Re: Ask HN: What are software bugs called in other languages?

#27
post #15

In the USA we call them "features".

Someone really needs to make a tech dejargonizer. I'm very tired of hearing things like "best-in-class API that implements a proprietary protocol to direct network information". Something like Bullshit.js[0].

[0]https://mourner.github.io/bullshit.js/

Re: Ask HN: What are software bugs called in other languages?

#28

In Japanese it's バグ ("bagu"), "a fault or defect in a computer program". A funny slang term is バグる ("baguru") - it's an artificially constructed verb that means "to behave buggily", often used to describe when a game or software glitches.

I recently starting (re)-learning Japanese, and I realized that they have a lot of clever slang! My favorite one is 鯖(saba) which means mackerel, but they use it as a slang for server/game server, because it sounds similiar to サーバー (sābā) which means server in Japanese. There are many others, I'm pretty sure, but this is the one I can think of.
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