Do we expect too much from those who correct our posts?
Kevin B, made a comment recently ,he said that "Newbies should not be too
quick to accept advice from other newbies"I took that to mean, do not be too
quick to correct your posts untill you are sure of the advice you receive is the
best available .To illustrate this let me relate what happend to one of my early
posts , and its tragic aftermath. This was the word of the day "Ciclismo".
His wife and his employer made him cycle to work each day for his health.
Su esposa y su empleador le hizo a trabajar en bicicleta cada día por su salud. A change was suggested .
It was suggested that he cycle to work for his health.
Se sugirió que el ciclo de trabajo para su salud. A further change ensued.
Due to ill health he cycled to work.
Debido a problemas de salud que en bicicleta al trabajo.
My final post just before i was taken away for a frontal lobotomy was as follows .
His wife divorced him, he was fired from his job , he sold his cycle,and now walks to the unemployment office once a week.
Perhaps we should wait for the definitive correction before we correct our posts.
A piece of the only advice that the Bishop ever gave to the actress , " do not take too seriously that which is poked in fun"!
12 Answers
You're a funny man, Ray. Voy a archivar esto.
I see what you are saying. Sometimes, it happens upon that to correct these sentences is not easy. The problem is that these "phrases of the day" often contain a lot of irony, (some of them are really brilliant and funny) and puns very difficult to translate. They often have more than one possible interpretation, too. Sometimes it is hard to imagine what you try to tell with them.
My English is not good enough to understand all of them, so I'm not trying to make a strict correction, but friendly and informal proposals. You never trust in them 100% please, because I usually try to highlight the clear grammatical mistakes, (sometimes even that is hard to do for me) but I'm sure that there are many others proposals better than those I do. It's only that I dislike to see someone who wrote his/her sentence with a mistake , without a comment.
I apologize. I'm really sorry because I see that this may cause doubts in you, I'll be more careful in the future. Thanks for this post, dear Ray
I hope you do not think I am crazy but, it was suggested to me after a member
viewed my post ,that perhaps ,"once a post has been corrected it may not be fiddled
with again" sort of one fiddle per post, or that the first fiddler be the only one.
A kind of , first fiddle best fiddle, we may see the day when two or more fiddlers
of a post may disagree to the extent of it denigrating to ,"two fiddles at dawn" 
I am a little late in answering this post, but I have been somewhat busy, so it is a little after 1AM my time, and I am getting back to SD.
I just want to thank all the people who have corrected my posts.
Spanish is very difficult, and there are many interpretations one can derive from any sentence, since the translation from English to Spanish can never be exact, because the languages are not the same.
I know sometimes I am trying to get a certain "Specific Point" across, and in English, it is of course easy.
However, sometimes when translated to Spanish, I have had corrections, which I do appreciate, but...sometimes the translated corrections, change the meaning that I was trying to express.
Also, sometimes with word of the day, since the two languages are not exact, the word, which I have checked in the Oxford Spanish dictionary to make sure it would work, is corrected because of an idiomatic expressions, which only a Spanish native would be aware of.
A bit frustrating, after spending a lot of time trying to make the meaning of my post obvious from the way it is written.
However, I also realize the only way to learn is to be corrected, and like I said, I am very appreciative of all the people who help me with the Spanish language, it is just that sometimes...it gives me a HEADACHE!
I want to say thank you to all the people who do the corrections. I really appreciate your suggestions.
pretty funny indeed...
Yes. The problem with translations, as it has been pointed out, is that a language is far from being an exact science (if only..). You not only have to contend with different dialects, idioms, puns, colloquialisms, or even slang.. but even each person has his own collection of ironies, emotions, experiences, etc.. that might prompt him to suggest a synonym or expression before another one, which might be just as valid as the new one or even better for the majority of speakers of that language.
That's why I always make sure when I'm in doubt, to underline the fact that some of my corrections or suggestions are affected by my own bias ('I think..', 'this sounds weird to me'), especially when I'm not sure if a particular word or expression would be understood in other Spanish speaking countries, rather than giving blanket statements that help no one. Of course, when I see an obvious mistake I just say it, there is not point in holding back either. And sometimes, as Cogu said before me, the sentences are basically just a pun or an idiom, so it's almost impossible to say something even remotely similar without changing the whole thing, given the fact that 99% of those base their humor in the synonyms or double entendres that simply do not exist in the translation. Also I don't see any problem in other people giving their opinions as well, as long as their knowledge goes a little beyond 'no problemo' and 'hastalavista, baby'.. 
I usually expect 10,000 USD (United States Dollars) from people who correct my posts. So, yes, I may be expecting too much from them.
Ray, did they stop the lobotomy in time?
Don't feel too bad, I would have done the same!
You have given sound advice. Waiting could avert a tragedy!
You simply have to look at examples like these to understand why the world is not closer to peace. They make you wonder what problems we could have avoided if only each country had hired better translators and linguists to handle international affairs.
Anyone remember the bilateral meeting between George W. Bush and Vladamir Putin on live television, where Bush's translator mistakenly called Putin an elephant? Luckily, Putin understood it as a mistranslation from the start and laughed it off.
Wonderful point, Ray!
A piece of the only advice that the Bishop ever gave to the actress , " do not take too seriously that which is poked in fun"!
I have just seen two members doubting Ray's appreciating the corrections of the multiple mistakes he dare make on this site
I can only say: Please come to the chat and you will meet the funniest man ever, and one of the kindest too. He would never ever really criticise corrections, he, and all of the members, know how time consuming corrections are.
Cogu please read this:
but realy pointing out how hard it is for both parties in correcting posts ,we all have to be relaxed and not take it too seriously mi amor.
And I do not appreciate, dear novio two, that you call this member mi amor
This thread is still relevant today especially as most members are still here except dear Jennyo who sadly is no longer with us , I miss her a lot.
