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Cat...I Farted.

2023-12-15 · explainer · Hank · 4:30 · watch on YouTube

Topic: History & curiosities · mode: Curiosity & trivia

Hank marvels that language exists and that separated groups' languages drift apart, then relays the joke that French newscasters' pronunciation of ChatGPT sounds like 'cat, I farted', checks ChatGPT's own examples of translation mishaps, lists brand names that are vulgar in other languages, and begs France to keep saying 'cat I farted'.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — How strange language is: sounds into words, words into sentences, and what humans did with it

  • ★★ Hank says language is extremely bizarre: if he had never heard of it and someone explained it, he doubts he would believe them. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank explains that language lets two animals exchange a huge amount of information quickly: sounds are mashed into words with meanings, and words into sentences that hold whole thoughts. — 00:00:00
  • ★ Hank jokes that after a hundred thousand years of talking, people cure cancers, make the iPhone and take over the planet's dry parts. (playful) — 00:00:31

00:01:00 — Separated languages drift apart: beauty and diversity, but a barrier to empathy

  • ★★★ Hank says language constantly shifts, so two groups separated for not very long stop understanding each other, and over time languages fully separate. — 00:01:00
  • ★★★ Hank says language divergence causes extraordinary beauty and diversity but is also one of the greatest barriers to cross-cultural empathy. — 00:01:00 · empathy

00:01:29 — 'Cat I farted': the French-sounding ChatGPT, checked with French people on Twitter and with ChatGPT itself

  • ★★★ Hank reads Phil Fish on Mastodon: life is extra surreal for French speakers because, in French, ChatGPT sounds exactly like "cat, I farted", so TV news keeps asking with a straight face whether it will steal your job, how schools are dealing with it, and about a lawyer caught using it. (playful) — 00:01:29
  • ★★ French people on Twitter told Hank they tend to say "chat" for the internet sense, which makes it "chat, I farted" and keeps the joke intact. — 00:01:58 · Twitter
  • ★★ Hank asked ChatGPT about the pun, and it said it had heard it before and called it a funny coincidence of pronunciation. — 00:01:58

00:02:28 — ChatGPT's examples (Chevrolet Nova, Pepsi in China) and Hank's own check

  • ★★ Hank reads ChatGPT's answer: its first example is the Chevrolet Nova ('doesn't go' in Spanish), which it itself calls an urban legend: the Nova sold well in Spanish-speaking countries. — 00:02:28
  • ★★ Hank says his own research found that Pepsi's slogan 'brings you back to life' was rendered in China as bringing your ancestors back from the grave. (playful) — 00:02:28 · China

00:02:57 — Brand names that had to change because they are vulgar in other languages

  • ★★ Hank says the Norwegian cheese brand Kavli needed a name change in Greece, where the name is a vulgar term for penis. — 00:02:57
  • ★★ Hank says that while the Chevrolet Nova was a fine name in Spanish-speaking markets, the Mazda Laputa was not. — 00:02:57
  • ★★ Hank says Gerber baby food needed a name change in France because the word means vomit in French. — 00:02:57
  • ★★ Hank says IKEA's bunk bed name ran into a vulgar German word, which was also a problem for the US cold-medicine company Vicks. — 00:02:57
  • ★★ Hank says Sega is a word for a sexual act in Italian. (playful) — 00:02:57

00:03:37 — Real problems are true vulgarity; Hank begs France to say 'cat I farted'; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank says English is not exempt: Nintendo went ahead with the Wii anyway and pulled it off. (playful) — 00:03:37
  • ★★ Hank observes that the names that become real problems are not fun little mistakes but true vulgarity, and nobody would call 'cat I farted' that. — 00:03:37
  • ★★ Hank says many people in France seem to avoid the pun by pronouncing ChatGPT phonetically in English. (hedged) — 00:03:37
  • ★★ Hank urges France to stick with its language and call ChatGPT, the most revolutionary language tool of the century, 'cat I farted'. (playful) — 00:03:37

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description says making the video was really fun and thanks viewers for helping Hank live his dream of making dumb little videos. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • After crediting language with curing cancers and the iPhone, Hank qualifies humanity's conquest of the planet. — 00:00:31

    “Most of the wet parts are not ours yet. Let's leave it that way.”

  • French newscasters discuss jobs being taken by ChatGPT, pronounced the French way. — 00:01:29

    “being taken by cat-I-farted.”

  • Reading ChatGPT's list of translation mishaps, Hank gets its answer that Pepsi's China slogan was initially translated as 'network error'. — 00:02:28

    “was initially translated as network error. Still some glitches to work out.”

  • Listing vulgar brand names, Hank explains what Sega means in Italian. — 00:02:57

    “though one that is more often done alone.”

  • Hank earnestly begs France to resist English and keep the pun. — 00:03:37

    “Please call the most revolutionary language tool of this century cat I farted. Please. I believe in you.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: ChatGPT · Language change

Also: Organizations: Gerber Products Company · IKEA · Kavli · Mastodon (social network) · Sega · Twitter

Concepts: empathy · English language · French language · Spanish language

Places: China · France · Greece

Products: Chevrolet Nova · iPhone · Mazda Laputa · Pepsi · Vicks · Wii

Only in the description or credits: Phil Fish

Also centred on ChatGPT: AI tells me if AI will write novels.

Also centred on Language change: Wait...How Do You Pronounce Turkey???

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