BabelFish

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You'll need to have this fish in your ear...

: I beg your pardon?

In DouglasAdams' TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy, a species of fish that - inserted into the ear - functions as a convenient PlotDevice, essentially allowing the wearer to understand any language.

Also the name of AltaVista's translation service, [http://babelfish.altavista.com/], it's not that good as a translator but it is a mildly diverting way of using up CopiousFreeTime by translating a piece of English into another language, and back again, and seeing what crazy results turn up.

CategoryWeb | CategoryTimeSink | CategoryBooks | CategoryVoices | SeeAlso: BabbleFish