The Universal Translator (Star Trek Explained)
April 15, 2021 3:08 AM Subscribe
An true and accurate analysis of one of Star Trek's most important pieces of technology.
This is a very nice trek Retroencabulator video, but in canon universal translators are implanted inside your head.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:02 AM on April 15, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:02 AM on April 15, 2021 [7 favorites]
Personally, I'm fine with hand-waving universal translation as a gift of the Time Lords just as I'm fine with FTL travel being possible.
You can't easily fit a morality play about whether it's right to interfere with the development of an alien society that's based on 1980s Earth sitcoms into a tight hour of television if you have to spend time traveling there and learning the language.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:48 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
You can't easily fit a morality play about whether it's right to interfere with the development of an alien society that's based on 1980s Earth sitcoms into a tight hour of television if you have to spend time traveling there and learning the language.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:48 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
"The director, with a tight hour limit."
— "The writer, her hands waving."
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:02 AM on April 15, 2021 [57 favorites]
— "The writer, her hands waving."
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:02 AM on April 15, 2021 [57 favorites]
So what you're saying is the tech techs the tech, passes the tech on to the tech where it is further teched and the the tech transmits the tech to the tech?
posted by rikschell at 5:18 AM on April 15, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 5:18 AM on April 15, 2021 [6 favorites]
Given the hilariously wrong results that machine learning can produce, I am picturing a universal translator trying to deal with, say, a bowl of alphabet soup, an abstract painting, "Baby Shark," birdsong, an I Ching toss, a pile of leaves, etc.
posted by Foosnark at 6:39 AM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Foosnark at 6:39 AM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
Still doesn't explain why the character's lip movements match the translated dialogue rather than the original language.
posted by dannyboybell at 6:47 AM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by dannyboybell at 6:47 AM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Nor, for that matter, does it explain why obscenities are left untranslated.
posted by dannyboybell at 6:51 AM on April 15, 2021
posted by dannyboybell at 6:51 AM on April 15, 2021
Obviously emotions can break through the universal translator. That's why words like 'imzadi' also go untranslated.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:59 AM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:59 AM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
The real crime here is the inexplicable decision not to mimic Bud Haggart's distinctive delivery.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 7:07 AM on April 15, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 7:07 AM on April 15, 2021 [8 favorites]
And when you really think about it, that might also be the reason why having an empath on the bridge is so useful for those times when the universal translator gets overloaded and the captain needs to know whether some unknown word was said with an "I am really excited about this diplomatic outcome" or a "I will blow you out of the stars" kind of emotion.
(Nothing against Troi as a character because she's awesome, but it's so painful to watch early seasons where her only contribution is to determine that the person on the viewscreen is angry/confused/hiding something)
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:10 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
(Nothing against Troi as a character because she's awesome, but it's so painful to watch early seasons where her only contribution is to determine that the person on the viewscreen is angry/confused/hiding something)
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:10 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
Universal Translator is the communication technology of choice at reunions of my panametric fam.
posted by otherchaz at 7:29 AM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by otherchaz at 7:29 AM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
(Nothing against Troi as a character because she's awesome, but it's so painful to watch early seasons where her only contribution is to determine that the person on the viewscreen is angry/confused/hiding something)
"Captain, I'm sensing that they don't want to reveal anything, unlike my ship's counselor uniform"
posted by lefty lucky cat at 7:45 AM on April 15, 2021 [10 favorites]
"Captain, I'm sensing that they don't want to reveal anything, unlike my ship's counselor uniform"
posted by lefty lucky cat at 7:45 AM on April 15, 2021 [10 favorites]
Am I to infer that this is yet another example of production budgets driving fictional technological developments like the Transporter?
posted by njohnson23 at 8:08 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 8:08 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
OK, so here's my rant about the TNG episode "Darmok".
I really want to like that episode, it's a great building bridges to strange alien cultures sort of episode but it's so insufferable stupid I can't make myself like it despite it being widely regarded as one of the better episodes or possibly even the best episode of TNG.
For those who either never watched it, or don't remember, the setup is that the universal translator doesn't work with this one alien race and Piccard et al have been tasked with trying to figure out how to talk to them.
Or, rather, it **DOES** work but what comes out is just gibberish. Troi explains, though how the hell she knows is a bit of a mystery, that they speak exclusively in metaphor, allusion, in jokes, and pop culture references exclusive to their species.
So instead of saying "love" they'd say "Juliet on her balcony" or whatever. Meaning that the people of Starfleet, who aren't immersed in the alien's culture can't understand what they mean.
It's a cute story hook except for the tiny little problem that it's utterly, completely, dumb. How do you transmit culture to people, like say children, if you can't speak in anything except pop culture referenes?
Answer: either the pop culture part is actually no longer relevant and they do have a regular language that's just cumbersome and long by our standards, meaning that kids growing up in their culture hear the sounds "Juliet on her balcony" without actually knowing the story of Romeo and Juliet but through context know it means affection in which case the damn universal translator should translate it,
**OR** they are capable of speaking normally in order to tell the stories to children who by definition don't already know the stories.
Either way, they should be able to talk to people in Starfleet.
If they're such arrogant asses they won't deign to use the way they talk to children to talk to Starfleet, despite their preferred method of communicating purely in in jokes and pop culture references, then they're jerks and Starfleet shouldn't want anything to do with them.
If there is no regular language and they don't have any means of actually telling the stories then the whole premise is an illogical bunch of BS because it means they don't really know the stories and just have a long, cumbersome, language and the universal translator should render "Juliet on her balcony" as "love".
It's a well acted, well scripted, well directed, episode that is ruined for me by a core concept that is entirely unworkable and awful.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
posted by sotonohito at 8:18 AM on April 15, 2021 [18 favorites]
I really want to like that episode, it's a great building bridges to strange alien cultures sort of episode but it's so insufferable stupid I can't make myself like it despite it being widely regarded as one of the better episodes or possibly even the best episode of TNG.
For those who either never watched it, or don't remember, the setup is that the universal translator doesn't work with this one alien race and Piccard et al have been tasked with trying to figure out how to talk to them.
Or, rather, it **DOES** work but what comes out is just gibberish. Troi explains, though how the hell she knows is a bit of a mystery, that they speak exclusively in metaphor, allusion, in jokes, and pop culture references exclusive to their species.
So instead of saying "love" they'd say "Juliet on her balcony" or whatever. Meaning that the people of Starfleet, who aren't immersed in the alien's culture can't understand what they mean.
It's a cute story hook except for the tiny little problem that it's utterly, completely, dumb. How do you transmit culture to people, like say children, if you can't speak in anything except pop culture referenes?
Answer: either the pop culture part is actually no longer relevant and they do have a regular language that's just cumbersome and long by our standards, meaning that kids growing up in their culture hear the sounds "Juliet on her balcony" without actually knowing the story of Romeo and Juliet but through context know it means affection in which case the damn universal translator should translate it,
**OR** they are capable of speaking normally in order to tell the stories to children who by definition don't already know the stories.
Either way, they should be able to talk to people in Starfleet.
If they're such arrogant asses they won't deign to use the way they talk to children to talk to Starfleet, despite their preferred method of communicating purely in in jokes and pop culture references, then they're jerks and Starfleet shouldn't want anything to do with them.
If there is no regular language and they don't have any means of actually telling the stories then the whole premise is an illogical bunch of BS because it means they don't really know the stories and just have a long, cumbersome, language and the universal translator should render "Juliet on her balcony" as "love".
It's a well acted, well scripted, well directed, episode that is ruined for me by a core concept that is entirely unworkable and awful.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
posted by sotonohito at 8:18 AM on April 15, 2021 [18 favorites]
Passive Bosenstein field? Don't they know that causes Bozeman's Simplex?
posted by Catblack at 8:20 AM on April 15, 2021
posted by Catblack at 8:20 AM on April 15, 2021
Did you people even watch the same video i did!? It clearly states that the universal translator is simply a miniaturized interocitor that obeys the retro-encabulator protocol!
posted by jabah at 8:25 AM on April 15, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by jabah at 8:25 AM on April 15, 2021 [6 favorites]
they speak exclusively in metaphor, allusion, in jokes, and pop culture references exclusive to their species.
People pick on “Darmok” for this, but bear in mind that when it aired in 1991, The Simpsons had been on the air only two seasons and gifs were still relatively rare. Three decades later, the intersection of these two things allows us to carry on entire conversations.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:30 AM on April 15, 2021 [11 favorites]
People pick on “Darmok” for this, but bear in mind that when it aired in 1991, The Simpsons had been on the air only two seasons and gifs were still relatively rare. Three decades later, the intersection of these two things allows us to carry on entire conversations.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:30 AM on April 15, 2021 [11 favorites]
I always hated the technobabble aspect of Star Trek's scripts. Not enough to turn me off, but enough to make me feel sorry for the actors having to memorise that nonsense. I haven't watched much of the newer iterations to know if they dropped it or kept it for reasons. Star Trek is and always was a show about ethics and morality; the science is tangential. But still they felt compelled to include that mumbo jumbo.
Then again, I guess it acted as an effective quantic-gravitron nerdery attractivizing matrix, thereby serving to isolate the neuro-gelatinized element so that others more interested in the plotonium and socio-commentarol of the primary enjoyment nexus could do so in peace, much like the inflating of a honey-filled balloon in the proximity of bees.
posted by Acey at 8:33 AM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
Then again, I guess it acted as an effective quantic-gravitron nerdery attractivizing matrix, thereby serving to isolate the neuro-gelatinized element so that others more interested in the plotonium and socio-commentarol of the primary enjoyment nexus could do so in peace, much like the inflating of a honey-filled balloon in the proximity of bees.
posted by Acey at 8:33 AM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
If there is no regular language and they don't have any means of actually telling the stories then the whole premise is an illogical bunch of BS
Speaking as a linguist, theirs IS a pretty regular language, at least in the context of human languages. Our own use of context, reference, and idiom are so ingrained in us as native speakers that we don't even notice for the most part. My criticism would be that the language in Darmok wasn't different enough to stymie the universal translator... it was just doing what human languages do, but with one aspect turned up to eleven. Like, their semantic units are just phrases instead of words. Children learning that language wouldn't care what the origin of the phrases was, they'd simply associate the sounds with the meaning. We do that too! Which isn't surprising, since the speakers of Darmok are pretty much like us, bipedal apelike creatures on a class M planet. Arrival I thought did a better job of tackling the "decipher an alien language" plot, since that alien language had big differences that arose from the radically different physiology of its speakers. But, you know, ST:TNG had like 42 minutes to get it done and were working on like 23 other stories that year too, so it was a fun episode regardless.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 8:38 AM on April 15, 2021 [17 favorites]
Speaking as a linguist, theirs IS a pretty regular language, at least in the context of human languages. Our own use of context, reference, and idiom are so ingrained in us as native speakers that we don't even notice for the most part. My criticism would be that the language in Darmok wasn't different enough to stymie the universal translator... it was just doing what human languages do, but with one aspect turned up to eleven. Like, their semantic units are just phrases instead of words. Children learning that language wouldn't care what the origin of the phrases was, they'd simply associate the sounds with the meaning. We do that too! Which isn't surprising, since the speakers of Darmok are pretty much like us, bipedal apelike creatures on a class M planet. Arrival I thought did a better job of tackling the "decipher an alien language" plot, since that alien language had big differences that arose from the radically different physiology of its speakers. But, you know, ST:TNG had like 42 minutes to get it done and were working on like 23 other stories that year too, so it was a fun episode regardless.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 8:38 AM on April 15, 2021 [17 favorites]
I was watching Star Trek VI recently (RIP Christopher Plummer) and there's that scene where the Enterprise is trying to sneak into Klingon territory to rescue Kirk and McCoy from the penal colony; to get past the Klingon border post, they can't use the Universal Translator, which would be detected, so they dig out a bunch of Klingon-English lexicons (on paper!) so that Uhura can speak terrible Klingon to the border guards: "We is condemning food . . . things and . . . supplies to Rura Penthe". It's one of the rare cases where the Universal Translator actually factors into the plot as opposed to just handwaving away the difficulties of interspecies communication.
I later read that Nichelle Nichols objected to the scene as written, arguing that, as a communications officer, Uhura would already be fluent in Klingon (as she is in the Kelvin timeline movies), but she was overruled.
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:38 AM on April 15, 2021 [11 favorites]
I later read that Nichelle Nichols objected to the scene as written, arguing that, as a communications officer, Uhura would already be fluent in Klingon (as she is in the Kelvin timeline movies), but she was overruled.
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:38 AM on April 15, 2021 [11 favorites]
There's another cool bit in Star Trek VI during the Klingon trial Kirk and Bones are both shown holding cordless speakers to their ears over which they're hearing a verbal translation given by a Klingon court reporter in a booth off to the side. And Christopher Plummer channels Adlai Stevenson by shouting "don't wait for the translation, answer me now!" when interrogating them.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:46 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 8:46 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
There's an episode of DS9 where the translators break and we get to hear some untranslated Ferengi. (The episode where they're thrown back in time and it turns out that Quark is the Roswell alien. DS9 rules.)
posted by paper chromatographologist at 9:05 AM on April 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 9:05 AM on April 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
There's a fairly recent Fanfare on the Darmok episode that chews around the episode and some of the logic. Spoiler: Most people recognized the consistency problems, there's some handwaving attempts to save it, but in the end most just don't care. Because it's an awesome episode.
I'm going to repost one comment I made:
I'm going to repost one comment I made:
Imagine how you'd do this as short story in a generic SF universe. You'd have a team from each side trying to communicate for weeks, with the growing frustration on both sides. Especially the Federation's! They do this all the time, they have expert translators, why are they making no headway? They have some basic words but nothing makes sense. This is the backdrop where one Tamarian decides the only way these barbarians understand is if you literally recreate one of the stories--and kidnaps the captain to make his point.posted by mark k at 9:18 AM on April 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
It's a cool idea, but then you're trying to make this work in the context of a one hour TNG show where it's established you have a Universal Translator, the kidnap victim is a character backed up by a heavily armed battleship, and if it takes longer than a day or two they'd pass the job onto other people.
I know this isn't literally an adaptation, but it sort of has that feel--it doesn't quite work but they loved the story and tried to jam it in. And did a pretty good job.
I spend time on Hacker News, so this is Kinderspiel for me...
posted by jim in austin at 10:07 AM on April 15, 2021
posted by jim in austin at 10:07 AM on April 15, 2021
My favorite piece of Star Trek: Discovery (a show I love very, very much) involves the Universal Translator malfunctioning.
posted by hanov3r at 10:32 AM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by hanov3r at 10:32 AM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I always hated the technobabble aspect of Star Trek's scripts. Not enough to turn me off, but enough to make me feel sorry for the actors having to memorise that nonsense. I haven't watched much of the newer iterations to know if they dropped it or kept it for reasons.
Technobabble is vastly preferable to nonsense like galactic mycelium networks and giant tardigrades. I suffer vicarious embarrassment when I try to watch Discovery.
posted by sjswitzer at 10:34 AM on April 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
Technobabble is vastly preferable to nonsense like galactic mycelium networks and giant tardigrades. I suffer vicarious embarrassment when I try to watch Discovery.
posted by sjswitzer at 10:34 AM on April 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
That is also technobabble? I honestly don't see the difference.
posted by mark k at 10:53 AM on April 15, 2021
posted by mark k at 10:53 AM on April 15, 2021
The Red Letter Media guys had some comments about the difference between TNG and Discovery tecnobabble.
posted by TheJoven at 12:04 PM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by TheJoven at 12:04 PM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh that just reminded me of how much I hate the subtitles on Discovery being in caps & small caps. WHY???
posted by rikschell at 12:08 PM on April 15, 2021
posted by rikschell at 12:08 PM on April 15, 2021
It's a cute story hook except for the tiny little problem that it's utterly, completely, dumb. How do you transmit culture to people, like say children, if you can't speak in anything except pop culture references?
This is one of my favorite fanwank/headcanon bits. Remember the Pakleds, from Samaritan Snare? I think the (Darmok) Tamarians and the Pakleds share similar languages but have chosen different ways of interacting with other species. Pakleds use their technical/trade language with other species, but because of its simplicity they come off as unintelligent. Tamarians refuse to use their private technical language with outsiders, instead insisting on their formal meme language, which makes them come off as unintelligible. Pakleds and Tamarians can understand each other just fine.
This also explains why Data was able to find information about Tamarian mythology in the Enterprise databanks: They got it from the Pakleds. The Tamarians never considered using their informal technical language because there are strict social mores concerning when it is acceptable.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:59 PM on April 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
This is one of my favorite fanwank/headcanon bits. Remember the Pakleds, from Samaritan Snare? I think the (Darmok) Tamarians and the Pakleds share similar languages but have chosen different ways of interacting with other species. Pakleds use their technical/trade language with other species, but because of its simplicity they come off as unintelligent. Tamarians refuse to use their private technical language with outsiders, instead insisting on their formal meme language, which makes them come off as unintelligible. Pakleds and Tamarians can understand each other just fine.
This also explains why Data was able to find information about Tamarian mythology in the Enterprise databanks: They got it from the Pakleds. The Tamarians never considered using their informal technical language because there are strict social mores concerning when it is acceptable.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:59 PM on April 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
I think the Pakled language might need some more headcanon, though. They apparently are able to operate a space ship, but can't seem to articulate words about it more specific than "it needs things to make it go".
posted by polecat at 4:18 PM on April 15, 2021
posted by polecat at 4:18 PM on April 15, 2021
Let me propose some alternate headcanon. The Tamarians and Pakleds both have languages that are as sensible as any other Star Trek species. However, part of the meaning is conveyed through a "channel" that the creators of the universal translator (and I know this sounds crazy, but bear with me) didn't think of. Like they ripple their forehead ridges this way or that or they beam infrared pulses into each other's chests.
In the case of the Pakleds, the translator is missing most of the meaning and so when they say "we need to change the transmission fluid" it can only translate "we need things".
In the case of the Tamarians, the main meaning is carried through the other channel, but they consider it rude to not use their lips to quote some relevant passage from Shakespeare (their version, anyway) that helps illustrate whatever they're really saying. At the end of the Darmok episode, Picard hasn't really figured out their language. The Tamarians are thinking "Still hard to understand this guy, but I love the passion he puts into that soliloquy from MacBeth!"
posted by polecat at 5:03 PM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
In the case of the Pakleds, the translator is missing most of the meaning and so when they say "we need to change the transmission fluid" it can only translate "we need things".
In the case of the Tamarians, the main meaning is carried through the other channel, but they consider it rude to not use their lips to quote some relevant passage from Shakespeare (their version, anyway) that helps illustrate whatever they're really saying. At the end of the Darmok episode, Picard hasn't really figured out their language. The Tamarians are thinking "Still hard to understand this guy, but I love the passion he puts into that soliloquy from MacBeth!"
posted by polecat at 5:03 PM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
mark k That is also technobabble? I honestly don't see the difference.
Technobabble is on a sliding scale between people with different levels of different backgrounds.
To me, technobabble is obviously wrong but plausibly so. ie., made up words.
Nonsense is taking real words referring to real phenomena and badly misusing it completely wrongly.
The more you understand the misappropriated jargon the less it is that it is technobabble and more that it's just wrong. Being a STEM/ scientist type can make watching media blood-pressure-raising annoying.
Like making up words like "push multicasting" to describe modern streaming services (technobabble, it's obviously wrong but plausibly so) and using "public spectrum over the air broadcast" to describe modern streaming services (nonsense, and obviously wrong). I admit, these are poor examples.
posted by porpoise at 9:50 PM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Technobabble is on a sliding scale between people with different levels of different backgrounds.
To me, technobabble is obviously wrong but plausibly so. ie., made up words.
Nonsense is taking real words referring to real phenomena and badly misusing it completely wrongly.
The more you understand the misappropriated jargon the less it is that it is technobabble and more that it's just wrong. Being a STEM/ scientist type can make watching media blood-pressure-raising annoying.
Like making up words like "push multicasting" to describe modern streaming services (technobabble, it's obviously wrong but plausibly so) and using "public spectrum over the air broadcast" to describe modern streaming services (nonsense, and obviously wrong). I admit, these are poor examples.
posted by porpoise at 9:50 PM on April 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
'Better Off Ted' in s02e10 raises an interesting question about automated translations.
(does one hear the translation in the voice/ tone of the input, or is it "spoken" in a different voice/ tone? in this case, cis-het Ted uses a translation device with a female romantic partner; but the automated translation is in the voice/ tone of a male co-worker with a distinctive timbre)
posted by porpoise at 9:53 PM on April 15, 2021
(does one hear the translation in the voice/ tone of the input, or is it "spoken" in a different voice/ tone? in this case, cis-het Ted uses a translation device with a female romantic partner; but the automated translation is in the voice/ tone of a male co-worker with a distinctive timbre)
posted by porpoise at 9:53 PM on April 15, 2021
The more you understand the misappropriated jargon the less it is that it is technobabble and more that it's just wrong. Being a STEM/ scientist type can make watching media blood-pressure-raising annoying.
Yeah, but having watched a bit of the video linked above I guess my complaint is I found TNG just as eye rollingly bad. "Tachyon detection fields" are as implausibly wrong as mycellium networks and there were episodes where they made it clear they were hazy on what atoms and molecules are.
posted by mark k at 11:54 PM on April 15, 2021
Yeah, but having watched a bit of the video linked above I guess my complaint is I found TNG just as eye rollingly bad. "Tachyon detection fields" are as implausibly wrong as mycellium networks and there were episodes where they made it clear they were hazy on what atoms and molecules are.
posted by mark k at 11:54 PM on April 15, 2021
(Also, I just watched 3 episodes of Better Off Ted for the first time in a decade. I'm amazed it still holds up so well!)
posted by mark k at 11:55 PM on April 15, 2021
posted by mark k at 11:55 PM on April 15, 2021
Star Trek: Let's mash together some science-y words to create something that sounds vaguely plausible and provides enough room for the audience to beanplate the meaning of based on curent scientific understanding.
Doctor Who: Screw it. This is a show centered around a highly advanced, near god-like alien who travels around in a box that is indistinguishable from magic. There's no chance the viewers could ever come close to comprehending anything, so it's apple gumdrop-flavored baryons and hyper-baguette radiation all the way down. Allons-y!
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:58 AM on April 16, 2021
Doctor Who: Screw it. This is a show centered around a highly advanced, near god-like alien who travels around in a box that is indistinguishable from magic. There's no chance the viewers could ever come close to comprehending anything, so it's apple gumdrop-flavored baryons and hyper-baguette radiation all the way down. Allons-y!
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:58 AM on April 16, 2021
It frustrates me how many people make the complaint above about how the Tamarians in Darmok would need a second language to teach their stories, when they literally have a second language which appears in the episode for exactly that purpose.
posted by automatronic at 12:06 PM on April 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by automatronic at 12:06 PM on April 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
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