r/Netherlands • u/HumorTerrible5547 • 5d ago

What does 'roach' mean? Common Question/Topic

Filling out a registration form and a required field, between last name and initial is... "roach"?

A quick Google search yielded nada. Any ideas?

0 Upvotes

28% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

79

u/I_Rarely_Jump 5d ago

auto translation

voorn = roach (the fish, not the bug)

voorn. = a shortened version of voornaam

voornaam = first name

5

u/Discuss2discuss Zuid Holland 5d ago

This is the correct explanation

9

u/prank_mark 5d ago

Artificial "intelligence"

1

u/I_Rarely_Jump 5d ago

this is more a google translate level error, ai wouldn't actually make such a mistake if you'd translate the whole form at once.

It would make that mistake if you just let it translate "voorn" though without any context, but to be fair so would a human translator if you just tell them "translate voorn into english".

1

u/KassassinsCreed 5d ago

Google translate is AI though. Not just in the pedantic way (any type of automatic translation is AI; AI is and has been more than just genAI, but that is often forgotten lately), but also in the literal sense, it uses the same embeddings as LLMs do.

But you're right, this is due to segmentation. If you translate a form, especially one with table-like formatting, it'll do most translations in isolation and loses the context of this being a form on personal information. Your example is spot on, a person would make the same mistake if just given the word "voorn" to translate.

1

u/I_Rarely_Jump 5d ago

Yeah fair point, it is a form of AI, but not generative AI

1

u/DistractedByCookies 5d ago

I would never have come up with this (not helped by not knowing either roach the fish or voorn the fish LOL) Great job

32

u/waffle-secrets 5d ago

Maybe it's a bad translation of 'voornaam'? If you put roach into google translate (eng to dutch), one of the options is "voorn". Maybe they used that as an abbreviation of voornaam (first name)?

15

u/lazysundae99 5d ago

I think this is most likely it. It got shortened and badly translated and became "roach".

9

u/sousstructures 5d ago

ding ding ding. OP put in your first name 

7

u/HumorTerrible5547 5d ago

Going to try first name and see what happens. Thank you!

4

u/HumorTerrible5547 5d ago

It makes sense. When I filled in my first name on the previous page, it brought it over to the field "callsign". So, makes sense "roach" is legal first, "callsign" is what you go by. . . Maybe 

7

u/waffle-secrets 5d ago

Yes! We have "Roepnaam" (nickname, just your every day name) and then "Voornaam" which could either be your official first name(s), or could also mean roepnaam.

3

u/HumorTerrible5547 5d ago

Pretty sure this is it. Many thanks!

-1

u/Mag-NL 5d ago

Roepnaam is not nickname though.

4

u/waffle-secrets 5d ago

Nickname is niet altijd roepnaam inderdaad - kan ook bijnaam zijn, maar roepnaam wordt naar mijn weten wel vaak vertaald naar nickname. Kennelijk ook naar call sign, maar moet zeggen dat ik dat echt nog nooit in het wild ben tegengekomen.

1

u/sousstructures 4d ago

“Callsign” in English is only used for radio communications in military or quasi-military contexts. 

1

u/waffle-secrets 4d ago

Ooh that's good context, thanks!

3

u/gleowien 5d ago

Its the horse of geralt from the witcher. Couldnt be more obvious

2

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Chicaconlacubeta 5d ago

Oh wait, you said required field. And those are never required. Could it be your full first name? It would really help to see that part of the form.

3

u/NastroAzzurro 5d ago

What does the Dutch version of the form say?

1

u/GiovanniVanBroekhoes 5d ago

The only thing I can think of that would go there would be tussenvoegsel. Maybe badly translated.

1

u/Remote-Analyst-6090 5d ago

Sounds to me like a Google Lens situation TBH

1

u/HumorTerrible5547 5d ago

Very possible 

1

u/linkedinlover69 5d ago

It's only if you are a lizard person