Wednesday
Mar302011
Babel Fish Needed
March 30, 2011 You know that optical illusion that looks like an old woman one way, and a young girl the other?
Well, this cake is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike that.
So far I've assembled a list of 42 different words that this might be, including "@Loehoe," "Soekuc,"and "Slartibartfast." And yes, so far as I know, this is supposed to be "English."
Anyway, I've given up.
In fact, I can't help but be impressed by this individual's cryptography skills. Hey NSA, I've got your next Enigma machine right here! Think about it: for the cost of a piping bag and some chocolate, you'll never have to fear Wikileaks again. Eh?
So long, Jackie W., and thanks for all the fish.
Achtung!!! Es tut mir leid; Ich bin eine Sachertorte! Fahrvergnügen! Neenër neenër!
Reader Comments (281)
"Seeker"?
- chante
I see a few options:
EPCOT
Daisies
King's Cake
Yeah for the Hitchhikers reference!
Don't forget your towel!
No idea what the cake says though.
I do like the way the fiddl-y bits look a little like fjords on this cake, though.
And yeah, no idea what it says. Maybe it's Klingon?
I think it says "Sadie"
I think it's supposed to be "Sacher," as in sacher torte.
42!!!!!!!
I'll bet my paycheck that says "SACHER"... of course I'm "self-employed", so really it's not giving up anything...
Aloha. Spelled REALLY poorly.
At first, I thought it said "Lecher."
Seeker to me too
i have to agree that it says sacher... very poorly written (and baked for that matter) but its a sachertorte...
It is definitely "Sacher" you know, the Austrian chocolate-cake?
^^
After wrestling with the meaning of that cake I'm going to need a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster....
Speaker?
Ford Prefect?
My guess is "sacher" too, but if I didn't know what sacher torte generally looks like, I would have said "Slartibartfast" was the best option.
I think it looks like "twelve."
Maybe it's like one of those inkblot tests, and whatever we think it says says something deep and important about our psyches.
Or maybe the wreckerator was stoned. One or the other.
Sacher... that makes sense! I was wondering if it was upside-down or maybe some sort of mirror writing!!
geesh...it looks like "loeber" or "soeber" to me...either way the cake actually looks like it would taste good...anything is better covered in ganache!
I think it says "Seeker". : D
It looks kind of like "Sseko" with an extra swirl or "e" on the end. Sseeko's are a fabulous pair of sandals I just received for my birthday with interchangeable straps... Still, I'm not sure who could read this!
WV: "ilars" the wrecky version of "liars"??
Amongst the horrors that we've seen on this blog, I hope that we could agree that this one is mostly harmless. However, I would like to see your list of 42 words that you are considering. :)
My money's on "Locker."
I'm thinking "sister" without the T crossed.
And if it were a king cake, it would look more like a donut. :)
WV: berate. It's so easy and fun to berate these cakes.
Don't panic... we'll find the hidden meaning behind this one. Perhaps it's God's second-to-last message to mankind? Or maybe an example of Vogon poetry? Someone dig out the Scrabble pieces; if we draw them randomly out of a bag, I'm sure we'll come up with the answer.
In the end, though, I'm seconding the "EPCOT" suggestion. This post = Epic Win.
Maybe it says
Ashley
?
I agree with "sacher," although considering the amount of time I just spent studying it, it could also be "Sucker!"
I keep seeing "Ivanhoe", for some reason.
I know this is really bad, but I kept seeing the word "alcohol" written... I kept wondering why someone would write that on a cake to begin with, but I've seen enough on this sight to know not to even start to wonder about anything!
If you trace the lines from start to finish (which I just completely had my 6th grade class do. Put this on the overhead projector in class last 5 minutes... used markers on white board, then turned projector off. Scientific experiment, right?)
We got Loeber. Class of kids all agreed on it. It must be so.
My wv was salis. Maybe that's it.
Socker? Maybe they were going for soccar?
I saw the word, "sucker". Now I can't un-see it.
It says "sacher". It's a sacher torte..but it's very poorly written for sure.
It says "Lover."
I thought it said aleeve, it sure is giving me a headache trying to figure it out.
I'm dizzy trying to decipher all those loops!
I read "aSeeeher". Maybe it's Huttese for "I see her" ;-)
wv: pututic: A cake or CCC that makes you want to wretch "Patooie!" is pututic.
Heck, even this word could be what is written on that cake for all I know!
Teacher??????
Feature
Creature
I'm stuck. What can it be?
A Vogon name in triplicate?
Dolphin for more fish please?
A cake after using the infinite probability drive and it never recovered?
I see "teacher" written really badly with an old-fashioned cursive capital T. If it does say that, I hope the recipient didn't teach penmanship.
It's "Belgium" -- used most gratuitously on this cake -- and WOW, am I offended. It was clearly written by a mattress named Zem in the script of Sqornshellous Zeta between willomying and flolloping floopily.
So long, and thanks for all the cakes.
I very distinctly see "Sucker" with an ugly U and a frilly R.
To me it looks like, saeeheo...maybe they are speeking Klingon.
I am guessing Jackie since that is who submitted the picture. But still, the writing is very fancy schmancy. ;)
I thought it says "Later", but after reading the comments i might agree with Sacher, but that's no fun at all!
no idea... but now I want to re-read my Hitchhikers books!
I've never commented before, but I just had to share this time:
I usually get your nerdy references, because I am a pretty big nerd. But today I am especially proud of myself, because before i had scrolled down enough to see anything but the first 2 sentences and the first cake, I already knew you were doing Hitchhiker's only because of the "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike that" line. I guess the babel fish probably had my brain unconsciously going in that direction anyway, but anyway.
Related story you might be interested in: a while after Douglas Adams died suddenly, they did a related story on BBC World Service News Hour with Owen Bennet Jones, who at the end of the hour would always read a couple of listener e-mails that had come in during that show. I was quite sad about Adams' death, so I dashed off an e-mail about how I'd be re-reading all of Adams' books right now if it weren't for the fact that I had to re-read all the Harry Potter books before the next one came out, and what a loss his death was, and Owen Bennet Jones read my e-mail on the air! I about peed myself with excitement. I'm just a little American nerd, and here was my e-mail on the BBC World Service News Hour! It is one of the nerd highlights of my life.
In conclusion, YAY for HHGTTG. Love.
Soehoe?
I'm seeing Soiker or Loiker?
Argh. All of the Hitchhiker's Guide references I can think of have been used already.
;-)
Wait! It says "Stavro." As in "Stavro Mula Beta." Yeah.
I am also going with "sucker." Maybe the cake is full of plastic babies hidden amongst the chocolate, lurking and waiting for their next victim to bite.
wv: bedentic - The condition in which one finds oneself when one's bed is suddenly smashed by a bulldozer.