Dear native English speakers.
I am trying to find out the English translation of "mojibake," which is a Japanese word for funny characters accidentally displayed on a web page or email due to inappropriate word or encoding settings. It seems in English you say "funny characters," "garbled characters" or "garbage characters." Correct? If they are correct, which one do you use most? Or is there any other word more commonly used? Or do you use "mojibake" as it is?

Also, could you give me some example sentences so that I understand how to use those words? For example, "the email message was garbled," I get/I see funny/garbage/garbled characters," etc?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Last Edited on 1-Aug-2008 5:43 AM

Pogo
528 posts
Aug 01, 2008
7:55 AM

I've never heard "mojibake."

"Garble" implies that the message cannot be understood, that the letters have been mixed or replaced randomly resulting in a line of "garbage." It's a verb (at least primarily; some may use it as a noun, I guess). "This message is garbled."

"Glitch" can be either a noun or a verb, used when something unauthorized interfered with text or picture, resulting in anything from garbage to a blank. It isn't used just to describe a message or picture; it can also be used when the machinery is not working, either right or at all.
"What glitch caused this mess?" "How did this function get glitched?"

stuck2
217 posts
Aug 02, 2008
5:07 AM

Thank you for your help, Pogo!!

Last Edited on 2-Aug-2008 5:07 AM