diff --git a/inc/config.h b/inc/config.h
index 10593c8..0ee08e3 100644
--- a/inc/config.h
+++ b/inc/config.h
@@ -35,22 +35,6 @@ public:
    ChatterItem (StringRef name, float repeat, float duration) : name (name), repeat (repeat), duration (duration) { }
 };
 
-// language hasher
-struct HashLangString {
-   uint32 operator () (const String &key) const {
-      auto str = reinterpret_cast <uint8 *> (const_cast <char *> (key.chars ()));
-      uint32 hash = 0;
-
-      while (*str++) {
-         if (!isalnum (*str)) {
-            continue;
-         }
-         hash = ((*str << 5) + hash) + *str;
-      }
-      return hash;
-   }
-};
-
 // mostly config stuff, and some stuff dealing with menus
 class BotConfig final : public Singleton <BotConfig> {
 public:
@@ -73,7 +57,7 @@ private:
    StringArray m_logos;
    StringArray m_avatars;
 
-   HashMap <String, String, HashLangString> m_language;
+   HashMap <uint32, String, Hash <int32>> m_language;
    HashMap <int32, DifficultyData> m_difficulty;
 
    // default tables for personality weapon preferences, overridden by weapon.cfg
@@ -148,9 +132,12 @@ private:
       if (line.empty ()) {
          return true;
       }
-      return line.substr (0, 1).findFirstOf ("#/; \n\r") != String::InvalidIndex;
+      return line.substr (0, 1).findFirstOf ("#/;") != String::InvalidIndex;
    };
 
+   // hash the lang string, only the letters
+   uint32 hashLangString (const char *input);
+
 public:
 
    // checks whether chat banks contains messages
diff --git a/src/config.cpp b/src/config.cpp
index 15cd042..c84074d 100644
--- a/src/config.cpp
+++ b/src/config.cpp
@@ -495,7 +495,7 @@ void BotConfig::loadLanguageConfig () {
             }
 
             if (!lang.second.empty () && !lang.first.empty ()) {
-               m_language[lang.first.trim ()] = lang.second.trim ();
+               m_language[hashLangString (lang.first.trim ().chars ())] = lang.second;
             }
          }
          else if (line.startsWith ("[TRANSLATED]") && !temp.empty ()) {
@@ -756,9 +756,23 @@ const char *BotConfig::translate (StringRef input) {
    if (game.isDedicated ()) {
       return input.chars ();
    }
+   auto hash = hashLangString (input.chars ());
 
-   if (m_language.has (input)) {
-      return m_language[input.chars ()].chars ();
+   if (m_language.has (hash)) {
+      return m_language[hash].chars ();
    }
    return input.chars (); // nothing found
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+uint32 BotConfig::hashLangString (const char *input) {
+   auto str = reinterpret_cast <uint8 *> (const_cast <char *> (input));
+   uint32 hash = 0;
+
+   while (*str++) {
+      if (!isalnum (*str)) {
+         continue;
+      }
+      hash = ((*str << 5) + hash) + *str;
+   }
+   return hash;
+}