So - I'm not sure this will ever help anybody ... but in the case that it may, this is how I re-engineered the script to avoid the errors. I simply removed the usual delimiters that were causing the parsing confusion. And @mu is too short, you were correct. This is an erb.yml file, though I'm not sure why the original creator left the dual extension off. At any rate - thank you to everybody who offered any suggestions and ideas :)
<%
object_names = Hash.new
object_names[:administrator] = %q<Administrator>
object_names[:activity_log] = %q<Site Activity>
object_names[:answer] = %q<Answer>
object_names[:approval] = %q<Approval>
object_names[:user] = %q<Member>
object_names[:video] = %q<Video>
object_names[:vote] = %q<Like>
section_names = Hash.new
section_names[:approvals] = %q<Items Awaiting Review>
section_names[:advertisements] = %q<Advertisements>
section_names[:ad_placements] = %q<Ad Placements>
section_names[:awarded_badges] = %q<Badges>
section_names[:badges] = %q<Badges>
section_names[:videos] = %q<Videos>
%>
en:
homepage:
mine: "My %{site_name}"
site_name: "%{site_name}"
site_condition_name: "%{site_condition_name}"
titles:
main: "%{site_name}"
delimiters:
minor: ' - '
major: ' | '
scopes:
popular: Popular
newest: Newest
active: Active
my_feed: My Friends
my_activity: What I've Done
tracked_items: "Only <%= object_names[:tracked_item].pluralize %>"
everyone: Everyone
user: "By %{name}"
view: "By %{view}"
sent: "Sent <%= object_names[:message].pluralize %>"
page: "Page %{page}"
letter: "Starting With %{letter}"
query: "%{query}"
category: "%{category}"
meta_description:
main: "%{site_name} is a social network that connects people"
footer:
about: "About %{site_name}"
about_alliance_health: About Alliance Health
community_advocates: Community Advocates
terms_of_use: Terms of Use