A blog about translation, writing and language in all its glorious aspects
In an article in the Huffington Post marking International Translation Day (celebrated on 30 September), Nataly Kelly, Chief Research Officer at Common Sense Advisory and co-author of “Found in Translation”, listed 10 ways that translation benefits us all: 1. Translation saves lives. 2. Translation prevents terror. 3. Translation keeps the peace. 4. Translation elects world leaders. 5. …
Continue reading “Not love, not money. It’s translation that makes the world go round.”
As I mentioned in my last post, about the perils of leaving your computer unattended for too long, we spent our summer holiday in Turkey this year. One of the books I took with me was The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller. I’d like to say this was a carefully considered choice on my …
Parts of the UK have been having horrible weather for the last few days, with flooding and, in Aberdeen, a weird seafoam* invading the Footdee neighbourhood, while is well worth a visit, by the way (preferably without foam). Here in Bearsden, just north of Glasgow, however, it’s a beautiful day. *(or “spume”, from the Latin spuma. This …
I’ve just seen a comment on Twitter that sent my Scottish/British blood pressure sky-high. Italian journalist Gianni Riotta, commenting on the opening ceremony, said that it illustrated “straordinaria sicurezza identita’ inglese”: essentially, the English people’s extraordinary sense of, and confidence in, their national identity, to the extent of being able to laugh at themselves. Mr. Riotta …
Continue reading “Olympic Opening Ceremony. British and proud of it… but not English”
Do you ever find that a certain word or phrase keeps cropping up in your work? In your source material, I mean, not your end-product. For me right now it’s “credibility” (or credibilità, to be precise). That’s because I do a lot of translation and editing for Italian government organisations and Italy is focused on …
Continue reading “Word of the moment: it’s just (in)credible.”
“Words to good effect” is one of the winning blogs in the Top 25 Language Professionals Blogs 2012 competition organised by LexioPhiles and Bab.La. We came 11th, and are totally chuffed! A big Thank You to everyone who voted for us, and to LexioPhiles and Bab.La for organising the competition. By Marian Dougan
Have you ever wondered why English beat Latin to become the world’s lingua franca? Here’s Eddie Izzard’s explanation. Warning: Not Safe for Work, contains strong language. By Marian Dougan
Radio Scotland news recently featured a hotel booking mix-up. A group of French tourists turned up at the Jura Hotel, on the Isle of Jura (off the west coast of Scotland), saying that they’d booked rooms there. The hotel owner had no record of a booking, and the hotel was full. When he checked their …
Continue reading “Communicating with clients: crystal clarity or muddy murk?”
Here’s a wee Olympic Games language competition for readers. No prizes, just the satisfaction of figuring out the acronym/initialism puzzle. English-Polish translator Marta Stelmaszak has attended a training workshop on Language Services of the Olympics. Some of the acronyms/initialisms she found there are listed below. Can you guess what they mean? DVPM IOC/IPC NOC/NPC OCOG …
Continue reading “Olympic Linguistic Games (2): a competition”
The organisers of the 2012 Olympic Games are making a big effort to ensure that the whole of the United Kingdom feels included in the event. There was a great fuss on the BBC news yesterday (18 May) about the arrival and planned relay — covering the length and breadth of the UK, with a …