Translators’ time-warp

  I work from Glasgow, mainly for Italian clients. My computer’s set to Italian time, because that’s where the deadlines are. My watch is set 5 minutes fast, for punctuality’s sake (doesn’t always work…). I have a radio alarm set 15 minutes fast. It comes on at 6.45am.  My alarm clock (again set 5 mins fast) …

Getting the name right

Governments around the world are doing everything they can to rename swine flu. They will not succeed and will end up misinforming the public.  Gerry McGovern’s latest “New Thinking” newsletter is about Governments’ attempts to rename swine flu. He focuses on the disconnect between government and international agencies’ concerns: national pride, religious sensibilities, business interests; …

For words to even better effect – just add music

Tommaso Chiarolini, an Italian designer and illustrator now based in Edinburgh, sent me this link. It’s from Playing for Change: Peace through Music and it cheered me up on a wet and grey May Day. I hope it does the same for you.

Simple words but in an intelligent way

A good day to start a new blog about words and language. Carol Ann Duffy, born into a “left-wing, Catholic, working class” family in Glasgow’s Gorbals neighbourhood, has just been made Poet Laureate. Amazingly, the first woman ever to hold the position here in Britain. It’s heartening to read, courtesy of her BBC profile, that …