The Internet. The end of English as we know it? (2)

Did you watch the “English 3.0” video examining the question: is the Internet having a detrimental effect on English and on “standards”? Here are my thoughts on the question. Social media = online conversation Much of the “bad writing” we see online is really just a form of conversation. People writing on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites are …

Getting credit for our website translations: A good thing, surely. Or maybe not?

Twitter can be a great source of inspiration for blog posts. I spent some time this afternoon looking at Italian websites for a project I was working on and found only one that included the translators’ names among the credits. Indeed, with most Italian sites if you click the “Credits” link in the footer you’re …

Government communication. But not through Twitter

I recently had to translate the following seminar title from Italian to English: La reputazione della Pubblica Amministrazione: in questo paese, può l’impiegato pubblico essere un alleato del cittadino? E può cambiare il modo di vedere la P.A. da parte del cittadino? This title has a major flaw (quite apart from its utter lack of …

Dot-dot-dot (1): how to type an ellipsis

Here’s a quick tip  that comes in handy for computer-typing in general and Twitter in particular (it saves you two characters). When you’re typing an ellipsis (three dots indicating an omission), instead of typing all three dots, type it as a single character by using the following keyboard shortcuts: Mac OS ellipsis: OPTION + semicolon …

I have seen the future, and it’s a Twait

I’m been very busy recently with barely time to pause for breath – so I’ve had to put the blog on the back-burner for a couple of weeks. But I thought I’d share with you a Twitter application I’ve found really useful as Tweeter-in-Chief (er, the only one) for Milngavie Book and Arts Festival, which …

Love your job and tweet about it? Take part in our poll

One of the things I like about Twitter (and there are lots) is that nearly all the translators I follow there seem to love their jobs. I don’t know if there’s some sort of self-selection going on here, with translators who embrace social media being more engaged with and enthused by their work. There’s the …

The “K” word on Twitter

One of the things I love about Twitter is the way it puts you in touch with interesting people you wouldn’t otherwise meet. It’s always nice to get new followers (if any of you are reading this, thank you!) but I do sometimes puzzle over who’s following me and why. I tweet mainly about language …