Around the web – August 2014

Did you know that until 8 BCE the old name for the month of August was Sextilus, Latin for “sixth month”? And that when we describe something as ‘august‘, we are saying it is majestic and inspires reverence or admiration? An auguste is also a type of clown with a white muzzle and eyes and a red nose. Anyway here’s your ‘August’ round-up of interesting articles about translation and language.

Typical aspects of an Auguste clown: red nose, white muzzle and eyes

• Here’s a list of international linguistics-related conferences taking place between now and the end of the year.
• With translators and interpreters in mind, at the beginning of the month Inbox Translate launched a resource of 3000+ glossaries.
• How are the terms off-piste, off the beaten track/path, off base used differently in the USA and UK?
• In the UK there are still hundreds of court cases requiring an interpreter that were disrupted in the first quarter as Capita continued to fall short of its required performance target. Read more.

Fun:

• How do you fare on this fiendishly difficult vocabulary quiz from The Guardian?
• Are you a vocabulary expert? How many English words do you actually know? Test yourself.
• Joke: what happens when a translator and Google translate walk into a bar? Find out.

French:

• Here are 18 French words you shouldn’t translate literally (my favourites are ‘joy flaps’ and ‘feet-breakers’) and 15 French ‘false friends’ you should watch out for.

Literal translations: if someone is getting on your nerves they’re a “feet-breaker” (casse-pieds) in French.

• Le directeur d’un hôtel en Bretagne a appelé un directeur de hypermarché hispanophone pour servir d’interprète au coach argentin de l’OM durant une conférence de presse. Incroyable !
• France Inter a diffusé une émission intitulé A la recherche des langues en danger. Vous avez jusqu’au 2 mai 2017 pour l’écouter …

Related articles:

• Around the Web – July 2014
• Around the Web – June 2014
• Around the Web – May 2014
• Around the Web – April 2014
• Around the Web – March 2014
• Around the Web – January 2014