October 9th was world Hangeul Day. Do you know anything about Korea’s alphabet, which – because it was deliberately invented – is sometimes called the most scientific writing system in the world? Anyway, here’s your October round-up of popular articles about language and translation.
- When is it time to say goodbye to a client?
- What are the Do’s and Don’ts for sending your CV to outsourcers and translation agencies?
- Separated by a common language blogger Lynne Murphy published three interesting posts: what do Americans call dandelion clocks? Do Americans use commas more than Brits? (Or vice versa?) and What are the differences between UK & US uses of ‘lewd’?
Donald Trump has been criticised for his lewd remarks about women
- Why should you attend events outside the translation industry?
- Several British tabloid newspapers reported on prospects of war with Russia after The Daily Star mistranslated (using Google Translate) an obscure Russian website.
- What words in other languages seem like English but aren’t?
Der ‘Oldtimer’ is a German word for a classic or vintage car (Credit: Alamy)
- Is Hungarian Europe’s most complex language?
- What are the reasons involved in re-naming countries, cities and streets?
Stradbroke Island in Queensland, Australia, faces a campaign to refer to it only by its Indigenous Australian name, Minjerribah. Photograph: naphakm/Getty Images
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Here are 30 words, phrases and neologisms popularised by cinema.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was made famous in the 1964 film Mary Poppins
- Can you guess the language in this short quiz, using your knowledge of alphabets, language associations, and some educated guessing?
Further reading:
A Smart Translator's Reunion 