Around the web – March 2018

Here is your March round-up of popular stories about translation and language.

• In this (controversial?) article, Translate meanings not words, Tim Gutteridge led an ‘accident investigation report’ on a ‘translation train crash’ he spotted in The Guardian.
• Also in The Guardian, Daniel Hahn explained why we need the Translators Association first translation prize, which is an award he set up using his winnings from the International Dublin literary award.

Svetlana Alexievich, whose book Second-Hand Time has won the TA first translation prize for translator Bela Shayevich and editor Jacques Testard. (Photograph: Gordon Welters for the Guardian)

• March 8th was the International Day of Women‘s Rights. This article by Chi Luu looks at the Murky Linguistics of Consent.

In many #Metoo stories, crucial signals, verbal and non-verbal cues are sent but not received. Why is that?

• And this Words Without Borders article celebrated a number of International Women Writers and Translators Who Press for Progress.

Some of the women writers and translators from around the world who are pressing for progress through their activism and literature.

• “Translation Is the Opposite of War”. World Literature Today published a tribute to Arabic translator Sarah Maguire, who died last November.
• March 17th was St Patrick’s Day. Here are 28 Weird and Wonderful Irish Words.
• The Local France looked at why it’s time France ended the practice of dubbing English-language films and TV series. And in another article asked are these the ‘best’ 23 words in the French language?

Papillon/Quincaillerie/Flâneur are three of the ‘best’ French words, according to learners

• Self-confessed word nerd John Kelly raked over the roots of ‘rehearse’.
• Colleague Nikki Graham published the results of her survey on blogging. Here is Part 1 and Part 2.
• Finally, ahead of International Translation Day (ITD) on 30th September and in preparation for collaboration with the United Nations in 2019, which will be the International Year of Indigenous Languages, FIT has selected as the theme for ITD 2018 ‘Translation: promoting cultural heritage in changing times’.

 

Further reading:

• Around the web – January 2018
• Around the web – February 2018
• FIT Congress 2017 in Brisbane
• International Translation Day 2013

Around the web – February 2018

This month I had the pleasure – and honour – of spending a morning at the Careers Fair of a local high school talking to final year pupils about my profession. Whether or not you’re also a professional translator I hope you’ll find something of interest in February’s round-up of popular stories about language and translation.

• With February commonly being associated with love, not surprisingly the most popular article I shared listed a dozen pet names in other languages that don’t work quite so well when translated into English.

Sparrows, elephants, microbes, and potatoes … some pet names don’t work quite so well in English

• February 21st was International Mother Language Day, and UNESCO reiterated its commitment to linguistic diversity as a reminder that linguistic diversity and multilingualism are essential for sustainable development.
• This Economist article looked at the the painful origins of many creole languages, which have often – but not always – evolved from slavery.

“Those unfamiliar with creoles, thinking them mere patois, argot or vernacular, are missing a glorious display of the ingenuity of those speakers who turned old languages into something brilliantly new”

• Have you ever tried proofreading your work using text-to-speech? Corinne McKay looked at whether it’s worth a try.
• Did you know the word ‘bulldozer’ has a racist etymology? [discusses language that some may find offensive]
• Do you sign off your emails ‘Best wishes’,’Kind regards’ or neither of the above? BBC 4’s Word Of Mouth discusses the subject.
• Following on from last month’s World Economic Forum in Davos, here are some examples of business jargon that hit raw nerves.
• A recent article in French Elle about ‘souping’ has been widely mocked, and prompted a language debate about France’s tendency to adopt ‘ing’ as a suffix.

Elle France asked if “souping” was a new trend, but critics disagreed, and others queried the use of “ing” on French words

• Staying on the subject of food, new research shows people are more likely to eat foods they’re averse to if presented in a foreign language, like calling snails escargot.
• Quiz: Do you know the official language of each of these countries? (starts off easy, but gets harder towards the end!)
• En français : Pourquoi on n’a aucun mal à dire coiffeuse et beaucoup plus à dire professeuse.

L’académicien Pierre Nora et la secrétaire perpétuelle de l’Académie française Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, en janvier 2016. © Jacques Demarthon / AFP

 

Further reading:

• Around the web – January 2018
• Around the web – December 2017
• 7 facts about Reunion Creole