Around the web – November 2020

Here are November‘s most popular news stories and blog articles about language and translation.

• November already saw several dictionary publishers announce their Word of The Year:
  • Collins was the first to announce its choice, lockdown, on 11 November
  • For Cambridge Dictionaries it was quarantine
  • While Oxford Languages decided 2020 could not be summed up in one single word
• Languages, like biological organisms, change to fit their environments

There are parallels between the two processes—as Charles Darwin saw

• Lynne Murphy looked at whether “off of” is an Americanism, and also published a great collection of epigraphs about language, transatlantic differences/relations, the linguist’s dilemma… etc.
• Talking about the US, here is the number of non-English languages spoken – either fluently or partially – by all U.S. presidents elected between 1789 and 2021, as well as 7 words made popular by past US presidents

American Presidents helped certain words join everyday vocabulary

• 2020 has seen more people than ever don an apron. November 17 was National Homemade Bread Day, so Wordnik rounded up some baking lingo for the occasion

Do you know your panification from your proofing?

• Concerned about the negative impact that badly translated official miscommunications could have on tourism or foreign residents in the case of an emergency, a working group in Japan is taking local governments and other bodies to task about it
• Australian mining group Adani decided to rename itself ‘Bravus’, mistaking the word as meaning ‘brave’
• There were as many words for lunch in the 17th & 18th centuries as there were varieties of it

The Afternoon Meal (La Merienda) by Luis Meléndez, c. 1772 (Metropolitan Museum Of Art, The Jack And Belle Linsky Collection, 1982 // Public Domain)

• This year “Black Friday” fell on 27 November. Where does the term come from?
• Is an Irish accent the hardest for actors to master?
• Why do people think the French say ‘hon hon hon’ when they laugh?

P.S. Do check out the 2020 Freelance translator survey that Inbox Translation has just published. It’s very detailed and packed with everything from rates and professional development to information about pets and dreams!

Elsewhere on the blog:

• Around the web – October 2020
• Around the web – September 2020
• November 16 was Icelandic Language Day

The story behind my logo

After more than nine years running Smart Translate without a logo (I used a photo of myself when one was needed), this year I finally took the plunge and had one professionally created by a talented local designer. When you’re a translation company, it can be tempting to opt for a logo based on the country flags of the languages you work with, but I decided to choose something (almost) completely different. Here is my unique new logo and the story behind it.

It features a pictogram of a graceful white bird flying eastwards inside a red quadrilateral. Below is my company name in capital letters, and then my own name. The bird in question is called a white-tailed tropicbird in English, a paille-en-queue (“straw in the tail”) in French, and a payankë (“straw in the a***”) in Reunion Creole. Its Latin name is Phaethon lepturus, with Phaethon meaning “Shining one” while lepturus translates as “slender tail”. There are six subspecies of this fish-eating bird in various parts of the world: the Pacific Ocean, Christmas Island (where a yellow one features on the flag), the Caribbean (where they are Bermuda’s national bird), Ascension Island, Mozambique Channel, and the Indian Ocean. As I live in Reunion Island it’s the last one that is shown on my logo.

A flying white-tailed tropicbird

Why choose a tropicbird? Firstly, I like the general symbolism of birds as bringers of peace and freedom. Secondly, specifically concerning the tropicbird, I appreciate its elegance, ability to perform complex manoeuvres, and love of warm climates (this last point applies to me too, even if the first two don’t!). When you live in Reunion, you often look up and see them flying unobtrusively above, and it seems to me that this is symbolic of the translation profession: our work is present everywhere, but frequently goes unnoticed.

For the shape I could have gone for other straight-lined, four-sided figures such as a square or rectangle, but I decided that the quadrilateral – which reminds me of a kite – was dynamic while being clean and efficient. The font is sans serif, which is refined, modern, and minimal.

In terms of colour, I chose to go with an eye-catching shade of red, as it’s one of my favourite colours and evokes motivation, leadership, and energy. But for contrast I also paired it with white, which represents sophistication, clarity and efficiency, and there’s even a touch of blue (with “TRANSLATE”), as it inspires a sense of security and trust while showing reliability and professionalism. Together, the three colours red, white and blue are a nod to the British and French flags.

I also got my logo printed onto my phone case; here it is being inspected by a curious crab!

On a final note, I’d like to thank the members of Group Translator Chats for their help and advice during the logo selection process!

By the way, if you’re wondering about whether or not to get a logo, here’s a good article by David Miralles Perez about why professional translators need a professional logo.

Elsewhere on the blog:

• 7 language facts about colour
• Lost in paradise
• Glossary of some useful words in Réunion Island