December 2003

Holidays. Celebrate?

December 23, 2003

Holidays. I hate them. Ok, I don’t HATE them, but I do find them traumatic. And I know from spending way too much time on translators’ forums that I’m not alone. I think that, when you’re self-employed, however well you’re...

Belleville Rendez-Vous

December 22, 2003

For those of you who will be in the UK on Christmas day, do not miss Belleville Rendez-Vous, 7pm BBC2. This is how it’s described on my TV guide: Quirky feature-length animation from the imagination of Sylvain Chomet. Old lady...

Lunch and Culture Shock

December 19, 2003

I’ve just spent two days interpreting in Dunkirk for a meeting between French and English partners. My favourite time of the day: lunch. And not just because of the food, but because a work lunch is one of the most...

Acronyms

December 15, 2003

Acronyms are often a headache for translators: do you keep the original acronym or do you create a new one from your translation of the name of the organisation? It all depends on how well-known the said organisation is. The...

To have kittens

December 12, 2003

Most of yesterday was spent on the phone, sending IM, e-mails and SMS, while trying to remain focused on work, which was slowly but surely piling up. Our friend Gabs was in labour and information was scant. In the evening,...

Spin Doctor

December 8, 2003

“Spin Doctor”, what a great expression in English and how difficult it is to translate. A literal translation would mean absolutely nothing in French and I’ve often wondered how to render it. I find it impossible to encapsulate the wonderful...

To scrape the bottom of the barrel

December 3, 2003

Ah, subtitling The Flintstones, The Simpsons and other comedies. Great fun, but an awful lot of idioms to deal with... For example, in an episode I did this week, Fred tells Wilma that he’s not joining the army but helping...