August 2004

Echo

August 25, 2004

In honour of the Olympic games in Athens, here is the origin of my favourite Greek word: echo (from Edith Hamilton's Mythology, my translation as I only have the French version of her book). Echo was a favourite of Artemis,...

Specialisation

August 23, 2004

Thanks a lot to Zachary for sending me the link to a NY Times article about how bad the English translation of Simone de Beauvoir's highly influencial "Le deuxième sexe" is. The article won't be available for much longer, so...

Cellulite

August 20, 2004

Last Wednesday, I got bitten by some unidentified insect while playing football. By Friday, half of my right thigh was swollen, red and hard, so I went to see my GP. She had one look at my leg and went:...

All wool and a yard wide

August 18, 2004

Top Cat: You're all cop and a yard wide. Dibble: Thanks! Dibble: Hey… Wait a minute. Top Cat gives Dibble what looks like a compliment in an admiring tone of voice ; Dibble starts by being flattered but as the...

Editing and proofreading

August 11, 2004

I've been doing quite a bit of proofreading and editing recently. I like it, it trains me to better proofread my own work and it's interesting to see the work of colleagues and compare their style with mine. I've learned...

Favourite blogs

August 4, 2004

This website has a links page and whilst everyone is obviously welcome to have a rummage, I thought I'd share with you my favourite translation and language-related blogs, which I read daily, along with how their authors describe them. Funny...

Conkers

August 2, 2004

Leafing through my weekly Nouvel Observateur, I came across an article describing how much British people love the Dordogne region. A lot of them have bought properties there, recreating a little Britain by importing some of their sports and customs....