May 2005
Guest blogger: Linguistics and translation
May 27, 2005
By Jim Tyson I'm not a translator, I'm a linguist, so my question is, can linguistics tell human translators anything useful? I think it can. Most linguistic theories involve several levels of analysis of text (I use text here to...
Freakonomics
May 25, 2005
freakonomics n. funky study of supply, demand and incentives Freakonomics is the study of economics from a contrarian perspective, ie with the willingness to turn conventional wisdom on its head. Freakonomists amass a large amount of data to answer simple...
Pete Tong and a butcher's whistle
May 23, 2005
More rhyming slang came my way this week, and it was interesting for several reasons. Two different friends used it casually in conversation: Marie: "I'll be there on Saturday. It'll give me a chance to have a butcher's at the...
Little link list
May 20, 2005
A few interesting things I've read recently in the blogosphere: Americans learn how to speak in English (via Transblawg) … and Geordie! The entrenched translator on how to use free association of words in your translation work Geoffrey K. Pullum's...
Office life
May 19, 2005
So it's been a month since I moved to my new office. I can say without hesitation that it was an inspired decision; my quality of life has improved no end and my work has benefited from it. I thought...
Ne'er cast a clout til May is out
May 16, 2005
Aha! I thought, as I read this entry in Emma Kennedy's blog. She mentions the expression "Ne'er cast a clout til May is out", and I thought I could finally establish a logical pattern of equivalence between French and English...
Ci-joint
May 13, 2005
I've always been puzzled by the use of the expression "ci-joint" (enclosed, as in "please find enclosed…") in French; does it need to agree with the noun it is linked to or not? Checking again today, I realised that I've...
Formica
May 12, 2005
We're catching up on the 4th series of Six Feet Under and in the second episode, one of the characters gives the origin of the word formica: in the beginning of the 20th century, tougher, lighter and less costly insulators...
Becoming British
May 9, 2005
I found it very frustrating to not be able to vote in the latest elections; I knew that in my constituency (Hove), it would be a close battle between the Labour and Tory candidates and that every vote would count....
Man Booker prize for translators
May 6, 2005
Today's Guardian tells us that whoever translated the book which will win the international fiction prize awarded by the Man Booker prize organisation next month will get a £15,000 reward (the author gets £60,000). This will be the first time...
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
May 5, 2005
I really, really hope Michael Howard won't be our new Prime Minister tomorrow. Why? Because I can't stand the way he pronounces the letter 'l'. Have you ever heard him talk? Have you heard him say the word people? Now...
Dalek
May 3, 2005
I've finally seen a Dalek! These supposedly most frightening of aliens and supreme adversaries of Dr Who are an excellent example of how, despite ten years in a country, you can still miss out on major cultural references. I had...