December 2007
Solstice
December 22, 2007
Either of two times of the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator. The summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere occurs about June 21, when the sun is in the zenith at the tropic...
The power of interpreters
December 14, 2007
Interpreters have a lot of power. People rely entirely on me to communicate, and sometimes it is ever so tempting to be “creative” to get out of an unpleasant situation. The following illustrates something that happened on Monday. My client...
Wynd
December 13, 2007
Remember my entry on the word "twitten"? Today, in a text about Edinburgh, I came across the Scottish equivalent: wynd. – noun, Chiefly Scot. A narrow street or alley. [Origin: 1375–1425; late ME (Scots) wynde, OE gewind, winding path]...
No more zizi in Zizzi
December 10, 2007
A man cut off his penis in a London restaurant called "Zizzi" this weekend. I wonder whether he knows that "zizi" means "willy" in French?...
Sunday blogging: interesting facts
December 9, 2007
Sorry about the lack of posts lately but work has been insane. In fact, I’m just taking a break from my current translation (working on a Sunday! Whatever next?) to share with you two interesting language and translation-related facts...
Voyoucratie
December 3, 2007
A reader wrote to me asking about the English translation of voyoucratie, a word uttered on 29 December by French president Nicolas Sarkozy after the recent riots: Ce qui s'est passé à Villiers-le-Bel n'a rien à voir avec une...