http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Reflections on words, expressions and the difficulties encountered on the bridge from the English to the French language en-us celine@nakedtranslations.com 2009-06-23T09:47:37+00:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/06/001074.php My discovery of the North of England took me to Newcastle this weekend. The people in this part of the North-East are called “Geordies” and I was surprised that no-one around me could tell me why. It turns out that... 1074@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Words 2009-06-23T09:47:37+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/06/001072.php Here, "pale" isn’t the adjective derived from O.Fr. paile, from L. pallidus "pale, pallid", but the noun that comes from L. palus "stake," related to pangere "to fix or fasten". The Phrase Finder explains that Catherine the Great created a... 1072@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Idioms 2009-06-17T15:22:33+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/06/001070.php We spent last Saturday walking in Swaledale, in the Yorkshire Dales, starting from Gunnerside. Our walk book pointed out that this name comes from Norse “Gunner’s saetr”, meaning “Gunner’s slope”, which reminded me of the recent death of Margaret Gelling,... 1070@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Culture 2009-06-04T15:31:43+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/05/001068.php I’m currently working on a document about security in Africa, and particularly in Southern Africa, which is translated as Afrique australe in French. Austral dates back to 1372 and comes from Auster, which, in Roman mythology, is the name... 1068@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Words 2009-05-13T09:33:29+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/04/001066.php Endemic Relating to a disease or pathogen that is found in or confined to a particular location, region, or people. Malaria, for example, is endemic to tropical regions. 1662, from Gk. endemos "native," from en- "in" + demos "people,... 1066@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Words 2009-04-30T09:48:49+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/04/001064.php Diary of a fledgling translator, part 6 A year has past since my last post… A busy year spent doing many things among them prospecting, training, networking and of course translating. My inability at keeping this diary a regular feature... 1064@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Guests 2009-04-23T12:26:49+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/04/001062.php My first attempt at communicating in Italian was a resounding failure: when asked “Caldo?” by the man who was preparing my prosciutto and pecorino sandwich, I confidently replied “Si!” after my weary brain had done a quick analysis and concluded... 1062@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Words 2009-04-20T11:26:16+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/04/001060.php The economic downturn has coincided with my busiest time yet. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been translating all hours of the day and even broke my rule of never working at the weekend, but in these uncertain... 1060@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Words 2009-04-10T09:16:46+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/03/001058.php Who says administrative jargon has to be boring? I heard a delicious expression on RTL describing the Kafkaesque series of government layers in France, with its régions, départements, cantons, communes etc. etc. : the millefeuille administratif. It almost makes... 1058@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Idioms 2009-03-30T11:35:07+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/03/001056.php You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged much lately. I’ve had to dedicate all my time to translating but I’m hoping I can get back to writing more regularly next month. However, I didn’t want to miss Ada Lovelace... 1056@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Culture 2009-03-24T15:31:24+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/03/001054.php I am not a pedant. I wouldn’t dare, as my knowledge of grammar isn’t 100% perfect. I accept that people have different ideas about what constitutes good usage and that a lot of them think that, as long as effective... 1054@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Technical corner 2009-03-10T16:34:45+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/03/001053.php By Jill Sommer, German to English translator I have been a freelance German to English translator since earning my M.A. in translation from Kent State University in 1995. I moved to Germany and worked as a freelance terminologist and translator... 1053@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ 2009-03-05T15:36:54+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/02/001050.php The world economy is in turmoil and, although we seem to be better protected than other professions, translators are also bound to be affected. A recent thread on proz asked how translators manage to thrive in this difficult climate –... 1050@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Guests 2009-02-25T14:24:15+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/02/001048.php I've never done this before, but as I haven't had time to blog much lately and am off interpreting later on, I thought I'd repost a favourite entry of mine called The power of interpreters, dating from December 2007. I'll... 1048@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ Interpreting 2009-02-18T09:34:32+00:00 http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2009/02/001046.php A new translator emailed me for advice: he has had work offers, but at very low rates (€0.02 per word). He turned them down but he's wondering whether he was wrong. My answer: if you think the rate is too... 1046@http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/ It is a funny job 2009-02-13T14:30:49+00:00