Could you tell that I did not really care about the holiday one way or the other, but that I did care about the dictionaries?
Another German dictionary
The Scatterling series – 18, 19 & 20
I have just started an online course which promises to give me some tips on how to write decent fiction. With two practice assignments under my belt, I am already feeling possessive and strangely secretive about what I have produced so far. Luckily, Scatterling provides a temporary smoke screen. We have the commonality that the... Continue Reading →
The Scatterling series – 15, 16 & 17
I could not resist blogging again today. It is Saturday night, after all and besides that, it has been a while since the last instalment in this series. Maternal influence is undeniable. We can lead quite different lives from our mothers as adults, hold very different opinions, eat different foods and even dream in different... Continue Reading →
A good ‘un
I was checking online whether my translation from Portuguese into English of a Chinese proverb matched the commonly accepted rendition in English. As one does. I should mention that I do not normally take the answers found at wiki.answers.com as Gospel for obvious reasons, but have occasionally found some useful leads there by way of... Continue Reading →
Old translators never die
The cadence of one of my translated sentences yesterday reminded me about the fate of old golfers, and I could not remember whether real men eat quiche or not. If the truth be told, I was not entirely sure if Kisch was involved. That advice about sounding out the word in your head in order... Continue Reading →
To whom should I rant?
Where, oh where, is a sound-proof, padded room when you need one? One should not have to think about something which should have been learned by the age of 11 or 12.
Butterflies have them
People think I can spell, but I cannot spell as well as all that. Innocuous as it may seem, I am currently beating myself up for not knowing that "inoculate" is spelt with one N. Thank goodness for red squiggly lines on the screen. The upside is that I discovered that "oculate" is not the... Continue Reading →
Some days, a fairytale
Some days, it is probably better not to share one's thoughts. As I sat daydreaming positively at my desk, I wondered how my search for truth was coming along. I know, I'll search for truth on Google! This turns out to be the worst idea I have had all day: I get "about 57,300,000 results... Continue Reading →
Simon, Garfunkel and Yoda
It all started when a fellow translator posted an image of Yoda, of Star Wars fame, on her Facebook wall. The speech balloon said, "OOYL", which, of course, is short for "Only once, you live". Despite obvious pronunciation difficulties, I prefer Yoda's rendition to the now ubiquitous YOLO. "My favourite, he is", I commented. "Ha!",... Continue Reading →
Revise that!
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE IS DEFINITELY ABOUT THE REVISION OF TRANSLATIONS. THERE ARE NO PICTURES. JUST WORDS. YES, I USED CAPITAL LETTERS. I must have been feeling upbeat yesterday. Why else would I accept a couple of assignments involving the revision of translations from German into English? There is nothing unusual about this. The last revision I... Continue Reading →
That elusive pair of jeans 