Today, some unexpected etymologies. All of the following words have become so deeply embedded in English that I, for one, would never have imagined they were borrowings from sundry other languages. Slogan – from the Celtic slaugh and gheun, battle and cry...
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First steps towards localization
Before embarking on localization, there are various questions that any company needs to resolve. These fall into four main categories. Whether to outsource or do work in-house. Do you have a better chance of meeting your goals if you use your own resources or employ a...
The French Revolutionary Calendar
Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Wheaty, Heaty and Sweety. Although this list may put you in mind of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it in fact represents the earliest rendering into English of one of the great,...
What can I use machine translation for?
Why pay anything at all for translation? Google offers translation for free!” If all you are worried about is price, there are plenty of automatic translators on the internet. Machine Translation (MT) engines will render a text into a target language of your choice,...
Timely – adverb or adjective?
“Their work is timely, accurate and cost efficient.” Does there seem to be something wrong with this sentence? There did to me, too, namely the use of the word timely. Now, to me timely suggests that something is done at the right or appropriate time: a timely...
What is Computer Aided Translation?
First and foremost: it is NOT, repeat NOT, automatic translation. Computer Aided Translation (CAT) in fact has very little to do with Google Translate and its ilk. A 'computer-aided translation' is one which has been undertaken by a human translator in conjunction...
Different influences on Spanish and Mexican Spanish
Spain and Mexico both have influential neighbours to the north and this is sometimes reflected in the differences between the two varieties of Spanish. Here are a few of the terms I've noticed where Mexico follows an English form and Spain a French one. Mexico Spain...
Who is the translation for?
It may seem obvious, but it is vitally important that from the outset both you and your language service provider (LSP) have a clear idea of exactly who the 'target audience' of the translation will be. All business documentation is directed at one or more groups of...
Integrating DTP and translation: text length
A Spanish translation of an English source text will almost invariably take up more space than the original. Spanish text occupies more space than English by approximately 1/5 to 1/4, or 20%, a tendency which can easily be observed if you compare translations of...
Speeding up the translation process
Most projects are “urgent”. Sometimes this is entirely justified, as in the case of an imminent trade fair, client presentation, website launch, or contract signing. By contrast, some deadlines are entirely unjustified, often because they have been randomly set by an...