Translation, Linguistics and Freelancing in the 21st Century
Earlier this week I enjoyed reading a post called ‘The Most Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases’ over at Adam Sherk’s blog (discovered courtesy of @Betti_Moser). Reading the post, it really struck me that high ‘bleurgh’ factor buzzwords like synergy, and dynamic tend to rear their ugly heads in languages other than English,
Encountered: Words Without Borders newsletter, discussing a book by Bernardo Atxaga entitled ‘A Surprising Tale in the Form of an Alphabet’ (translated from Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa.
Word in context: “Bernardo Atxaga’s ’s abecedary of war starts with a malevolent flower and ends with the ultimate solution”
Definitions:
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913):
Abecedary
(n.)
A primer; the first
As we say goodbye to one year and wait with anticipation to welcome the next, the media usually adopts a more philosophical attitude, trying to make sense of the past 12 months, in a ‘what just happened?’ sort of way. It seems to me that people like that at this time of year, almost as
Stephen Fry’s ‘Fry’s English Delight’ is currently airing on BBC Radio 4 every Monday morning at 10am. The programme’s website can be found here, where you can listen to the latest edition at any time. I’ve just listened to the first edition, which discusses the use of metaphor in the English language. Absolute word-nerd heaven…
Linguistic doom-mongers frequently lament the demise of the English language, complaining that standards are just not what they used to be, that kids these days simply don’t have a grasp of how to use language correctly, lack creativity, etc., etc. Human nature appears to have a natural tendency to assume that things gradually get worse,
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