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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Lost in the Editing

Are you as bored as I am with these stupid “lost in translation” stories that appear in the media? Every time a story appears concerning some translation or interpretation issue, however vague, the headline always manages to somehow include the phrase “lost in translation.” Here’s the latest: “Rogue driver Prawo is lost in translation.”

Why is this phrase popular? This is why.

The story itself reflects badly on the Irish police, and gives life to the claim by Irish author, poet, playwright, freedom fighter, and er, well-rounded Guinness drinker, Brendan Behan that the only foreign language the police force knew was “Garda“:

The Polish term for driving licence, “Prawo Jazdy”, has been taken down in error by members of the traffic corps as the actual identity of the motorists they stopped.

Other “lost in translation” stories are here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and ...

Ironically, if the phrase itself was to be easily translatable, it should have the article included: “Lost in the translation.”

Of course, I’ve used this tiresome phrase myself, even though I thought the movie was mediocre at best. I was being lazy. Come on media people, at least pretend to be original, and try watching more than one movie, or buying a dictionary. You could even try playing on “Locale Hero,” “Support Your Locale Serif,” “Austin Powers: Internationalization Man of Mystery,” “Miss Interpreted,”....

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Betrayed

We’ve mentioned the fate of Iraqi translators and interpreters who worked for the Americans in the Iraqi war before. George Packer wrote an article about their story for the New Yorker magazine in 2007. It’s worth reading. Now, the story has been turned into a play, also called “Betrayed.”

Dave Iverson recently interviewed George Packer about his play on KQED.

There is a video on the New Yorker‘s YouTube channel about the play too (note there are profanities included).

Monday, February 02, 2009

KnsT2?

That’s Irish language text (or SMS) speak for “Conas atá tú?” ("How are you?"). Dr Muiris Ó Laoire of the Tralee Institute of Technology (that’s in County Kerry, in the south west of Ireland) has drawn up a list of list of the commonly shortened phrases in Irish to promote the use of the language and speed up the use of the cúpla focal (literally “couple of words”. An Irish idiomatic expression used to convey the true depth of the average Irish person’s knowledge of their own language) on cell phones.

The good Dr dismisses fears that Irish language purists will be up in arms over this. Instead, he says:

"It’s quick and its creative. I would see this as having the effect of making the language more accessible. I would say that it’s making the language more vibrant, that it is a living language and that it can be used for more than just teaching. If we keep it in the classroom and text books it will die.”
(Source: Irish Daily Mail, 2-February-2009).

Here’s a few examples you can try out yourself the next time you text (SMS) an Irish person:

GRMA: Go Raibh Maith Agat (Thank you [singular])
CGL: Ceart Go Leor (OK)
MGL: Maith Go Leor (Great, good, right, and so on)
E va: Óiche Mhaith (Good night)
Fadhb r b: Fadhb ar bith (No problem)
Chor r b: Ar chor ar bith (At all, at any rate, and so on)
9L is am: Níl a fhios agam (I don’t know)

and here’s one I just made up:

SFL!: Is Feidir Linn! (Yes, we can!)

Coming after the launch of predictive text software as Gaeilge this is a great development

Irish speakers are being invited by trading card maker Panini to submit more suggestions for Irish txt spk online at the British-hosted web site www.mutones.co.uk.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Téacs (Cell Phone Predictive Text in Irish)

Thanks to free software designed by Vodafone and Foras na Gaeilge, you can now avail of predictive texting in Irish on your cell phone (or mobile phone, depending on your locale).

The Irish Times says that only about 80 of all the world’s languages are supported by predictive text (sometimes referred to as T9) software. So this announcement is a great move that should have a positive impact on the daily use of an teanga duchais (Irish to you) here in Ireland.

The software, called Téacs, means that Irish speakers can set their phones to prompt them from more than 25,000 Irish language words and phrases, with full grammatical support for all common terms when they begin to enter a text (or SMS) message.

Téacs is available at http://teacs.ie (note I have not tested it out yet and that although the software is free, the data transfer is not).

Don’t know what predictive texting is? Try this.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Schadenfreude

Now that you’ve annoyed everybody over the age of 30 by using Gammelfleisch in their presence, you might like to join in the increasing uptake of another German word.

The Financial Times tells us of the bullish market conditions for the word Schadenfreude :

Usage of the word among Britain’s national newsprint media is up 29 per cent this year with 543 mentions in the period to December 15, compared with 422 in the same period in 2007; in the US news media it has risen 30 per cent (223 against 171).

For the life of me, I just cannot understand why.

Outside Edge: An über language for the Zeitgeist

Friday, December 12, 2008

Gammelfleisch

Given the recent international warnings concerning Irish pork, Gammelfleisch is my new favorite word of the month.  Roughly translated, the word refers to suspect meat that’s past its sell-by date. It’s kinda still edible, at your own risk sort of thing, and definitely not in the spirit of EU consumer legislation. 

I learnt about Gammelfleisch from some attendees at a recent localization conference in Dublin. Gammelfleisch was in the news in Germany during the year because of the Gammal-Skandal there when dodgy meat was supplied to kebab restaurants.

Seems like German kids are now using the term to describe people older than themselves, and a get together of such old fogeys (anyone over the age 30) is known as a Gammelfleischparty:

At best they resemble the worst wedding reception disco you have ever been to, with dozens of people dancing like your drunken uncle to tunes from the dark ages.

Gammelfleischparty is now the German youth word of the year, and I’m told that Ü30 (for Über-30) is another good German term used to describe the same scene.

So, now you’ll have something to talk about at the office Christmas party...

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Amo, But Not A Mass,...

I’m a regular reader of DCU (an establishment that localization folks should know well) President Ferdinand Von Prondzynski’s blog “A University Blog: The diary of a university president.” It’s the best “catch-all” blog coming out of Ireland, in my opinion. Perhaps I am biased, as the author is a former lecturer of mine from my Trinity College Dublin days and I always enjoyed not only his teaching, but his opinions on all manner of subjects. It’s so refreshing to come across a blog writer who can actually write.

Today, the blog posting laments the loss of the Latin language as a taught subject in schools and other educational establishments. I totally agree. I would love to see it restored. A knowledge of Latin (I studied it in high school) helped me to understand the origin of many words in many languages, encouraged me to read more widely, and to develop my writing ability.

For a while, it looked like the success of the book “Amo, Amas, Amat...”, reinforced by the utterances of “brainy” celebs such as Stephen Fry, might spearhead a revival of interest and use of the language amongst the populace, but that promise now seems to have disappeared.

In Ireland ‘though, usage of Latin on a small scale remains popular with Roman Catholic mass-goers, and I regularly see large numbers of devotees attending Latin mass around the corner from me in Dublin. There is even an Irish Latin Mass web site. However, on the whole, the language is dead in Ireland and other countries as far as the majority are concerned.

Perhaps other readers of Blogos have an opinion?

Friday, October 31, 2008

I am not in the office at the moment...

Several people have now sent me this daft story from Wales about the officials who asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign by e-mail and then thought the reply - in Welsh - was what they needed. They promptly put up the sign. In fact, the reply was an automated out-of-office e-mail message.

So, instead of a sign warning heavy goods vehicle drivers about a residential road, the public was treated to a large display of “I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated” in Welsh.

You can read more about the story here.

That’s what you get when you welsh on the translation budget (groan).

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

TXT+100%+ Expansion: A Question

Perhaps some of you can help me. I read recently about a Swedish student, My Svensson, who won a competition by taking only 61 seconds to type a 141-character SMS message.

Apparently, her winning text was:

Ok, skriv fort nu. Fortare! D1a går för långsamt. Stavas långsamt så? Hinner inte titta, måste bli klar. Snart, bara 1 ord till. Klar!

I’m no expert, but that doesn’t look very text-speak to me (I can’t imagine any Irish teenager SMS texting 141 characters in one message - for any reason).  Is it? In Swedish?

How much longer is that phrase than the equivalent text-speak localization into English? Do other languages have text-speak or is it largely used for “imported” English words?

No. There’s no prize for the answer.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

KQED Forum: Operation Falcon

Last week, San Francisco’s KQED covered the case of translators who worked for the U.S. Military in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are now trying to emigrate to the United States.

I know this is a subject close to many of your hearts (including Laurel’s), and you can listen to the entire program here.

The discussion centers on Haitham Jasim, one such translator, who has now moved his family to San Jose, and introduces us to Operation Falcon, a non-profit devoted to bringing translators like Jasim to the U.S. The phone-in section includes the concerns of citizens of the U.S. struggling in a declining economy, so it’s a well-rounded discussion.

By the way, it’s really great to be back in the Bay Area.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Tom Cruise Talks at TED about the origins of language

OK, it’s really Murray Gell-Man talking at TED 2007. I was confused when the presenter said the guy possibly knew more about everything than anyone.

Anyway, you can see and hear what Murray (Maurice to his friends) has to say in about a common ancestor for languages in this video from TED 2007:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/276

This is an interesting perspective, though as all Irish people know, language begins and ends with James Joyce.

Check out the other videos there too.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

New German Capital Announced: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Don’t all rush to WikiPedia to update the entry, but the Irish Times today tells us that “an addition to the German alphabet (has) emerged blinking into the daylight after a campaign lasting 130 years - to a hail of indifference.”

Apparently, it’s the capital letter equivalent of ß, which up to now has been taken care of (in Germany) by use of two “S” letters instead, because only a small letter ß exists.

They’d been trying to kill the case for the thing off for years, but now, the “German Norms Institute (DIN) ...proposed a capital ß to the International Organisation for Standardisation and, on Monday, the letter became standard - with ISO 10646.” The article quotes an excited Dr Günter of the German Language Council:

"We are not responsible for letters, but for keeping an eye on spelling and to make sure rules are followed. Whether there is a need for this letter is a question that remained unanswered for centuries. It’s likely to remain that way for a while to come.”

Anyway, I couldn’t find much about on the Internet as to what this new letter even looks like, or is supposed to look like. Maybe someone knows?

Yes: Someone did (see the comments too):

(WikiPedia has Unicode details too. Hat Tip: Will)

To read more about it, you’ll need an Irish Times paid subscription (don’t bother, it’s not worth getting streßed about).

Will this lead to a mad updating of translation memories, I wonder?

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