Mathmatical play on words

Here's an excellent play on words for anyone interested in mathematics and English word play, provided they don't take exception to the innuendo.

I don't know where this was first posted, but I saw it here on the amazingly successful and thoroughly engaging science site called IFLS. Like I said, it's successful and engaging despite the freaking name.

For the benefit of the indexing engines and web crawlers, the picture reads:
Holy shift! Look at the asymptote on that mother function.

When scientific terms are misused

Ten scientific ideas that scientists wish you would stop misusing (my slightly modified version of the title) by Annalee Newitz gives short well-thought-out explanations of the following terms: proof, theory, quantum uncertainty (and quantum weirdness), learned (vs. inate), natural (and organic), gene, statistically significant, survival of the fittest, geologic timescales, and organic.

(Aside: Translators might have preferred that the article carry the title: Ten scientific terms and expressions that scientists wish you would stop misusing.)

At first guess, I think I guess that most of these terms have direct equivalents in western European languages and most of those equivalents are misused in much the same way.

At first guess, I think I can also say that in many types of translations any such misuse in the original can be faithfully represented by the corresponding misuse in the target language.

The big challenge is, of course, when the translator has a mandate to make the author of the original look better in the target language than in the original. In such cases, the translator needs to consult a site like this one, then decide on better words and terms.

Client satisfait #3

L'article Mer et Marine se trouve ici.
L’édition 2013 par consultable dans son intégralité via le site seaandnavy.com.

(Attention, la qualité graphique en ligne est dégradée en raison des formats de compression de Google).

Un client satisfait #2

In his piece announcing the second Sea and Navy magazine that the Mer et Marine team will produce for Euronaval 2014 and a series of other naval trade shows, editor Vincent Groizeleau wrote:

Comme en 2012/2013, la traduction de ce nouveau hors-série sera confiée à Steve Dyson, traducteur spécialisé qui nous permet de proposer un magazine en langue anglaise irréprochable, notamment au niveau technique. Un travail remarquable qui a largement contribué au succès de la dernière édition, saluée unanimement par les professionnels et nos confrères internationaux pour sa qualité rédactionnelle et iconographique, ainsi que sa présentation. Tout ce qui fait que désormais, et nous en sommes très fiers et heureux, le Hors série Forces Navales de Mer et Marine/Sea and Navy est devenu le support français de référence, reconnu et attendu par l’ensemble du secteur.

Friend and colleague John Smellie of E-Files (John also curates a ScoopIt page) kindly suggested the following translation:

Hoping to repeat the success of our first special issue in 2012/2013, we've already booked Steve Dyson to translate the next one. Steve is a real specialist in naval affairs and his excellent input last time, particularly on a technical level, made the English language version a big hit with naval professionals and fellow journalists around the world — all told us it was well written, beautifully illustrated and perfectly executed down to the last detail.

Many thanks to Vincent and his team for the praise and to John for the translation.

Un client satisfait #1

Sous le titre Mer et Marine prépare un nouveau magazine pour Euronaval et les salons internationaux on peut lire :

De l’Europe à l’Asie en passant par le Moyen-Orient, l’Amérique latine ou encore l’Océanie, nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer que le nouveau magazine de Mer et Marine va réaliser un second tour du monde. Publiée directement en anglais et présentant les produits et savoir-faire des entreprises françaises et franco-européennes du secteur naval, aéronaval et de la sécurité maritime, cette édition 2014/2015 sera dévoilée en octobre prochain, à l'ouverture du salon Euronaval. ... qui se déroulera au Bourget du 27 au 31 octobre.

Comme l’an dernier, avec la première édition de Sea and Navy, version anglaise du hors-série francophone publié en octobre 2012, le prochain magazine traversera les océans pour être présent en 2015 dans les plus grands salons internationaux intéressant les acteurs de l’industrie navale et de la sécurité maritime. Cela, grâce à un accord de partenariat renouvelé avec le GICAN, que nous remercions pour sa confiance. Dans le cadre de sa mission de promotion des industries navales et maritimes françaises, celui-ci va mettre à disposition le nouveau magazine de Mer et Marine sur les pavillons France des différents salons auxquels il participera. Les visiteurs et délégations officielles accueillies sur ces espaces auront ainsi, à disposition, un support de qualité présentant les compétences, références et produits proposés par les industriels tricolores. Les salons prévus sont NAVDEX à Abu Dhabi (22 au 26 février 2015), LIMA à Langkawi, en Malaisie (17 au 21 mars 2015), LAAD à Rio de Janeiro, au Brésil (14 au 17 avril 2015), IMDEX à Singapour (19 au 21 mai 2015), IMDS à Saint-Pétersbourg, en Russie (1er au 5 juillet 2015), PACIFIC à Sydney, en Australie (6 au 8 octobre 2015) et DEFENSE & SECURITY à Bangkok, en Thaïlande (2 au 5 novembre 2015).

Comme en 2012/2013, la traduction de ce nouveau hors-série sera confiée à Steve Dyson, traducteur spécialisé qui nous permet de proposer un magazine en langue anglaise ... 

A descent into drivel as a sign

On 15 June FT columnist Lucy Kellaway published yet another piece on poor corporate language. This article is, however, different in two ways. First, it attacks -- and how -- a company (Apple) that Lucy had previously held up "as a lone example of a big company that uses words beautifully"

But Descent into drivel is a sign of Apple’s fall goes on to a deeper level of analysis (my bold):

Everyone knows that job ads are an area that attracts the worst sort of grandiose language, especially when they have been put through a headhunter’s mangle that makes every employer “world-class”. But when the company itself can’t describe what its own people do, and can’t say anything clearly about who it wants to fill them, I fear trouble.

Apple’s hitherto nice way with words was almost certainly a part of its success. Perhaps the language helped cause the success, or perhaps the success caused the language. The company’s new, ugly words suggest it has got too big and too corporate to hang on to the things that once made it different. Apple seems to have become at least as Kafkaesque as everywhere else.

Only time will tell if Lucy is on the right, which is to say if it is indeed possible to get an insight into strategic wavering and possible loss of direction from the close analysis of corporate communications.This thought often crosses the attentive translator's mind. While many, indeed far too many, see 'business speak', 'corporate guff' and the like as one of the easier categories of translation, a quick glance at the examples quoted by Lucy reveals just how turgid this type of document can be.

Some lateral thinking also suggests that one of the simplest and cheapest solutions is to have key corporate statements, advertisements, etc. translated by an acknowledged expert with the dual purposes of (a) using the translation(s) to increase the company's reach, and (b) having the company's top in-house writers work hand in hand with the translator(s) to ensure that all versions are crisp, clear and free of the sort of drivel that may later prove so embarrassing, not to mention expensive to fix.

Translating meaning, not words

Cross-cultural training courses such as those proposed by MindTools, Kwintessial or any number of other providers are big business. All address the multiple challenges posed by languages and cultures. Some also address the special challenges of different cultures that share the same or similar languages (think Australia vs the UK, Portugal vs Brazil, France vs Quebec, etc.).

An allied category of communication challenges is the way all language/cultural groups apply meanings to certain expressions that are quite different from what the words appear to mean, especially to anyone who knows the language but not the culture in question. This is a special challenge wherever monolingual speakers of English deal with second-language speakers with a strong command of English, but not necessarily the cultural baggage that goes with mother-tongue speech and, of course, the reverse.

Misunderstandings between British and Dutch business people are discussed by various websites, one example being Expatia.
On 13 June, FT columnist Gillian Tett discussed a list of frequently misunderstood list of expressions under the heading A guide to (mis)communication.

After you've looked at this list, think for a moment about what these types of expressions means for translators.
Fortunately 101 things a translator needs to know offers guidance right from #1.
Under the heading Translators don’t translate words – they translate meaning this wise little book says:

"Machines and dictionaries translate words. But it takes a thinking, reasoning human being to translate what words mean. Consider how you would translate the simple command “Shoot”, depending on whether the person doing the shooting is a soldier, a footballer, a photographer, a gambler throwing dice, or a friend with something to tell you that you are eager to hear. The key here, as in all translation, is context."