Germany Seeks a New Longest Word

This is fascinating, don't you think?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/germany-seeks-a-new-longest-word-a-903470.html

A slightly more 'sober' report on the issue can be found on the Tagesschau website at
http://www.tagesschau.de/schlusslicht/rekordbandwurmwort100.html

What makes a good translation agency?

An article I had published in the July-August 2009 edition of the ITI Bulletin provides some answers. It seems to be as topical as ever. Click here to download it.

Note:
Unfortunately the link to the Universitas magazine containing the interesting and entertaining Gratisschnitzel article, which appears in the PDF file, is out of date. Click here to download the magazine. 

The ITI Bulletin article was subsequently re-published in issue 4/2009 of BDÜ's MDÜ magazine, in the February 2010 issue of Translorial (Journal of the Northern California Translators Association), in issue 1/2010 of Hieronymus (journal of the Swiss translators' association ASTTI) and on pp. 8-10 of issue 5/2010 of the Swedish Translators' Association magazine (in Swedish).

What is translation?

According to latest issue of Jost Zetzsche's excellent Tool Kit newsletter, translation is not "something" that multilingual people do, but a profession of highly qualified individuals who themselves can do a lot to make this apparent for anyone who cares to look.

Jost goes on to distil some overarching themes from the recently published book, The Prosperous Translator, into six useful bullet points:

• Writing skills in the target language are one of the key components to success as a translator.
• Above-average subject-specific knowledge is another key to success.
• There is great value in membership and active participation in professional associations.
• Networking with colleagues and clients is essential.
• Low prices devalue your proposal and make you less attractive.
• There is lots and lots of work out there for lots and lots of us, provided that we adhere to the points listed above.

Jost concludes that: the (translation) world would truly be a better place if we followed these suggestions (and if those who can't would choose a different profession!).

German Communication Styles

I just came across an illuminating web page explaining German communication styles (and the proverbial/alleged lack of humour). You can find it here.

"Was meint eigentlich Halloween" / Bambi-Lüge

Irgendwie habe ich das Gefühl, dass ich auch Opfer der sogenannten Bambi-Lüge war. Näheres in einem bereits etwas älteren aber durchaus aktuellen und wie üblich sehr unterhaltsamen Zwiebelfisch-Artikel.

"Judgement" or "Judgment"?

I always assumed that "judgement" is the correct spelling, but when my Word 2003 spellchecker complained about it (with the language flavour set to US English) I looked it up in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (I have an electronic version, of course) and found this interesting entry:

"In British English the normal spelling in general contexts is judgement. However, the spelling judgment is conventional in legal contexts, and in North American English".

Schnaps or Schnapps?

The German spelling is Schnaps. It's a mystery to me how the second 'p' ended up in the apparently correct (or at least frequently encountered) English schnapps spelling, although the entry in the Duden Herkunftswörterbuch (see below) may give some clues.

Interestingly, the OED lists both version as correct and has this to say on the matter:
"An ardent spirit resembling Hollands gin. 1818 Blackw. Mag. III. 403 Enjoy your schnaps, give sorrow to the wind. 1823 BYRON Juan X. lxxi, Not like slow Germany wherein they muddle Along the road,..and also pause besides, to fuddle, With ‘schnapps’. a1848 O. W. HOLMES On Lend. Punch-bowl 16 He went to Leyden, where he found conventicles and schnaps. 1885 C. LOWE Bismarck II. 488 A General, talking of drinks, had laid down the principle: ‘Red wine for children, Champagne for men, Schnaps for Generals’".

This is what the Duden Herkunftswörterbuch has to say on the matter:
Schnaps: Das ursprünglich nordd. Wort (niederd. Snap[p]s) bezeichnet seit dem 18. Jh. den Branntwein, ursprünglich aber einen Mund voll oder einen schnellen Schluck, wie er gerade beim Branntweintrinken üblich ist. Es ist eine Substantivbildung zu schnappen. Abl.: schnapsen ugs. für »Schnaps trinken« (im 18. Jh. niederd. snappsen). Zus.: Schnapsidee »unsinniger, seltsamer Einfall« (20. Jh.; ein derartiger Einfall kann nur durch zu reichlichen Alkoholgenuss bedingt sein); Schnapszahl »Zahl, die aus mehreren gleichen Ziffern besteht« (20. Jh.; wohl nach der Vorstellung, dass ein Betrunkener beim Lesen einfache Ziffern doppelt oder mehrfach sieht). Duden - Das Herkunftswörterbuch, 3. Aufl. Mannheim 2001 [CD-ROM]