Whether you are an English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, or Japanese (the list goes on) native speaker, you have most likely used, or have heard some form of the word “okay” or “OK” in your lifetime. In fact, it has been adopted by almost more languages than any other word. While “OK” can take on [...]
Archive for May, 2012
Oll Korrect?
Wednesday, May 30th, 2012Effective Proofreading Tips
Friday, May 25th, 2012As we all know, a translation usually goes through three stages (in general): the translating per se, editing and proofreading (or proofing). In order to guarantee the quality of the final product, Trusted Translations always follows these three steps. The proofreading is the final quality control step where we check, once again, that the text [...]
The ambiguity of “or”
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012One of the most curious ambiguities that I know of is the two different meanings of the connective “or”. It’s got an “inclusive” and an “exclusive” meaning, and both of them coexist happily in everyday English. Which of the two is intended in a particular case is usually clarified from the context. Among the reasons [...]
Some Typical Errors When Cleaning Word Files
Monday, May 21st, 2012Cleaning up Word files is usually a breeze, but at times it may present some complications. Depending on whether the file contains images, charts, tables, if it is a .doc (Office 97-2003) or .docx (Office 2007 or 2010) file, the cleaning can be done without any problems or, on the other hand, it may present [...]
Wearable Jargon Fall-Winter Collection
Thursday, May 17th, 2012A couple of weeks ago, I published an article in this blog relating to the jargon of the clothing industry. In it, I talked about different types of garments, cuts, fabrics and prints, which for one reason or another in many Spanish-speaking countries are known by their foreign names. Today, though, I’d like to go [...]
Communicating Between Countries Just Got Easier
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012Last Tuesday, Google announced that its email service, Gmail will soon include the option to have emails automatically translated. Although this option had been previously available via Gmail Labs, where Google tests out different features, now this option will appear for all Gmail users. This new feature has important implications for people emailing across languages, [...]
What Would Sisyphus Say?
Friday, May 11th, 2012We would like to believe that once we finish a translation we will never think about it again. However, we know that’s not the case. Seldom is a translator fully satisfied with his/her work. And so, like Sisyphus, we are condemned to pushing that rock, which is language, up the hill, again and again. When [...]
Do Aliens dream of electric ships?
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012Planet Earth. Saturday 12th September 2048. Huge spaceship. Humongous. Hovering over Sao Paulo, USB(1). A few others in other big cities. Finally they are here! They send us a message but nobody understands what it means. Quickly, let’s get in touch with Trusted Translations, the one and only translation services in the world now. “Can [...]
Fashionable Jargon
Friday, May 4th, 2012I recently noticed that the people who keep close watch on the various trends in clothing design tend to use a very specific vocabulary, one which often lies outside the areas of specialization of technical translators. Also, many fashion-related elements—from garments to fabric patterns and prints—are referred to by their English, French, or Italian names [...]
What Do You Know About Sign Language and the Deaf Community?
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012Until recently, it seems like The Miracle Worker (the story of Helen Keller), was about the first and last I came across the issue of deafness; though impressionable, this fleeting fourth grade reading requirement blurred in my memory shortly thereafter. And the reality is, I think most everyone can relate. So when I began working [...]
