Happy International Translation Day (for yesterday).
I know I’m probably biased, but language is our crowning achievement as a species. Language is the basis of understanding, we use it for cooperation, artistic expression and taking the piss out of our friends. So, I’ve been wracking my brain about what we can do to celebrate International Translation Day (that I had to be reminded about) and I think we should compile a compendium of words and expressions that do not exist outside of a given language: a celebration of the depth of lexicon, the elasticity of expression and the fundamental bonkersness of how we describe life.
So please send us your favourite expressions or words in other languages, which we’ll credit and post. And if we get enough we’ll do a book. As with the Lexicon in 2015, proceeds will go to Translators Without Borders, which links the world’s translators to vetted NGOs that focus on health, nutrition and education: a worthy cause if ever there was one.
Robin
Recent Comments