Lost in translation at My Allrecipes May 11, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, Translation.3 comments
One of my former students posted this amusing anecdote to the Kentlingua listserv tonight. A woman wanted to send two recipes to her boyfriend’s mother in Costa Rica and took the easy way out.
A few weeks ago, I made a chicken dish for Carlos that he loved. After the first bite, he told me it was so good, would I mind sending the recipe to his mother in Costa Rica? I only speak conversational Spanish, but I thought what the heck, I would try to translate it to English before I sent it. How hard could that be, right?
Machine translation strikes again, but this time at least the person who used the online translator is embarrassed of the results 🙂 Enjoy!
TGIF: Schoolhouse Rock – Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla May 7, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, TGIF.1 comment so far
This particular Schoolhouse Rock clip on pronouns is a personal favorite. It first aired in 1977. Jack Sheldon must have practiced for weeks in order to sing this song. Jack Sheldon is a trumpet player, vocalist, and all-around great entertainer. He sang most of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock clips, including Conjunction Junction and the wonderful “I’m Just A Bill.” I promise his songs will stick with you. They are very catchy. Enjoy!
Now, I have a friend named Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla,
And I could say that Rufus found a kangaroo
That followed Rufus home
And now that kangaroo belongs
To Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla.
Whew! I could say that, but I don’t have to,
‘Cause I got pronouns,
I can say, “HE found a kangaroo that followed HIM home and now IT is HIS”
You see, (uh) HE, HIM, and HIS are pronouns,
Replacing the noun
Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla,
A very proper noun.
And IT is a pronoun, replacing the noun, kangaroo!
New blog on the blogroll: Mox’s Blog May 6, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, Translation Sites.6 comments
There’s a new translation blog (Mox’s Blog) out there that has a unique approach that sets it apart – he’s a cartoonist and translator who draws translation-related cartoons. I just discovered the blog yesterday and have enjoyed his past cartoons. The translator behind Mox’s Blog is Alejandro Moreno-Ramos. Alejandro lives in Madrid, Spain and is an electromechanical engineer and English-French to Spanish translator. His main character Mox “is a young but well educated translator with two PhDs, six languages… and he hardly earns the minimum wage.” You know – a typical translator :-). I have taken the liberty to post my favorite cartoon here, but I urge you to subscribe to this very amusing blog.
Happy Day after Cinco de Cuatro May 5, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, Random musings.add a comment
Yesterday President Obama greeted a White House crowd gathered for a May 4 celebration of Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican holiday honoring an upset military victory over the French, whose troops didn’t do so well in North America and don’t celebrate the same day much. In a well-intentioned attempt at Spanish and a joke about being a day early, Obama said: “Bienvenidos. Welcome to Cinco de Cuatro — (laughter) — Cinco de Mayo at the White House. We are a day early, but we always like to get a head start here at the Obama White House.” As most of us with any semblance of language skills know, he wasn’t saying “Happy May 4th.” He was saying, “Happy fifth of fourth.” He should have said, “Feliz cuatro de mayo.”
Well, you’ve got to give him points for trying…
TGIF: Bonus video – MADtv parody on Schoolhouse Rock April 30, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, TGIF.2 comments
I just discovered this funny parody of the Schoolhouse Rock video I posted last week on nouns. Be sure to watch the original to refresh your memory before watching this to truly enjoy it. MADtv is Emmy Award winning American sketch comedy television series that made/makes fun of just about anything it can in American pop culture. It aired from 1995 to 2008 on Fox and is in syndication on the Comedy Channel. It is currently looking for a new TV station to continue airing its shows.
TGIF: Verb (That’s What’s Happenin’) April 30, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, TGIF.add a comment
It’s Friday. Time for another TGIF video. I’m continuing the Schoolhouse Rock grammar videos and am really enjoying watching them again. This video first aired in 1974. In the video a young man goes to the movies to see Verb, the superhero. He learns all about verbs and what they can do. Enjoy! (Verb!)
TGIF: A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing April 24, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, TGIF.1 comment so far
Continuing the Schoolhouse Rock Grammar Rock videos, here is “A Noun is a Person, Place or Thing.” Wow, these are really taking me back. I remember watching this on TV like it was yesterday (although you can tell this was made in the 1970s from the color scheme)! Have a great weekend, everyone!
TGIF: Conjunction Junction April 17, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, TGIF.add a comment
Thanks to the ALTA Blog for reminding me about one of my favorite influences from my childhood, Schoolhouse Rock. They wrote about interjections in a blog post called Interjection Junction a few days ago. It made me smile and then I shared some Schoolhouse Rock videos with my nieces when I babysat them on Wednesday.
In case any of you were wondering about my path to becoming a translator, Schoolhouse Rock played a huge role in making me the grammarian I am today. Airing during Saturday morning cartoons from 1973 to 1985, Schoolhouse Rock taught my generation all about American history, grammar, and multiplication. Schoolhouse Rock aired 41 short segments featuring catchy tunes, and most of my generation passed our U.S. History tests by singing the Preamble of the Constitution to ourselves. I know because I looked around the room and almost fell out of my chair laughing when I saw everyone silently singing to themselves. To this day I can still sing “Conjunction Junction,” “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs here,” “The Shot Heard Round the World,” “Mother Necessity,” and the classic “I’m Just a Bill” – and it was 25 years ago!
Schoolhouse Rock was conceived in 1971 when, according to the History of Schoolhouse Rock, “David McCall, chairman of big-time New York ad agency McCaffrey & McCall, noticed that his son could sing every Beatles and Stones lyric ever recorded but couldn’t handle simple multiplication tables. His solution was simple: Link math with contemporary music and the kids will breeze through school on a song.” And the rest is history. I’ll be posting some of my favorite Grammar Rock clips over the next few weeks. This one is my all-time favorite, Conjunction Junction. I hope you enjoy them!
illy’s tax stimulus package April 14, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, German culture.2 comments
Have you ever looked at the “possibly related posts” at the bottom of the blog posts here in WordPress? If not, you may be missing out. Some of the possibly related posts are pretty lame, but the latest one for my last post, T minus one and counting… Tax Day is almost here, was really interesting. Apparently illy, the maker of that delicious Italian coffee, is offering a special deal. According to the Slashfood post, illy is apparently “offering a deal on their brand new espresso machine. After June 30th, it will cost approximately $695. If you purchase this new machine before June 30th, you’ll just pay $150.” So if you were looking for a way to spend your tax refund check (oh, who am I kidding? none of my readers get tax refunds… I mean, if you want to buy a new coffeemaker…) you should check out the new espresso machine. The only hitch is that by buying the machine you “can enroll in their automatic coffee delivery program.”
My beverage center in my kitchen
Now, I don’t drink enough coffee to make an automatic coffee delivery program worth it. I don’t want to become addicted and get a headache if I have to go without coffee one day. I do appreciate a really good cup of coffee every other day or so. Most translators I know are huge coffee fans. We have lived in Europe, hung out in Viennese/Parisienne/(insert city here) cafes and appreciate a good cup of joe. If you are anything like me you buy imported coffee. I just finished up my illy and have cracked open my big pack of Jakobs Krönung, which should last me a while. I have a German Tupperware coffee container (see photo) that fits a 500 g pack of Jakobs Krönung perfectly. Another factor in translators’ love of coffee (and tea) is that we sometimes have to pull all-nighters to meet a deadline. This coffeemaker might be just the ticket…
TGIF: Happy Easter from the Easter B April 10, 2009
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff, TGIF.1 comment so far
There won’t be a translation video today. I’m in Cincinnati for a friend’s birthday. Instead, I hope you click on the following link and enjoy this little Easter video. Happy Easter, everyone!
Musings from an overworked translator 