(Almost) Wordless Wednesday February 20, 2013
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff.add a comment
English pet peeve: taut vs. taught February 11, 2013
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Random musings.7 comments
I’ve been encountering this misuse a lot lately, and it never fails to make me cringe.
Students are taught, ropes are pulled taut.
According to Merriam-Webster:
taut (adjective)
1 a: having no give or slack : tightly drawn <a taut rope>, b : high-strung, tense <taut nerves>
2 a: kept in proper order or condition <a taut ship>, b: (1): not loose or flabby <taut muscles> (2): marked by economy of structure and detail <a taut story>
The origin of taut is the Middle English word tought, perhaps from tought, toughth fierce, tough, alteration of tough tough
But it seems most American native speakers seem to think the word to use in connection with muscles or someone’s face post-cosmetic surgery (which is what set me off this time) is taught. No!!! I’ve seen it in comments on blogs (not here thank goodness) and fan fiction. So just to let all you non-native speakers know… the correct word is taut. Taught is a verb that means impart skills or knowledge to or accustom gradually to some action or attitude. A verb – not an adjective!
Thanks for letting me rant.
Being in limbo January 30, 2013
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices.12 comments
One of the things they don’t tell you about when you start freelancing is the art of staying calm while being in limbo. I finished a job last night. It is currently at my proofreader’s and is due back to the client later today. In the meantime, I have had three different job queries in the last week or so, and they are all pending approval by the client or still haven’t been finalized. So here I sit, trying to fill my time while I have nothing to translate. With my luck they will all be approved (although I have a feeling that one of them won’t) and will all be due on Friday or Monday. Or none of them will materialize. You never know as a freelancer. Because it is impossible to evenly distribute workload when you freelance. There is a lot of feast or famine – or waiting in limbo. November and December were extremely slow months for me. It had me questioning my decisions and toying with the idea of getting a 9-to-5 job or even a part-time job. Not having income coming in can make me panic pretty easily. My office was reorganized, my finances were in order, and I had run out of projects. I had decided to start a marketing campaign after the holidays, but luckily things improved. It still frustrates me waiting for work to be approved, but that’s the business I guess. I’m hoping the return of work will return my zest for blogging. It’s been hard to stay motivated. Anyway, I hope you all had a good holiday season and are busy with work through this new year. May we all stop being in limbo!
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday January 30, 2013
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff.1 comment so far
We can do magic… January 29, 2013
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Business practices.1 comment so far
One of my German colleagues sent out the following e-mail over one of my listservs about the Perfect Agency in New York with close to a million branch offices (okay, I’m exaggerating a little…)
[translation mine]:
At 5:27 p.m. [Perfect Agency] sent out a query for a legal translation with over 4,000 words with a deadline of 7 p.m.!! After all, we’re magicians!
Oh, Perfect Agency, you have quite the reputation with low rates and tight deadlines, but this one really takes the cake!
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday January 23, 2013
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Fun stuff.1 comment so far
Musings from an overworked translator 