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Here’s an interesting article about how to translate “Pork Pie Plot” into other languages, especially in the context of headlines. The PPP is an attempt to unseat Prime Minister Boris Johnson (who, incidentally, is descended from one of the best-known and most controversial German-to-English translators, Helen Lowe-Porter). With regard to headlines, two questions come up… Continue reading Translating the British press’s silliness

Just changed the website format from the WordPress theme “2013” to “2021.”

Yesterday, November 11, 2020, was the twentieth anniversary of the Kaprun disaster, where 155 people died in a train fire in a mountain tunnel. Journalists Hannes Uhl and Hubertus Godeysen investigated the accident and its aftermath and wrote a book – 155: Kriminalfall Kaprun – in 2014. They asked me to translate it into English… Continue reading Notes on 155: The Kaprun Cover-Up

The previous post was rather gloomy. Sorry about that – because of my job, I spend a lot of time online and large portions of the Internet have become galleries of sociopathy. It scares me. But then sometimes I talk to actual people in my actual town who are just proceeding as normal and feeling… Continue reading Are things really that bad?

For the rest of this summer I’ll be working, tending a garden, and reading War and Peace so that if Americans are all shooting each other a few months from now, my last words won’t be “But I never read War and Peace!” Apropos how Americans feel about each other, if you try to follow… Continue reading Assorted notes

Since I wrote about English pet peeves last week, I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some German ones this week and try to explain them to readers who don’t speak German. Why? Because this blog is supposed to be about English and German, and because I deserve to suffer for my… Continue reading German pet peeves

Lexicon Valley is a great podcast by the linguist John McWhorter, who manages to be fun while also being right about everything. The latest episode is about linguistic pet peeves, something linguists aren’t really supposed to have – it’s unseemly, like communists having brand preferences. But even people who know most linguistic pet peeves are… Continue reading Pet peeves

Here’s a website I can recommend very highly: A.S. Kline’s collection of poetry in translation. I perused the German section and was favorably impressed. But many languages are represented – check it out if you’re looking for more reading material to keep you busy at home. Kline is working on a new verse translation of… Continue reading Poetry in Translation