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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

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

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

Did you know the Internet was not actually created in order to drive people insane and make them hate each other? It’s true. Back in the nineties, most of us thought of the Internet as a bigger, better version of your local library. It was a research tool with the additional perk of email. Plus… Continue reading What the Internet is for

I was pleased to see that my local pharmacy offers interpreting services not only to speakers of run-of-the-mill Deutsch but also to speakers of “Deitsch,” i.e. Pennsylvania Dutch:

What does German sound like to your average speaker of English? Not great, apparently. In Don DeLillo’s 1984 novel White Noise, which I’m currently reading on the recommendation of a friend, the main character attends a German lesson and behold: “When [the teacher] switched from English to German, it was as through a cord had… Continue reading The sound of German

Here’s a nice example of a common sentence structure in written German: Obwohl er eine andere Vorlage geplant hatte, erschien ihm die in ihrer Verdoppelung die Bildfläche vertikal teilende geometrische Form interessant genug, um sie weiterzuverfolgen. Literally: Although he an other template planned had, seemed to him the in its doubling the picture surface vertically… Continue reading Fun with syntax

Today I wrote an email in German to tell someone the topic of their translation was practically unknown in the English-speaking world, so we needed to add a little explanation to the text. I wrote “im angelsächsischen Raum” for “in the English-speaking world” and then, as I often do, I second-guessed myself and Googled it… Continue reading Pro tip: “der angelsächsische Raum”