Category Archives: Uncategorized

And the Devil Take the Hindmost Meaning

Individual words often have a host of meanings of course, and it is the job of translators to possess as many of those meanings as possible in at least the two languages they are working with. “Table,” for instance, standing … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on And the Devil Take the Hindmost Meaning

Behold This Palm, That Oak, Those Bays

Verse is one of those things that make translating a truly losing proposition, a cause for premature balding. Translators are tearing out their hair constantly as yet another phonetic or semantic effect proves impossible to render in the into language. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Behold This Palm, That Oak, Those Bays

An Invitation, but to What Exactly, Monsieur Baudelaire?

I was with a few non-French-speaking friends recently when the following tagline (apparently signature in French, a nice repurposing of the term) for a French specialty cheese drew our attention: Invitation à un voyage sensoriel. First came an explanation of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on An Invitation, but to What Exactly, Monsieur Baudelaire?