Count Smorltalk gets acronymic Not so long ago, OMT popped up in the middle of a French speech. OMG I thought. What’s OMT? Hang on, hang on. This is French, so OMT is Organisation Mondiale du Tourisme. Great, here we go then. No wait a mo. My...
As spotted in an Esselunga store in Florence.
My fascination with English stemmed out of a year in a US high school, made me read the entire fiction section of the US embassy and British Council libraries in Krakow, ranked me high enough at a Polish English-language competition to get...
The image projected by many domain names may be costing you work. Having your own can be a game-changer. What does your email address say about you? More than perhaps you think. And probably not what you want! Are you a dinosaur, amateur or...
Count Smorltalk takes up rocket science As I was just saying, I’m going to give up interpreting and try something a little easier. You see, I just don’t know if I can do this much longer. It’s not the interpreting. No, that’s the easy bit...
Count Smorltalk pulls his hair out It lies in wait in at the cheese counter – Cornish Yarg? Bath Blue? Double Gloucester?… Decisions, decisions! It ambushes you in the socks department – cotton Argyles? woollen cable-knits? thermal ribbed?…...
I’m a freelance translator with quite a bit of experience under my belt, and I also work as a court interpreter. I’ve always wondered about conference interpreting, but I’m wondering if it’s the right choice for me...
Last year, a “translation table” explaining Brit-speak was making the rounds on the internet, with some poignant and humorous (and mostly true) examples of how non-Brits may misinterpret the British. You know, things...
On September 30 I had the pleasure to participate in a very special event organized by AIIC. An occasion even more special to me as I was lucky to take part in it without securing myself an official place on the guest list. Due to my...
Count Smorltalk ponders up and down ”Hello Smorltalk, I hope your well.” This was the opening line of an email I received this week. It made me wonder what had happened to the rest of the sentence. I hope your well is what? Deep, perhaps...