Als ich als junger Spund im Übersetzungsgeschäft anfing, war es der bekannte Übersetzer und Fachbuchautor Günter Richter, der mir unter die Arme griff und mich mit Rat und Hilfe auf den rechten Weg schickte. Ich arbeitete damals für einen großen japanischen Kamerahersteller, und Richter, der für diese Firma das deutsche Material betreute, stand nicht nur anderen Übersetzern schlechthin, sondern besonders solchen in Japan mit großer Skepsis gegenüber. Er hatte gute Gründe: Seine Übersetzungen, ob Bücher oder Broschüren, waren den meisten anderen Übersetzungsprodukten haushoch überlegen – nicht nur sprachlich, sondern auch fachlich, denn Günter Richter war bei Leitz in die Schule gegangen.

Sein Lieblingsthema war der Verfall der deutschen Sprache, und als er dann später aufhörte, für den obigen Hersteller zu schreiben, fiel das Niveau des Textmaterials auch tatsächlich auf ein neues Tief.

In den letzten zwei Tagen war ich mit einerm Auftrag beschäftigt, für den ich öfter mal im „Fachwörterbuch Optik, Foto, Video“ von Günter Richter nachschlagen mußte. Im Vorwort des 1993 erschienenen Bandes fand ich im Grunde die gleichen Klagen, die ich schon 1975 von ihm in Tokyo gehört hatte – was sie allerdings nicht weniger zutreffend macht. Hier einige Kostproben:

„Im deutschen Sprachraum regieren (im Fachbereich Foto und Video) die deutschen Töchter der großen Japaner bzw. deren deutsche Importeure. Und oft genug bereichern sie den Markt mit Druckerzeugnissen, die einem auch nur einigermaßen sprachbewußten »Verbraucher« (oder »Nutzer«, wie es zum Beispiel Canon zu nennen pflegt) das Gruseln lehren. Da werden Sie aufgefordert, das Objektiv »zu montieren« – als ob Sie hierfür einen kompletten Werkzeugkasten brauchten. (Und nur, weil es im Englischen nun mal »to mount« heißt. Aber Übersetzen, wirkliches Übersetzen, gehört offensichtlich einer längst vergangenen Zeit an.) Da »arrangieren« Sie »Ihr« Motiv, wenn es darum geht, den Bildausschnitt zu wählen…. ergötzen Sie sich an Aussagen wie »Sie können aber auch die Schärfe von einem Objekt zum anderen »werfen«. (Nun ja, im Englischen heißt es nun mal »to throw the focus«.) Oder »Die Entfernung von Objekten im Vordergrund für die nahestmögliche Einstellung entspricht der Mindestentfernung, in der ein Objekt vor der Kamera plaziert sein muß, um es noch vollkommen scharf abzubilden.«…. Und noch besser: »Blendenöffnung: Die einstellbare Lichteinfallsöffnung, von der die Lichtintensität der auf den lichtempfindlichen Teil einfallenden Helligkeit gekennzeichnet wird.« (Umpf. Schämen Sie sich nicht, wenn Sie’s auch beim dritten Durchgang nicht verstehen. Es ist schlichtweg Schwachsinn.) “

Go get them, Günter!

Found over at Shambolic Jigsaw:
気持ちが悪い (unpleasant or disagreeable) becomes きもい.
難しい (difficult) is shortened to むずい.
じこちゅしん (self-absorbed to an annoying degree) becomes じこちゅ.
ハムスタ is not a hamster, but means to watch a sporting event at Yokohama Stadium.
To visit Tokyo Disneyland is referred to as 鼠しばく(literally, to flog the mouse).
メール友(mail friend) is a friend to whom one sends email messages, for which a メールアド (mail address) is needed. やメール (from yamu meaning to stop, and email), means to break off a relationship via e-mail.

This is an interesting addition to the list in Alisa Sanadas weblog I mentioned in August.

I have removed the permanent link to the Jefferson Pools in Virginia’s so aptly named Bath County. Bath County in Virginia’s Allegheny Moutains and Greenbrier County across the border in West Virginia are probably some of the most beautiful spots I have ever seen. Years ago we spent a couple of days at the famous Homestead in Hot Springs and found, quite by coincidence, the much less glamorous Jefferson Pools in neighboring Warm Springs.

While living in Japan, regular visits to hot springs, some of them in outside pools, were the highlights of our recreational activities. Our favorite onsen at that time was 玉峰館 (Gyokuhokan) in 峰温泉 (Mine-onsen) on the Izu peninsula. It had a wooden tower behind the building which caught the hot water shooting out of the ground to feed it to the various indoor and outdoor pools.

The springs in Virginia are not nearly as hot as the ones on Izu, but Warm Springs with its Jefferson Pools was the first place for me in the U.S. where I could float in a rock pool in warm, sulfuric water, looking through the open roof at the sky, and totally relax – sans clothing, as it should be done in spring water.

I can highly recommend it.

Using chopsticks may cause arthritis in the hand. Reuters reports that a study of more than 2,500 residents of Beijing found that osteoarthritis was more common in the hands used to operate chopsticks – and in the fingers specifically stressed by chopstick use.

Reuters just released a news item with the title “‘Masturbation’ car to get new name.” It tells us that General Motors will rename its Buick LaCrosse in Canada because the name for the car is slang for masturbation in Quebec. The story concludes by referring to the widely used urban legend of the Chevy Nova:

“The mix-up is reminiscent of another GM vehicle with an unfortunate name. In the 1970s, GM exported its Chevrolet Nova to Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, only to be told that Nova translated into ‘doesn’t go’.”

There is no translators conference where not at least one speaker rolls out the Chevy Nova story to illustrate what can happen if due research is missing in naming products. Translators include it in their brochures to impress upon prospective clients how aware they are of this problem and that they will take better care.

Alas, it seems that the Nova debacle is nothing but an urban legend.

Snopes.com, which lists and describes such legends, says about the Nova story: “This anecdote is frequently used to illustrate the perils of failing to do adequate preparation and research before introducing a product into the international marketplace. It’s a wicked irony, then, that the people who use this example are engaging in the very thing they’re decrying, because a little preparation and research would have informed them that it isn’t true.”

And further down: “Assuming that Spanish speakers would naturally see the word ‘nova’ as equivalent to the phrase ‘no va’ and think ‘Hey, this car doesn’t go!’ is akin to assuming that English speakers would spurn a dinette set sold under the name Notable because nobody wants a dinette set that doesn’t include a table.”

So is this Buick story another legend in the making? We will see, but interestingly, it deals with a U.S. car to be sold in Canada while originating in Makuhari, the exhibition town on the shore of Tokyo Bay.

Languages Used to Access Google
March 2001 – September 2003

Among the information Google publishes about itself is the frequency of languages used to access the search engine. While I read over and over again that real soon most web sites will be in languages other than English, Google queries in English do not seem to decrease quite as rapidly anymores. The data availabe spans the time from March 2001 to September 2003. From eyeballing the graph on the right, it seems that the decrease of English as query language has slowed down somewhat.

Interestingly, the same Google information tells us that the top query in Germany for September 2003 was “Halloween,” whereas “地震” (earthquake), not surprising, was among the top ten only in Japan.

Showtime is now rotating Gaudi Afternoon, a 2001 movie with Cassandra, a Spanish-to-English literary translator, as the main character. It is set in Barcelona (hence “Gaudi”), but I did not have the impression that the translation profession of Cassandra is actually that important.

An interesting exchange (and I quote from memory) – Frankie: “We have to find his address.” – Cassandra: “And how are we going to do that?” – Frankie: “I don’t know. You figure it out, you’re the translator.”

It reminded me of discussions I had with some of my clients.

PS (2003-10-21): Margaret Marks (Transblawg) pointed me to Uncle Jazzbeau’s Gallimaufrey and a list of movies with linguist heroes or heroines.

Just now, when I wanted to get tickets for the Joan Baez concert at the Blue Note in November, I found out that the date overlaps with the American Translators Association conference in Phoenix. I am all for improving my skills as a translator, but missing Joan Baez is a continuing education cost nobody ever warned me about…

As consolation, I got tickets for a Lily Tomlin show in February.

Columbia Daily Tribune, October 19, 2003.

I usually give sports of any kind a wide berth, but it was difficult to miss Missouri’s win over Nebraska last Saturday – the first in 25 years. Among the jubilant fans rushing out onto the field after the conclusion of the game was Matthew Scott. Alas, he did not reckon just how pissed off Nebraska Cornhusker Kellen Huston was, and Matthew’s face collided with Kellen’s fist. Pretty straight-forward it seems. Nebraska loses, Matthew Scott is overjoyed, Nebraska placekick holder and cornerback Kellen Huston points at Matthew – and bam! Matthew is in the hospital with a disloacted nose and two black eyes. See for yourself.

Not so for Jack Watring, interim chief of the University Police. MU police are still investigating the incident and have yet to decide whether Scott will be cited for trespassing. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Watring said the investigation would take about a week, and then the police department’s findings would be passed on to the Columbia city prosecutor’s office.

Investigation? Is watching the KOMU video an investigation? How often can you watch a short video clip in one week? And doesn’t the threat of trespassing charges sound ominous?

Brian J. Noggle, in his weblog, aks the following question: “If the victim decides maybe a one-game suspension and a forced apology is not enough and he wants just recourse through the legal system, you shall punish the victim for bothering you. Does anyone else here suspect that the following tidbit, buried in the bottom of the story, might be germane to Watring’s threat? Scott is not a student at the university, Watring said.”