Tag French to English translation
It’s been a long month! Time to sleep it off. Happy Holidays everybody!
Yule was an ancient celebration of the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere. The sun had increased importance in the countries where the days are short and the winters long. This celebration preceded the Christian Christmas in Europe. The yuletide… Continue Reading →
One of the great things about the Christmas period is visiting and visitors. Family, friends, neighbours, people like to visit each other for drinks or meals, or maybe even just a wintry walk. Christmas day itself is usually reserved for… Continue Reading →
Unfortunately in France we don’t see Snowmen (plural) often enough at Christmas. But one of my favourite Christmas books/films/music is « The Snowman » from the book by Ramond Briggs first published in 1978. It was made into a magical television film… Continue Reading →
Yummy. You either love or hate Christmas Pudding. I love it! It is full of tasty dried fruits and alcohol and cooks for hours and hours. It is usually decorated with a sprig of holly (see H), and flambéd at… Continue Reading →
Mince Pies are one of my favourite Christmas foods. The original « mincemeat pies » contained minced meat, dried fruit and spices. More recently mince pies have become sweeter, with a mixture of dried fuits, spices, sugar and of course brandy. I… Continue Reading →
For sure, everybody knows Gin & Tonic. But do you know how it was invented? The British armies in India discovered that quinine could help prevent malaria (paludisme). They began adding quinine to tonic water but, to hide the horrible… Continue Reading →
Frost (givre) is what makes the world look white when the night has been very cold (not snow). People often make decorations with fake frost to give a winter atmosphere for Christmas.
Ding Dong Merrily on High is one of my favourite Christmas hymns. In Ireland throughout the Christmas period these traditional songs can be heard in churches and concert halls during religious or non religious moments. Groups of singers used to… Continue Reading →
What would Christmas be without brandy butter? This sweet « sauce » which melts deliciously on hot pudding or mince pies is made with butter, icing sugar and brandy. C’est tellement anglais qu’il n’y a pas de traduction !
Lors de la JMT (Journée Mondiale de la Traduction) 2021, la Société Française des Traducteurs (SFT) a organisé une journée riche en échanges entre linguistes.. J’ai été invité à faire une présentation sur mon métier. A raison ou à tort,… Continue Reading →
Hier on m’a demandé « Comment tu traduirais le mot light ? », et comme souvent, j’ai répondu « c’est quoi le contexte ? ». Mes interlocuteurs ne se rendent pas toujours compte des problèmes potentiels d’une traduction sans contexte…. Continue Reading →
Nicky’s word wisdom – Socks
Inspiration ou silliness… who knows ?… mais aujourd’hui j’avais une folle envie de vous parler de chaussettes. Socks (comme on les appelle en anglais) se faufilent souvent dans les expressions idiomatiques de la langue anglaise. Je ne vais pas tous… Continue Reading →