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Translation Agency Spam

By On December 13, 2006 · 4 Comments

Okay, so spammers has moved beyond pushing Viagra and inkjet cartridges to pushing translation services?

I’ve received about a dozen such emails over the past six weeks, mostly from China.

Here’s a screen grab of one of such message, promoting some mighty low per-word prices:

It could just be that our [...]

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Just Don’t Do It: The Art of Slogan Translation

By On November 14, 2006 · 2 Comments

Nike tried, in vain, to translate “Just Do It” for other languages and cultures. In the end, it left the slogan as is.

Brand Channel has a good article on the many challenges of translating slogans. Says globalization consultant Bert Esselink, “I think the phrase ‘translating advertising slogans’ is not really appropriate,” he [...]

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You Don’t Know Jack: The Case for Controlled Vocabulary

By On October 3, 2006 · Leave a Comment

The Rockley Bulletin features a great article on the importance of using controlled vocabularies, particularly for documentation. The article cites a customer support call in which the word “jack” is cause for confusion on both ends of the line.

The challenge of controlling your company’s vocabulary is in first deciding who actually controls this [...]

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Just How Literal Do You Want That Translation?

By On September 16, 2006 · 1 Comment

Guest Article:
By Dr. Mark Ritter
McElroy Translation Company

From time to time translation agencies receive requests for a “literal”translation. This seemingly inoffensive adjective is much like the term “obscene.” No one is quite sure how to define it, but we all know it when we see it. When a literal translation [...]

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