Take me out to the "BAL" game...

I was reading this article and it reminded me of how important proofreading is:

Majestic Athletic, the company that created these jerseys, creates all of the jerseys for Major League Baseball. They issued an apology here. To avoid national embarrasement, make sure you have a trustworthy proofreader!

Announcement!

I know I know, this might not be complete blog material - but LinguaLinx has announced the formation of its newest division. This division specializes in content authoring. Think of your LSP as a partner - we can help you write your content from day one, making the translation process easier for us and saving you money. It's a win-win situation. For more information, click here:

LinguaLinx Announces Formation of GlobalScript™

What is th@ called?

In the translation industry, consistency of terminology within a document is a desirable characteristic. To achieve a translation with the same consistency of terms/phrases that are important to one’s business, company, or institution, the source document should have uniformity as well.

However, as a lover of words, I appreciate how we as speakers and how language itself seem to resist uniformity. Take, for example, the multiplicity of words used for the @ symbol, found in everyone's email address.

English alone has many words for this symbol, including “atmark” or “commercial at,” terms that some have observed lack the romance or at least the visual provocation of @’s name in other languages:

In Italian, “chiocciola” (little snail)
In Dutch, “aperstaart” (monkey’s tail)
In Swedish, “snabel-a” (‘a’ with an elephant’s trunk) or “kanelbulle” (Swedish equivalent to a Chelsea bun)
In German, “eine Klammeraffe” (a clinging monkey)
In Yiddish, a strudel
In Finnish, a monkey’s tail
In Greek, a little duck
In Russian, a little dog

Some say it should be called the “ampersat,” to follow suit with & or “ampersand.” Others simply refer to it as the “at” sign, which is straightforward enough and gives a clue to its use over its appearance, but in my opinion is a bit banal. Other names cited in the Free Online Dictionary of Computing include: rare, each, vortex, whorl, intercal, whirlpool, cyclone, snail, ape, cat, rose, cabbage, amphora…

Certainly, when it comes to translation, consistent terms/phrases are desirable and necessary. However, if the @ symbol is any model, the immense variety and creativity of word options in language can present a powerful force.

Thanks to the “Odds and Ends” chapter in Word Watching by Julian Burnside for much of this information. See the on-line discussion and more words for @ on guardian.co.uk by clicking here.