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Words of the Day
Looking for some background on the bandoneon (more on that in a week or two) I came across the word bandoline: “a mucilaginous preparation made from quince seeds and used for smoothing, glossing, or waving the hair.” (Random House Dictionary of the English Language). Yes, it was that mucilaginous that pulled me in to read the full definition.…
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Open Space
A colleague, now several years retired, recently cleared out the office he had occupied for more than twenty years. It’s lighter now, without the file cabinets, the bookcases lined up two deep against the walls. Just a couple of old computers, an older desk, a fan. I miss seeing him day to day on campus–we…
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Verbicide, the misunderstood crime
The word of the day (happy result of a dictionary detour) is: verbicide 1. the willful distortion or depreciation of the original meaning of a word.2. a person who willfully distorts the meaning of a word. Note the deliberation: verbicide is a sin of commission. This isn’t malapropism, mistaken identity, well-meaning thought getting out…
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So, what is a chapbook?
My brother just asked. And before I fired off something snappy, I checked the hefty Random House Dictionary of the English Language that I keep on the dictionary stand in my study. According to which, a chapbook is: 1. a small book or pamphlet of popular tales, ballads, etc., formerly hawked about by chapmen. 2.…
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Cookbooks–a translator’s best friend
Maybe I just tend to translate books full of food, even elaborate meals (the Virgin’s Jubilee breakfast in La Virgen Pipona/The Potbellied Virgin being a favorite example) but I have found, mostly by chance, that international cookbooks provide a wealth of information for the translator. Plenty of ingredients–herbs, spices, cuts of meat–have straightforward parallels across…