| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4 5] > | Off topic: Clichés, anyone? (1) "I shall not rest" (2) "tireless/tirelessly" Thread poster: Mervyn Henderson (X)
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| I have a passion for.... | May 7, 2014 |
I have a passion for .....
Being a low-key person, I am often overwhelmed by all the passions out there, including all the passionate translators, cooks, thimble collectors, eaters of chocolate.
[Edited at 2014-05-08 06:28 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:32
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Mervyn Henderson wrote:
My dad, an affable and kindly man I have spent the greater part of my life not imitating, unfortunately, used to fly into an uncharacteristic rage whenever he heard this one, constantly used by reporters and politicians on BBC Northern Ireland. It does conjure up an image of a line representing time, with a little dot on it to show the point we've reached so far.
On the same subject I used to get tired of hearing Gerry Adams (for whom I have the utmost respect, by the way) talking about "moving the peace process forward".
A process cannot be moved forward. It is inherently forward-moving, is it not? Can a process be moved at all, in any direction?
[Edited at 2014-05-07 12:57 GMT]
| | | | Kay Denney 
France
Local time: 11:32
French to English
| au jour d'aujourd'hui | May 7, 2014 |
In French, one of my pet hates is "au jour d'aujourd'hui". Even without understanding a word you can tell that there's needless repetition. Literally "on the day of today". My previous boss used to say it about fifty times a day. In fact I'm wondering whether he ever said just "aujourd'hui".
| | | | Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
... digressing momentarily from the original subject matter (shurely one'sh allowed to digress from one'sh own topic ...), after the events in Antrim last week I hope you haven't been listening to the news lately, and don't listen to them now, because the outpourings of the "moving forward" cliché I am reliably informed was all over the place after the Good Friday agreements of 1995 are now back centre stage with a vengeance, but in the sense of "moving backwards" or "not moving forward", in th... See more ... digressing momentarily from the original subject matter (shurely one'sh allowed to digress from one'sh own topic ...), after the events in Antrim last week I hope you haven't been listening to the news lately, and don't listen to them now, because the outpourings of the "moving forward" cliché I am reliably informed was all over the place after the Good Friday agreements of 1995 are now back centre stage with a vengeance, but in the sense of "moving backwards" or "not moving forward", in the best traditions of a place with a problem for every solution. As evry skoolboy kno.
Mervyn
[Edited at 2014-05-07 14:09 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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As Giles says, a judiciously placed cliché can have the benefit of making a translation sound a bit less like a translation, so they have their place.
And like Neil, I've been known to use "on a daily basis" and similar for the sake of rhythm or emphasis.
But one cliché that really grinds my gears (!) these days is the relentless use of references to "peanuts" in any discussion about rates. Surely as master wordsmiths we can find slightly less tired ways of talking about the... See more As Giles says, a judiciously placed cliché can have the benefit of making a translation sound a bit less like a translation, so they have their place.
And like Neil, I've been known to use "on a daily basis" and similar for the sake of rhythm or emphasis.
But one cliché that really grinds my gears (!) these days is the relentless use of references to "peanuts" in any discussion about rates. Surely as master wordsmiths we can find slightly less tired ways of talking about the issue. I'm afraid that whenever I see a forum post with the p-word these days, I assume the poster is devoid of any original thought on the issue and immediately skip to the next post.
In the UK political arena, the fact that all measures are routinely described in terms of their impact on "hard-working" families, and no other kind of family, to say nothing of those in no kind of family at all, is also irritating. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
Texte Style wrote:
"What's your worst fault?"
"Total honesty"
"I wouldn't call that a fault"
"I don't give a damn what you think"
I'm still laughing at that one, thanks. "I was that interviewee"...
[Edited at 2014-05-08 07:36 GMT]
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
On the same subject I used to get tired of hearing Gerry Adams (for whom I have the utmost respect, by the way) talking about "moving the peace process forward".
A process cannot be moved forward. It is inherently forward-moving, is it not? Can a process be moved at all, in any direction?
[Edited at 2014-05-07 12:57 GMT]
The thing is that to most people, this kind of language "sounds good". I had to translate a politician's speech once (E. Zaplana) and was amazed at how what sounded great to the audience when delivered was actually a disjointed incoherent hodge-podge of nothing much really. But it sounded good.
| | | | | My grandmother's definition of working class... | May 8, 2014 |
In the UK political arena, the fact that all measures are routinely described in terms of their impact on "hard-working" families, and no other kind of family, to say nothing of those in no kind of family at all, is also irritating.
Not quite the same cliché, but my grandmother must have been irritated by something similar back in the 1960s or so. The grown-ups were listening to the radio and I at a very tender age was minding my own business when Granny burst out:
'Anyone who does a decent day's work is working class, and everyone else should be ashamed of themselves!'
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Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:32
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam | Deserving poor | May 8, 2014 |
The equivalent of "hard-working families" over 100 years ago was "the deserving poor". George Bernard Shaw found this so irritating that in "Pygmalion", he had Liza Dolittle's father proudly proclaim himself a member of "the undeserving poor".
| | | | Gail Bond
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:32
Member (2009)
French to English
+ ...
| In the way of... | May 8, 2014 |
One of the phrases that gets my goat (!) is over-used all the time by weather forecasters: "More in the way of cloud" or "More in the way of rain". Why not just "More cloud" or "More rain"?
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:32
Hebrew to English
What's worse than a cliché ? A cliché that gets abbreviated and becomes an annoying 'yoof' catchphrase.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
| The quality of mercy | May 9, 2014 |
Gail Bond MITI wrote:
One of the phrases that gets my goat (!) is over-used all the time by weather forecasters: "More in the way of cloud" or "More in the way of rain". Why not just "More cloud" or "More rain"?
Pity the poor (UK) weather forecasters! I assume they are merely trying to soften the blow of telling viewers every day that the weather will yet again be... ahem... less than optimum.
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Mervyn Henderson (X)
Spain
Local time: 11:32
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | "Yes or yes"? | May 9, 2014 |
Having not lived in the country of birth for years, you tend to miss out on some of these things, so I was wondering whether the present torrent in Spanish media of "sí o sí" - "definitely", "no two ways about it - has crept into English. Or did it come from there? Doubtful. Doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as it rolls off just about everybody's over here.
Mervyn
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"We take all cases of [...] very seriously."
| | | | | Hate to say it | May 10, 2014 |
I've been told in no uncertain terms (there's another one!) by close family members that I drive them crazy with my constant use of 'hate to say it' and 'to be honest'. Luckily, I don't think I've ever hit the double whammy of "Hate to say it, but I honestly don't...."
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