First Edit

Lost in translation…

Bridget — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:29:19 +0000

A new blog category – louco film title translations!

Sometimes the titles chosen for films released overseas seem to bear no resemblance to the original title – as confirmed by our overseas staff!

See if you can guess the original title… (you’ll have to click on continue reading to find out the answers…)

Nos tempos da brilhantina or During Times of Gel
(Portuguese)

El príncipe de Zamunda (Buscando a la mujer Ideal) or The Prince of Zamunda (Searching for the Ideal Woman)
(Spanish)

Per favore, non toccate le vecchiette or Please, do not touch the old women
(Italian)

And my personal favourite:
Curtindo a vida adoidado or Having Fun, Very Crazily
(Portuguese)

Answers:

An easy one - Grease, of course!

Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America

Mel Brooks’ The Producers (really?!!)

The wonderful Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

More coming soon. Thanks to http://www.weirdtranslations.com

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Older than dumplings…

Bridget — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:16:54 +0000

I mentioned today that my other half and I have been together for *eh em* 27 years . My Hungarian colleague commented that was “a lot even in dumplings!” – a Hungarian saying, apparently. I was thinking then about the equivilant in English but could only come up with the old joke that I’d have served less time if I’d murdered him! Can anyone out there think of a nicer one?!

Image: © Anna Bochniewicz | Dreamstime.com

Word of the Week…

Bridget — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:06:12 +0000

Today we will be mostly looking at… Pukka! This word came to the notice of one of my colleagues this week and it was a new one for her. She wasn’t sure if it was a real word; if it was, if you like, pukka…

The word pukka has Indian origins – in Hindi पक्का, Sanskrit pakva and Urdu پكّا pakkā. It’s literal meaning is cooked or ripe but is most often used figuratively to mean genuine; the real deal. It was flung into popular speech most recently by TV chef and school meals guru Jamie Oliver but can also be found in quite a few products such as Pukka Pies, Pukka Herbs and Pukka Pads (other pies, herbs and pads are available).

So there you have it: pukka!

Image: © John Siebert | Dreamstime.com

Quotation Friday: Fry on language…

Bridget — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:00:01 +0000

Just a lovely quote from Stephen Fry I couldn’t resist on this sunny(?!) Friday afternoon!

“Language is my whore, my mistress, my wife, my pen-friend, my check-out girl. Language is a complimentary moist lemon-scented cleansing square or handy freshen-up wipette. Language is the breath of God, the dew on a fresh apple, it’s the soft rain of dust that falls into a shaft of morning sun when you pull from an old bookshelf a forgotten volume of erotic diaries; language is the faint scent of urine on a pair of boxer shorts, it’s a half-remembered childhood birthday party, a creak on the stair, a spluttering match held to a frosted pane, the warm wet, trusting touch of a leaking nappy, the hulk of a charred Panzer, the underside of a granite boulder, the first downy growth on the upper lip of a Mediterranean girl, cobwebs long since overrun by an old Wellington boot.”

Click here to read more from the wonderful Mr Fry.

We’ve moved!

Bridget — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:02:01 +0000

Our new office!

We are, as I type, surrounded by boxes but still working hard!

After many years in Wellington Court, we have upped sticks and moved to the other end of the Grafton Centre.

Our new address is:

34a Fitzroy Street
Cambridge
CB1 1EW

Our phone number is still the same: 01223 356733.

Looking to go East?

Bridget — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:49:34 +0000

The Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce are running a seminar for businesses looking to enter or increase their exposure to Hong Kong, China and the economies of South and South East Asia.

An major import/export destination in its own right, Hong Kong is also an attractive point of entry for business with mainland China. The local business community has strong historic links and a positive attitude to trade with the UK, and British businesses can be confident of a warm welcome and a familiar approach to cooperation and partnership.

Taking place at the Holiday Inn Cambridge in Impington on Thursday 3 May from 5.15-8.00pm, the seminar offers contributions from The Hong Kong University MBA programme and The Hong Kong Independent Commission on Corruption, plenty of opportunity for networking and a substantial buffet! It would be rude not to…

And don’t forget, First Edition Translations can help with any translation or interpreting needs your new business in the East may present.

Click here for more information.

A feast of languages…

Bridget — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:24:02 +0000

As part of the World Shakespeare Festival for the London 2012 Festival, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, in London’s Bankside cultural quarter, is undertaking a mammoth task and putting on all 37 (known) Shakespeare plays. And as if that wasn’t huge enough, the plays will each be in a different language, from Henry V in Argentine Spanish to The Two Gentleman of Verona in Yoruba.

Those that caught my eye in particular include Love’s Labour’s Lost in British Sign Language (from which, incidently, the title of this post comes) and the tragedy Othello performed in hip hop (unfortunately sold out).

Shakespeare’s Globe is hosting artists from all over the world to perform the plays in their own language in the truly splendid surroundings of this recreated iconic theatre. The festival is promising a “carnival of stories” – from companies who work underground and in war zones, to first visits to the UK and returning groups.

As the blurb for The Globe theatre so beautifully puts it: “Shakespeare is the language which brings us together better than any other, and which reminds of our almost infinite difference, and of our strange and humbling commonality.”

Find out more here and book your tickets for the language experience of a lifetime!

Happy St George’s Day!

Bridget — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:58:44 +0000

The feast day of St George is celebrated in many countries across the world including, of course, England! The day commemorates the generally accepted date of his death in AD 303. It is also celebrated in the counties of Canada, Croatia, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia and parts of Spain, and cities including Moscow in Russia, Genova in Italy, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Beirut in Lebanon, Qormi and Victoria in Malta and many others.

In England, the earliest documented mention of St George came from good old St Bede in the 8th century. From the early 15th century, St George’s Day was a pretty big deal – on par with Christmas. The Cross of St George was flown on many major voyages, including those embarked on by Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh and the Pilgrim Fathers.

However, by the end of the 18th century, after the union of England and Scotland, it was no longer celebrated in quite the same manner, but the popularity seems to be gradually increasing again. It is also sometimes linked in with Shakespeare’s birthday/death (see post tomorrow for exciting Shakespeare celebrations!).

It used to be the custom to wear a red rose in the lapel on St George’s day and it is still common to see the St George’s cross flying, particularly on pubs.

Join us at the Huntingdonshire Business Fair

Bridget — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:28:54 +0000

We would love to see you tomorrow at the Huntingdonshire Business Fair – come along and meet us!

Huntingdonshire’s premier business-to-business exhibition returns to Wood Green Animal Shelter on Thursday 19 April, in partnership with the Federation of Small Businesses.

As a visitor, there’s no need to pre-book, just turn up between 11am and 4pm for a chance to meet potential new suppliers, check out the competition, do some useful networking with other businesses and pick up lots of new ideas to help your business to become more successful. And it’s all free!

Find out more here and we look forward to seeing you there!

Around the world in 204 poems…

Bridget — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:48:34 +0000

We are trying to help a production team working for BBC radio on a project for the Olympic Games. Their plan is to have someone from every country participating in the Olympic Games read a poem and give a brief interview about their country. The poems will sometimes be in both the mother tongue and English, and sometimes just in English. The total duration of each piece will be around 2 minutes, including the poems. The finished pieces will be broadcast across the BBC radio schedule during the Games.

So, are you, or do you know anyone, who lives in the UK and is from any of the following countries: Mauritania, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Malta, Moldova, UAE, Bahrain, Kriribit, Qatar or Turkmenistan?

The project is hoping to attract a wide range of people: gender, ages, jobs, etc. They need to be UK based and the team would go to them to do the interviews to suit them. There is no fee; the interviews will be done on a voluntary basis. You can listen to those already being broadcast on BBC Scotland by clicking this link. (Do – they’re lovely).

If you are interested, or know someone that might be, please contact Anna Fowler at anna.fowler@homecall.co.uk. And let us know how you got on!