“带你装逼带你飞(Dài nǐ zhuāng bī dài nǐ fēi)” is another interesting phrase I came across recently. It originates from the Internet. Its alternate version is “带你装B带你飞”. If you googled this phrase, you can see some interesting images. Of all the references I have checked, this one from baidu.com offers a clearer […]
Monthly Archives: June 2017
I was wondering why did the hospital suddenly unceremoniously send me an SMS to postpone my follow-up in the eye clinic from October to November, they never gave me a reason why. Nor did they even bother to call to check if the patient, i.e. me, is alright. Such is […]
Customer Service in Hospital
Working on translation of any living languages that continuously evolve like English and Chinese often offers interesting, sometimes challenging, phrases. One of these is “当红炸子鸡(Dānghóng zhà zǐjī)“. If you googled this phrase, you will receive many results on a popular dish otherwise known as “fried chicken”. Only a few results […]
当红炸子鸡 Fried Chicken?
I did this Chinese to English translation sample as a test and was told that the reviewers did not like what I did. I found another translated version where the translator adopted an entirely different approach from mine (Alternative translation). Here is my proposed translation with some amendments from what I […]
Marketing a Car
Experienced translators often work as proofreaders. The idea behind proofreading is to check that the translated document did present the source ideas well and accurately, within the confines of structural norms of different languages, and that the document is grammatically sound while the text and sentences read naturally. As it […]
Proofreading is not translation nor copy-writing
I just realized that there are ONLY THREE words in the whole English language (whether the US or the UK variant or any variant) that ends in “ceed”. These are: proceed succeed exceed Wow. Of so many thousands of words, only three.
Words ending in “ceed”
There are many words in the English dictionary today that was once just someone’s names. Boycott Meaning: to avoid dealing with or to prevent dealing with as a protest Origin: Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott who was boycotted by his own tenants in the late 19th century. Quisling Meaning: Traitor, particularly […]
From names to words
Like wine of a premium vintage, as the days turn to weeks, weeks to months and months to years, you exude a charm that is increasingly sophisticated, sensuous and seductive..
Like wine of a premium vintage
If you googled “vanilla extract”, the first site you will see on the results list is this entry in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_extract. It described exactly what I always thought of vanilla extract – all plant, all natural, just a chemical process to extract the essence. I was watching “The Story of Food” […]
Vanilla Extract
I do understand that advertisements should try to grab attention, whether with words, images or sounds. But should not the language matter? Saw this advertisement promoting Elle Singapore magazine at the bus stop as the “Biggest selling magazine”, what is that? It’s not best selling, so what does this term […]