Laws of translation #1

The first and most fundamental law of translation is that people either want you to do some job while you're on a well-deserved holiday (and when you're up and running again, the phone is solemnly dead) or they want something translated (usually something big and packed with specialistic jargon) when all you want is for the whole wide world to leave you alone and let you die in peace of exhaustion. I think is because of quantum. This is a much more convenient explanation than the one where people are just inconsiderate morons and have an inclination to bugger you at the wrongest of moments. In other words, the First Law Of Translation says that translators never work when they should and always work when they don't want to. Well, that's the beauty of this job. Anyway, it's good to remember that there are still people out there who have it worse. The inmates in Guantanamo, for example. Or Albanians.

First Glimpse

So it begins...

This weblog will be dedicated to the art of translation. And to the nightmare that translation becomes to its apprentices at times. Quite frequently, come to think of it. Anyway, we can't really predict what the exact content of this site will look like but what we can predict is that it'll always have something to do with the least appreciated freelance job mankind has ever invented. More or less. So enjoy the posts as they come up (infrequently) and contribute in the comments. Or not.

PS. The plural doesn't mean that there is more than one author. It's just that we like the Royal We.