French

I'm in a mystery book phase just now. This usually happens when I'm a little (or a lot) overwhelmed by work and life, causing all the non-fiction that I can't resist buying to stack up on the floor and to await the return of my normally calm state.

I'm now reading the fifth in a wonderful series by Fred Vargas. Her characters are fascinating and they grow on you more with each novel. Fred Vargas is a French woman. You can read about her and about her name on Wikipedia, of course. One of the problems with reading a series originally written in another language is the order in which translations appear is often different than the order in which the originals were printed. A friend put me onto a website that helps to solve that: Stop, You're Killing Me! If you are mystery reader and don't know this site, you will be very grateful to me for sharing it.

Here are the French and English titles of the Vargas books. I've added the translations.

L’homme aux cercles bleus (1990, 1996) [The man with the blue circles]
The Chalk Circle Man [2009]

L’homme à l’envers (1999) [The man in reverse]
Seeking Whom He May Devour [2004] 

Pars vite et reviens tard (2001) [Leave quickly and come back later]
Have Mercy on Us All [2003]

Sous les vents de Neptune (2004) [Downwind of Neptune]
Wash This Blood Clean From My Hand [2007]

Dans les bois éternels (2006) [In the eternal woods]
This Night’s Foul Work [2008]

Un lieu incertain (2008) [An uncertain place]
An Uncertain Place [2011]

L’armée furieuse (2011)

Interestingly, Google Translate, which looks for common translations, translates Pars vite et reviens tard as "Have Mercy on Us All", since, when you Google the French title, most of the references are to this book and its English title. I have absolutely no idea why the titles were changed and no opinion as to whether the originals or the English titles are better. If you do, send me your thoughts?

The last book in the series has been translated into Spanish (El ejercito furioso) but not into English. I might be tempted to try the Spanish if it doesn't come out in English soon. (The Spanish titles are mostly direct translations of the French.)

Part of this is a repeat from a February 2008 email on the word billion, thanks to What's the Good Word. I'm repeating it since I can't seem to ever remember it.

Meaning: Well, it depends on where you live. 1. In the US billion means 1000 million. 2. In the UK and countries that follow the traditional UK numbering system, it means a million million (a US trillion).

The traditional UK system runs million, milliard, billion, billiard, etc., not million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, so that a US trillion equals a UK quintillion. The good news is that the UK is in the process of changing to the US system.

In Spanish, a billion (1000 million) is mil millones (thousand million) and billón means a trillian; in French a billion is a milliard and a trillion is mil milliard. Ay! I'd write the numbers out if I weren't sure I would make an egregious error.

Since billion doesn't seem so big anymore, how about a trillion/quintillion/billón/mil milliard?

To see what a trillion looks like, visit Pagetutor. In a previous life as a math teacher, one of my favorite books had a million dots. It's cover didn't look like this one, but the idea's the same. So a trillion would require a million copies of that book.

To get even more real, I've been listening to NPR's Planet Money podcasts, which is what inspired this post. As with strenuous exercise, I recommend that you consult your physician before you listen to the introduction to this their March 2 podcast #12.

Thanks to CATI—The Carolina Association of Translators and Interpreters

(I've shortened this article. Click on the link below to see it in its entirety.)

Incorrectly Translated Preposition Delays Georgia Peace Agreement
By G. David Heath

When French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was asked, after two days of talks among European Union foreign ministers in Avignon, France, where the problem was coming from that was delaying the implementation of the Russia-Georgia peace agreement, he is reported to have replied "De la traduction, comme toujours" (From the translation, as always).

His statement, which was reported in an Agence France-Presse (AFP) communiqué on September 6, blamed a 'translation problem' for delaying the agreement's implementation.

The problem involved the translation into Russian of an agreement brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the European Union Presidency. The ceasefire agreement was written in French and signed by Russia and Georgia before being translated into English and Russian. According to news reports, the English version was then sent to Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili for signing, and the Russian version to Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev.

The problem involved point 6 of the agreement:

6. Ouverture de discussions internationales sur les modalités de sécurité et de stabilité en Abkhazie et en Ossétie du Sud.

Seems clear enough to me. But according to the AFP communiqué, the Russian version spoke of security "for South Ossetia and Abkhazia," whereas the English version spoke of security "in" the two areas. If that's the case, the Russian translation was, of course, incorrect, and the incorrect preposition definitely changed the meaning, albeit subtly. But the difference was crucial, because Russia continued to keep its tanks and armed troops "in" Georgian territory. The international community, in turn, wants security "for" South Ossetia and Abkhazia without the Russian army staying in Georgia.

To me, it's important to understand whether this situation was the result of poorly worded French, a translation error, or a combination of the two. I found the original French text of the six-point peace plan, as signed by Georgia and Russia, to be perfectly clear and unambiguous (see the text below).

That leaves a simple translation error. And although it might appear to be a minor error, it had major consequences for those living in the areas concerned. For language professionals, this only confirms what we already knew - that the correct word is crucially important.

Original text of the Russia-Georgia Peace Agreement as signed by Russia and Georgia on August 12, 2008

1. Ne pas recourir à la force.
2. Cesser les hostilités de façon définitive.
3. Donner libre accès à l'aide humanitaire.
4. Les forces militaires géorgiennes devront se retirer dans leurs lieux habituels de cantonnement.
5. Les forces militaires russes devront se retirer sur les lignes antérieures au déclenchement des hostilités. Dans l'attente d'un mécanisme international, les forces de paix russes mettront en œuvre des mesures additionnelles de sécurité.
6. Ouverture de discussions internationales sur les modalités de sécurité et de stabilité en Abkhazie et en Ossétie du Sud.

David Heath is the CATI Quarterly Editor and an ATA-certified French->English translator.

I just found this wonderful website. It takes me back to the early days of the web when people with a passion for something obscure finally discovered an outlet. Visit Simon Ager's site and blog.

Thanks to Omniglot

It's raining cats and dogs (This is finally a relevant expression!)

Está lloviendo a cántaros (jugs) / a cubos (buckets) / a chuzos (pikes) / a mares (seas) / a torrentes (torrents)

Estan lloviendo hasta maridos / It's even raining husbands.

Il pleut des grenouilles (frogs) / des cordes (ropes) / des hallebardes (halberds) / des clous (nails) / à seaux (buckets) / comme vache qui pisse  (like a pissing cow)

(Click here to see expressions in many other languages.)

There is also a link to another wonderful page discussing the origin of the English phrase.