Guessing game

[KattyJamison]

Interpreters, anyone? ))

A young woman looks at a notesheet and says: "Ah, finally! Sun dawns over a marblehead!"

@темы: translation, idioms, lol

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"Thousands of rubber ducks to land on British shores after 15 year journey" (c)

[Alario]

Found this information in Elruu's journal) As I'm a huge rubber duck fan... *points up* ...I just can't help sharing)

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"10 JANUARY 1992: Somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean nearly 29,000 First Years bath toys, including bright yellow rubber ducks, are spilled from a cargo ship in the PacificOcean."

"When several containers of children's bathtub toys spilled over a ship's side and were released into the Pacific Ocean, who would've thought a concerted research project to study the ocean's currents would be the result?"

"The armada of 29,000 plastic yellow ducks, blue turtles and green frogs broke free from a cargo ship 15 years ago. Since then they have travelled 17,000 miles, floating over the site where the Titanic sank, landing in Hawaii and even spending years frozen in an Arctic ice pack. And now they are heading straight for Britain. At some point this summer they are expected to be spotted on beaches in South-West England."

 

From here:
www.dailymail.co.uk
www.agu.org

 

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And you, guys?) Do you like rubber ducks?

@темы: discussion, lol

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Spelling bee

[KattyJamison]

I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
- Mark Twain

Let us find CORRECT ways of spelling words different ways. Make Mark Twain proud of us ))

color - colour
analyze - analyse
centre - center
analog - analogue
encyclopedia - encyclopaedia
checker - chequer
tire - tyre
knit sweater - knitted sweater

There are many more. Suggestions?

@темы: discussion, grammar, lol

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Great BBC video

[Kleo Scanti]

BBC is famous for their educational films. This series is one of the best. It's about so called man-made wonders of the UK.
www.surfthechannel.com/show/documentaries/BBC_S...

And this particular episode is my favourite for now.
www.surfthechannel.com/info/documentaries/BBC_S...

@темы: links

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Staff and personnel?

[Alario]

What is the difference between "staff" and "personnel"?

@темы: translation, help needed

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Let's play - term-guessing

[Alario]

So, about slang and new terms - I promised to focus on it)

I suppose you lot know the great sites "Word Spy" and "Urban Dictionary"? There you can find the "new terms that have appeared multiple times in newspapers, magazines, books, Web sites, and other recorded sources."

There are many pretty funny words there) You want to know what are the

"refrigerator rights"

"refrigerator rights" (Defines the depth, closeness, and intimacy of a relationship. Friends with refrigerator rights can help themselves to anything in your refrigerator without asking permission.), "ego wall",

"wikiality"

"wikiality" (Reality as defined by a consensus, particularly in a collaborative endeavor such as Wikipedia.), "football widow", "to google"?)

Let's play a game!)

Rules

Rules:

1) I give you those strange terms and you try to guess what they mean)) It's difficult, yep, but also interesting) It's not a test of your power of apprehension or anything) It's just for fun)

2) If no one can guess, I give you the right answer (updating the post). The right answer is taken from the "Word Spy" or "Urban Dictionary" sites - I see no reason to keep back the links, because the most fervent fellows can always surf the web anyway)

3) If anyone wants to cheat by looking the term up in the dictionaries - well, your choice, but what's the point of playing then? Feel free to use those sites if you're interested in those strange new words, but don't ruin the fun then)

Ready? Steady? Go!

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Round One

1) ego wall
2) football widow

it is...

- a woman who must cope with the temporary death of her relationship during football games. (Urban Dictionary) guessed by Electronic Elric
3) ad creep
4) dramality
5) to google

it is...

- to search for information on the Web, particularly by using the Google search engine; to search the Web for information related to a new or potential girlfriend or boyfriend. (Word Spy) guessed by Kleo Scanti
6) zombie computer

it is...

- a computer containing a hidden software program that enables the machine to be controlled remotely, usually to perform an attack on another computer. (Word Spy) guessed by Loreleia
7) warm line
8) voicism
9) stealth parenting
10) speed dating

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If this is interesting, we'll play it on a regular basis)

So, ta-da! The Links: "Word Spy" and "Urban Dictionary"

@темы: translation, that's useful, let's do it (a new idea tag), lol

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About drawing

[Alario]

Do you like to draw? Have you ever attended a drawing-school? If yes, did you like it? If no, would you like to?

@темы: kings and cabbage

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Global Warming

[KattyJamison]

We got quiet here for a bit. So I am kicking off a discussion about Global Warming with a popular article my good friend Mellie Gilder M.D. wrote for Discovery Institute (www.discovery.org/).

www.discovery.org/blogs/discoveryblog/rev%20gor...

The article is an easy read, it is funny and interesting, it is not at all science-dry (it is popular article, after all), and it has very good examples of proper citation of sources. I think we could have an interesting discussion about it and Global Warming in general.

@темы: discussion

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Second Part

[Alkante]

S.R Gardiner
HISTORY OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR
Cavaliers and Roundheads
Part 2.
It is the glory of Puritanism that it found its highest work in the strengthening of the will. To be abased in the abiding presence of the Divine Sufferer, and strengthened in the assurance of help from the risen Saviour, was the path which led the Puritan to victory over the temptations v\hich so easily beset him. Then, as ever, it was not in the lap of ease and luxury that fortitude and endurance were most readily fostered, nor was it by culture and intelligence that the strongest natures were hardened. The spiritual and mental struggle through which the Puritan entered on his career of Divine service was more likely to be real with 'hose who were already inured to a hard struggle with the physical conditions of the world, and whose minds were not distracted by too comprehensive knowledge of many-sided nature. The flame which flickered upwards burnt all the purer where the literature of the world, with its wisdom and its folly, found no entrance. It is not in the measured cadences of Milton, but in the homely allegory of the tinker of Elstow, that the Puritan gospel is most clearly revealed.
England, it has been said by one who, in our own days, has exhibited the old Puritan virtues to a world which had well-nigh forgotten them, has been saved by its adventurers — that is to say, by the men who, careless whether their ways are like the ways of others, or whether there may not be some larger interpretation of the laws by which the world is governed than any which they have themselves been able to concei\e. have set their hearts on realising, first in themselves and then in others, their ideal of that which is best and holiest. Such adventurers the noblest of the Puritans were. Many things existed not dreamed of in their theology, many things which they misconceived, or did not even conceive at all: but they were brave and resolute, feeding their minds upon the bread of heaven, and determined within themselves to be servants of no man and of no human system. It was with such as these that Falkland failed to count: and to fail to count with them was to neglect that very quality of self-denying and therefore masterful purpose, the presence of which saves Parliamentary majorities from dwindling into a mere expression of predominant indolence, and the accumulation of knowledge from ministering to the satisfaction of learned drones.
Thus it came about that, whilst the noblest elements on the King's side were favourable to peace, the noblest elements on the side of the Parliament were favourable to war. That it was so was not merely owing to the bitter memories which had been branded on the mind of the Puritan by long oppression. The man of intellect necessarily looks forward to a gradual process of amelioration which can but be checked by the interposition of violence. The man of string moral purpose is no less prompt to think that the evil of the world can be removed or at least diminished by the intervention of power; and in this particular case he had to dread, if Charles regained his authority, not merely the absence of power in his own hands, but its active exercise against himself.
If war there was to be, it was well that it should not be waged entirely on social or political grounds, and, above all, that it should not degenerate, like the troubles of the French Revolution, into a war of classes. It is true that, on the whole, the nobility and gentry took the side of the King, whilst the townsmen and the yeomanry took the side of the Parliament. Yet there were enough of Puritan nobles and gentlemen, and enough of townsmen and yeomen who were not Puritans, to prevent the religious cleft from accurately coinciding with the social cleft.
Of the two parties, the Parliamentary was the more prompt to throw off the delusion that peace was still attainable. Six days before the Royal Standard was unfurled, the Houses had taken care to secure their position in London. On August 16, Isaac Pennington, a vigorous and determined Puritan, was chosen Lord Mayor in Gurney's room, — and the organisation of the City was thus secured for Parliament in spite of the notorious Royalism of the leading merchants. Every effort was made to hinder the transmission of arms and ammunition to the North. The newly raised soldiers, unused to the trammels of discipline, broke into the houses of suspected persons, rifled them of their contents, and often sold their booty for the merest trifle. As might have been expected, the Catholics bore the brunt of this violence; but they did not suffer alone. Two members of Parliament had to complain that they had been plundered by soldiers. At Colchester, the mob, hearing that Sir John Lucas had collected arms and horses, and was about to start with them for the North, broke open his doors, sacked his house, and seized upon his person. At the house of Lady Rivers, who, as a Catholic, was specially obnoxious, property valued at 40,000 was destroyed or carried off. The House of Commons at once despatched two of its members to restore order in Colchester; but, though no further acts of violence were committed, very little of the plunder was recovered.
In Essex Royalists were few. In Kent opinion was more divided. The means taken to secure the county for Parliament were prompt and efficacious.
Dover Castle was surprised on the 21 st. During the next few days a small force visited the places where resistance was most likely to be made, imprisoning suspected Royalists, and carrying off money and arms. The houses of William Boteler and Sir Edward Bering were plundered. At Canterbury, arms and gunpowder were found stored in the deanery. The soldiers broke into the cathedral, battered down the organ, pulled up the communion rails, and carried the table into the centre of the choir. A representation of the Saviour embroidered on a piece of tapestry they hacked out with their knives, and anther carved in stone and placed over the south gate was made a mark for their bullets.
The Houses did what they could to restrain the violence of the soldiers, and threatened them with the penalties of the law. In the immediate neighbourhood of London their efforts met with success, but they failed to secure obedience from troops scattered in country quarters. As it fared with the Parliament, it fared with the King. He, too, was never remiss in giving orders to his followers to aestain from plundering, but the troopai who were scouring the Midlands to collect arms in his name were mo more likely to spare the goods of a notorious Roundhead than soldiers were likely to spare the goods of a notorious airrored alternately the views of the two parties e mastery at his Court.

@темы: that's useful

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First part.

[Alkante]

S.R Gardiner
HISTORY OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR
Cavaliers and Roundheads
Part one.
The Civil War, the outbreak of which was announced by the floating of Charles's standard on the hill at Nottingham, was rendered inevitable by the inadequacy of the intellectual methods of the day to effect a reconciliation between opposing moral and social forces, which derived their strength from the past development of the nation. The personal characters of the leaders might do much to shorten or prolong the time of open warfare, but no permanent restoration of harmony would be oossible till some compromise, which would give security alike to the disciples of Hooker and to the disciples of Calvin, had been not only thought out by the few, but generally accepted by the many.
On both sides the religious difficulty was complicated by a political difficulty; and, on the King's side at all events, it was from those who were least under the influence of religious motives that the loudest cry for war was heard. Men who had served in armies abroad, and who were familiar with the license of camps; cavaliers who had stood by Charles on the day of baffled hopes when he had swooped down in vain upon the five members at Westminster, combined in that cry with many a gentleman of high temper and generous instincts, who might be indifferent to the character of the theology which was inculcated from the pulpits, but whose moral irregularities gave him good reason to dread the stern pressure of Puritan austerity.
Such men soon discovered a leader in Charles's own nephew, Rupert, who, with the true instinct of a soldier, had come, bringing his younger brother, Maurice, with him, to place his sword at his uncle's disposal almost at the moment when his elder brother, the Elector Palatine, was slinking away from England to avoid the necessity of making a choice between two parties, either of which might one day be useful to him in supporting his pretensions in Germany. Of Rupert, it was truly said that he was first and last a soldier. Coming, at the age of twenty-three, to _,, that England which he had only seen as a visitor, it was not likely that he , would interest himself in the deeper side of the controversy in which he lightly engaged. It was enough for him that he had rebels to contend against. Unfortunately for the cause to which he attached himself, he came from a land in which the soldier was e\erything and the civilian ,. nothing. He despised courtiers and politicians as heartily as he despised rebels. If lie wisely regarded as unintelligible the scruples of those who thought it possible to make war in a legal and constitutional way, he also, with less wisdom, set his face against those who thought it possible to bring the war to an end otherwise than by complete victory.
If Rupert had been as fit to conduct a war as he was to lead a charge of cavalry, it would have gone hard with the King's enemies. As it was, he knew how to inspire his followers with his own dashing energy and untiring courage, but he could neither plan a campaign nor even conduct a battle. Charles at once appointed him General of the Horse. From one point of view no better selection could be made. There was no fear now that the royal cavalry would turn their backs upon the enemy as, three years before, they had turned their backs, under Holland's command, upon the Scots at Kelso. From another point of view the appointment was disastrous. Rupert demanded and obtained the privilege of taking orders from the King alone. The Earl of Lindsey, devoted to the Royalist cause, and trained in the severe school of the Dutch war, had been named Commander-in-chief, but was now informed that the cavalry was net within his sphere of notion. By this strange arrangement, Charles repeated in the field the mistaken tactics of his Cabinet. He wished to be himself supreme in war as he had wished to be supreme in government, and, as Strafford and Laud had found to their cost, his only notion of the way in which supremacy was to be secured was never to give his entire confidence to any single person.
In his joyous and abounding self-confidence, and in his contemptuous hatred of rebels. Rupert found himself in accord with a feeling which prevailed even among the more sober Royalists. That rebellion was an unpardonable crime, was a maxim which had been inculcated upon three generations of Englishmen. It had grown up at a time when almost blind obedience to the Sovereign had alone guaranteed the nation-first against feudal anarchy at home, and afterwards against spiritual and military aggression from abroad. Such an opinion was certain to retain its hold upon Englishmen long after the cause which had brought it into existence had passed away; and there were not a few round Charles at Nottingham in whose minds the political creed which they had received from their fathers had been rekindled by the adverse gusts of Puritanism.
Puritanism not only formed the strength of the Opposition to Charles, but the strength of England itself. Parliamentary liberties, and even Parliamentary control, were worth contending for; but on these points it would not have been difficult to discover some working compromise sufficient, if not to satisfy Charles, at least to satisfy his more reasonable supporters. On the other hand, the Parliamentary leaders had not yet committed themselves to the adoption of the complete Presbyterian system, which, with its apparatus of Church courts and its rigid orthodoxy, was almost as terrible in the eyes of those who looked hopefully to the free play of cultivated intelligence as it was to those who merely wished to give the rein to their animal passions. Yet even this Presbyterian ism covered something greater than itself. The laws by which the progress of human society is governed work not irrespective of human agency, but by the influence of surrounding conditions upon human wills, whereby the activity of those wills is roused to react upon the conditions. Therefore, it is not enough that the intellect be cultivated, or that forms of government or of worship be established to nourish the social feelings. Knowledge may cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, order may be secured, and reverence may be shown where reverence is due, but unless the resolute will be there to struggle onwards and upwards towards an ideal higher still, the gift will have been bestowed in vain.

@темы: that's useful

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[fasketta]

Hi, everybody)
Some months ago I found a site, where you can watch TV-shows and films in English (some of them can be downloaded). Most people have torrents for it, but for those, who do not use them, the site could be a real treasure chest. You have to invest a little time in searching, but I think it's worth it.
So enjoy)

www.guba.com/

@темы: links, that's useful

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And finally I find time to introduce myself. I'm very sorry for not doing it earlier.

[Хестер]

Hello!

I must say I really never know what to say when I have to introduce myself. Well... I'm twenty years old, I've been studying English since I was five. I am a freelance translator of fiction and editor of English textbooks (and some other even less interesting books). I used to be a student of the School of Foreign Languages at the National University of Kharkiv, but by the second year of education it became clear that, even though it was the Translation Department, they were mostly preparing us to become teachers (e.g., everyone had to work at some school or other for three terms to get a diploma etc). Now, I do teach English to some kids occasionally, but this is so not what I would like to do for the rest of my life. So I left the university and am now a proud student of the local Academy of Culture, the Department of Publishing Business (I have just got the news that I'm in, you may congratulate me))). English is still very much a part of my life, though. First of all, most of my jobs are connected to it. Also, I read in English a lot, I watch movies and tv-shows in English and anime with English subtitres. I'm a wannabe writer, and I write stories in English, as well as an occasional piece of poetry (but my English poetry sucks).

If I say so myself, my grammar is far from bad, I can spot mistakes easily and I have a pretty good grasp on the language. But my vocabulary is more poor than I would like it to be, unfortunately; I also have spelling problems sometimes. All in all, I still have a great way to go. I really hope that this community will help me to improve my English skills, I count on it .

Pleased to meet you all!

@темы: intro

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"History of England"

[Alkante]

I've found a very interesting book "History of England" If someone is interested in this theme write the comment please and I'll scan it and place here some stories. Than we can discuss them. I hope it will be interesting for you.

@темы: let's do it (a new idea tag)

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introduction

[ollg@]

I suppose I won't write here very often, because I'm usually too lazy to write even in my own blog(s), but still, I think introduction is in order.

I live in Moscow (mostly), and work as a translator since 2004. I studied English in specialized school, and then I added a lot to my knowledge by reading fanfiction - it seems odd, but it helped me more than anything. I love English for it's (relative) simplicity and for the sence of humour integrated into language itself. Still, I know quite well that I have some problems with my English, mostly with Perfect tense; I have too little practive with it, so I never remember how to use it.

I'm ready to discuss a lot of things - books (especially those never published in Russian, because if not we here, then who can read and appreciate them?), some movies (thought I don't follow the trends and watch mostly some outdated things), anime and stuff.

@темы: discussion

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Running by

[KattyJamison]

FYI* small but important difference.

A person, who is translating from one language into another in written form is a translator.
A person, who is doing the same thing in oral form (parallel or sequential) in an interpreter.

*For your information

Oh, yes, and there is a very common language in the US that does not have translators at all, only interpreters. Can you guess what it is?

@темы: that's useful

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Sorry but I need help!

[Alkante]

What is the difference between interpretations of the terms "database" and "dataset"? Is database organized in a definite way, and dataset is not? Are there any differences more?
Thanks a lot!

@темы: help needed

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well? Let's talk more

[Firesong]

I think you all know these psy-tests where you should describe a desert you're walking in, or a forest, or a house you see there... Well, I've got an idea from them though it won't be test, but rather mini-composition in one-two words or as many as you feel the urge to write.
So...

You're walking and suddenly come to a lake. What kind of lake it is? And where were you walking - id there a forest around it, a field, mountains or something else?

Let's talk lakes!

@темы: kings and cabbage

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Food culture

[KattyJamison]

So I'm kicking off the Food in the English-Speaking World discussion.

First off, one has to realize that English-speaking world is BIG. Indian cuisine is about as different from Canadian, as Zimbabwean from Turkish. I'll be talking mostly about American, Canadian and British, since I know those best.

American:
Some people think American food is a derivative of English and some think it's hamburgers and French Fries. Neither is exactly true, or even close to truth. Although, yes, Americans do eat pot roast, hamburgers and pound cake.
US is an extremely multi-cultural country, and was multicultural to begin with. Dutch, Spanish, French, British, Italian, Irish, Chinese and Indian foods are all over the place and they penetrated so far into the "national" potluck that most people here don't think of them as "foreign" foods anymore. For example, today in out hospital cafeteria you can get:
Muffins and pound cakes - British
Stuffed halapinos - Mexican
Strawberry parfait - French
Spagetti and meatballs in pineapple sauce - the cross between Italian and Hawaiian, I imagine...
Pizza - Italian
Macaroni salad - American
Apple pie - Dutch
and so on. And I did actualy go down there to check.

So, what that means is you can find anything you want here, as far as food goes, or nearly anything. Including salted cucumbers, сметана, and кисло млeко. But you might have to search for a bit.
Now, "sour cream" is prepared very much like "сметана", except is is done with cream, not milk, and it is never diluted with water or milk. So it looks like Russian творог, thick and smooth, not liquid at all. If you want it to look like Russian smetana you can dilute it with full-fat milk or cream.
"Curd" is not actually творог but a kind of consistency for milk products. "Творог" is "cottage cheese". Cottage cheese can be large curd, small curd, smooth and whatnot else. Most cottage cheese made in the US is made along the Northern European recipies (Skandinavian, Northern French), so it looks chunky (small or large curd). But you can buy cottage cheese that is smooth and a bit sour to the taste, like Russian ones, you just need to go to a farmhouse or specialty Eastern European store.
Salted cucumber (preserved in salted water with spices) and pickled cucumbers (preserved in vineager water with spices) can both be found in the US. But mostly cucumbers are pickled, with a few salted here and there, as opposed to in Russia, where there were a few pickled and mostly salted. Salt was hard to get here for a long while, so people used vineager to preserve pretty much everything.

Last thing for now. Americans pasteurize their foods to the fare-thee-well, probably with a battle-cry of "No bacteria remains crawling!" So if the milk does not go sour for a week and sour cream stays good for a month that does not mean they have preservatives or artificial additives; it just means that they are well-pasteurized. Which is usually a good thing, although cursed inconvenient when you are trying to make sour milk for pancakes.

Questions? Comments? Disagreements? Corrections?

@темы: discussion, that's useful

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BBC Learning English

[Kleo Scanti]

www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

It's a great source for those who want to learn the British English.

@темы: links, that's useful

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Actual question

[Firesong]

What do you know about resumes in English/English resumes (I see a difference here - sometimes russian companies demand resume in English, but it's russian resume iin english language)? I invite you to share resources and/or personal experence.
I reallized that I know nothing aboout it but there is a chance i may need it. So... please? I think, it may be of interest for many of us.

Oh, and I think we'll ignore accents" At least, I don't know how to put them here, and there must be one... or two... in resume...

@темы: help needed