Professional Translation Services Blog

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Privacy Policy Update

We have updated our Privacy Policy to include information about Google's search box and Google's use of cookies to serve advertising. Click on the link below to read the update.

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The Worst Ice Cream Flavour

A few years ago I was in Spain and visiting one of their marvellous ice-cream shops. They'd tried translating the flavours into English, but obviously

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Brian Harris on Native Translation and Translation Training

Brian Harris from the blog Unprofessional Translation examines the impact of formal translation studies and differences between trained and untrained translators.

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Linguist Lynne Murphy on American versus British English

How important are the differences between British and American English? If your translation to English is for a UK audience, do you need a British translator? Linguist Lynne Murphy shares her thoughts.

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Health freak

I used to teach translation in Ukraine, and once my students had a task to translate a number of English idioms/set phrases into Ukrainian... The funniest

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Naughty Underground Parking

I used an underground parking quite often, and in the entrance, where you pick your ticket, you could read the following message (meant for people in wheelchairs)

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Any Child Who Is Switched On...

Last month my son brought some school information about Kindergarten Registration. The Spanish translation was wrong. For example: Todos los se deben

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Watch Your Effluvium!

Over a week in China, a lifetime of learning unveiling at every corner, every story, every dinner table, every mysterious glance. Now time for the highest

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Bad Translations on Signs

I saw these ads during my trips and besides terrible translations, cultural aspects are also considered here. In a Brazilian shop: Please keep out of children

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An Obstinate General of the Army

One of the most classic translation errors in Brazilian Portuguese can be found in The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism: From Hobbes to Locke,

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Italian Homemade Bread

Everyone loves homemade and fresh bread and everyone seems to love using Italian or French names for bread, it probably gives added value... So, long

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Giggles in the Toilet

I would have never imagined two summers ago when I couldn't help taking a photograph of the sign posted on the door of the toilet of an exquisite restaurant

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Mysterious Advertisement

I was at a small German airport when I read the following ad, intended to encourage travellers to buy a piece of luggage in the airport store: (German):

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¡Yo tengo el poder!

I recently saw a sign detailing instructions in case the power went off and it said Si se corta el poder.... At first I didn't understand what that meant,

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