Crème fraîche is not "fresh cream"

Certain food items borrowed from European traditions are readily translated in English, while others are not, and at times the translations themselves can refer to something entirely different. The vanilla-flavored whipped cream known as crème Chantilly may also legitimately be called "Chantilly cream" in English without any change in meaning. The custard sauce Crème anglaise, which is French for "English cream" (despite the dubiousness of the sauce's English origins) may be called "English cream" in English but usually retains its French name.

In contrast, crème fraîche should never be called by its literal translation "fresh cream," especially since it is most akin to what English speakers generally know as "sour cream." Indeed, the dairy product is essentially fresh cream that has been matured or soured. The French name persists in English. By the same token, the French name crème brûlée is almost always used in English instead of the translation "burnt caramel" for the dessert that is not just burnt caramel, per se, but a rich custard served cold and topped with a warm layer of hard (perhaps burnt) caramel.

Similarly, the "croissant," which literally means "crescent" (due to the shape of the buttery pastry) is occasionally (albeit somewhat rarely) called a "crescent" or "crescent roll" in English. However, in some English-speaking countries, this could cause confusion, as a crescent roll may generally refer to a different type of crescent-shaped, often savory pastry that is made with far fewer layers of dough than a typical croissant.

The pastry known as the "mille-feuilles" in French is generally not translated in English literally as "thousand-leaf" or "thousand-leaf pastry." In Australia and the UK, it is often called a vanilla slice. In New Zealand, it is a custard square. In South Africa, it is a custard slice. In the USA (and, incidentally, in a number of non-English-speaking countries), it is called a napoleon, not derived initially from the emperor but from the city of Naples, Italy. Interestingly, in French, a "Napoléon" refers specifically to a "mille-feuilles" pastry filled with almond paste. Canada proves to be an exception, however, as it is often called a "mille-feuilles" in French and in English there as a viable alternative to the term napoleon in English.

And as we are speaking of pastries frequently served in cafes, what to call coffee drinks made with milk can be confusing. A café au lait is a "French-style beverage made with drip coffee and boiled milk". A café con leche is a "1 1/2 ounce espresso with enough steamed milk to fill an 8-ounce cup." A caffè latte is "a shot of espresso, with a healthy covering of hot steamed milk and up to a quarter inch of foamed milk on top" (references taken from here). Yet they all mean "coffee with milk" in French, Spanish, and Italian, respectively! To complicate the issue, there is an entirely different drink, "coffee milk," which is cold milk mixed with coffee syrup and is the state drink of Rhode Island!

(Posted by language fan and friend Silas McCracken.)

This movie is horrible

I decided to watch the movie "I Really Hate My Job" from the free on-demand feature of my cable TV package, and it was AWFUL! Avoid it! It's about nothing and is not the least bit satisfying or meaningful in any way. Now I know why writers use plots and include likeable characters and other characters who we can identify with, because this movie had *none* of that. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, they all seemed like jerks, most of them were lazy, self-indulgent, and went on about obscure intellectual concerns that no one cares about. I can't believe well-known people were involved in this project. And I'm sure that there are people out there who think I'm pedestrian in my taste, but I don't care. The movie had no focus and nothing to offer other than whining women who all had hangups that only mattered to them and the pretentious writer. Serious thumbs down, not worth the rental price (or time).

Craciun Fericit

I learned how to say "Merry Christmas" in Romanian when Cristina said it on her Facebook status, so I will use it here as well: Craciun Fericit!

Mayumi Heene's name in katakana instead of kanji

The Japanese woman who is going to jail for using her son in a balloon hoax is still a Japanese citizen, but instead of the Japanese press using kanji for her name (as either 真由美 or 真弓), they're using katakana (マユミ). In a CNN/Yahoo article they say:

虚偽通報の罪に問われた妻の マユミ 被告は禁固20日を言い渡されたが、子供たちの面倒を見るためにとの配慮で、リチャード被告が刑期を終えた後の服役となる。

And in an article from the Mainichi newspaper they say:

夫のリチャード・ヒーニー被告（４８）を禁固９０日（うち６０日間は日中に建設労働）、妻の マユミ 被告（４５）を禁固２０日とした。

This is significant because katakana usually represents foreign names, words, and concepts. But she's not a foreigner. She hasn't become an American citizen, and there was actually a possibility that they were going to deport her. But from the Japanese media's perspective, her name is foreign. Is that because she's lived in the US for years and is married to an American? Or did the crime make her even more distant in their eyes? I'd be curious to know why these news outlets spelled her name that way.

a belated Joyeux Hanouka

Chanukah is over, but I wanted to share this cool image from France (that I just saw at The Paris Blog). So next year people will be able to enjoy it on time :D

Crowdsourcing

When I found out about a petition against crowdsourcing translations, I thought, "Oh great, another unfair labor issue." Then I had to make sure I knew what crowdsourcing was, because it's used in both positive and negative ways, especially now that it's been used a lot in the design profession.

Crowdsourcing is, according to Wikipedia (which seems like a successful crowdsourcing project): "the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing them to a group (crowd) of people or community in the form of an open call." So it's like outsourcing, though most of the time companies don't want to pay for the crowd to create something.

Basically, there are a lot of people who are very worried that crowdsourcing is killing their livelihood, just as outsourcing has done. But it's inevitable, especially because the Internet is everywhere and there are a lot more options. Why pay someone when you can just post a request online and a bunch of people will respond and work together to create what you want? It's just another example of L.I.F. "Life Isn't Fair".

I have a podcast

I've recently created a podcast called Radiogirl, and I post a new episode each week. Each pod is around 10 minutes, so it's easy to digest :D

A recurring "guest" is Simon Badinter, an interesting French guy who I interviewed this past summer. I met him at a Chicago radio station and we got along, so I took a risk by asking him to join my podcast, and he agreed.

I also talk to other interesting folks, including some snowboarders I met at another Chicago radio station. In my most recent podcast, after I talk to Simon about breakfast in Paris, the snowboarders explain what some snowboarding words mean in plain English. I also read an email from the seemingly nice translator and language blogger Sarah Dillon, who complimented me on the podcast and has even subscribed (thanks for that!).

In the future, you might see some posts here relating to my podcast if I cover language-related stuff over there.

My podcast is on iTunes and you can also subscribe to get free updates.

Enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think.

Holy days and holidays

As the holiday season is upon us, I feel that it is timely to give some thought to some of the diverse origins of words associated with Christian holidays in English. Christmas, of course, is derived from Christ mass (i.e. a mass for Christ) akin to other holidays, which have waned in relative importance over the years, such as Michaelmas (the mass for the Feast of St. Michael), Candlemas (the Candle Mass on the Feast of the Purification), and Childermas (Children's Mass or the commemoration of the Massacre of the Innocents).

However, Christmas is often synonymous with Yule as in such expressions as "Yuletide cheer" and "Yule log." Yule is the pagan Germanic winter festival celebrated before the Germanic peoples were converted to Christianity (and elements of Yule were incorporated into the celebration of Christmas in these regions). In fact, in Scandinavian languages, cognates of Yule (such as "Jul" in Swedish) are still used to refer to Christmas itself.

As for the term "Noel," which has traditionally been a name given to baby boys born in December and appears in the Christmas carol "the first Noel," that is the French word for Christmas (Noël). Similarly, "Natalie" has often been given to girls born around this time, as "Natalie" is derived from "Natal," which, along with its cognates, is the word of Christmas in a number of Romance languages, such as Portuguese ["Natal") and Italian ("Natale"). It is not surprising that "Natal" refers to the birth of Christ (analogous to terms such as pre-natal or ante-natal care) and is related to words such as "nativity" (as in "nativity scenes" that depict the birth celebrated at Christmastime).

Easter has a similar multilingual and multicultural background. Easter is derived from the Anglo-Saxon "Eostre-monath," a month honoring the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (a cognate of the continental form Ostara). The Greek form "Pascha," derived in term from the Hebrew word "Pesach" ("Passover") found its way into Latin as "Pascha" and hence not only into most modern Romance languages (such as "Pascua" in Spanish), but also a number of Celtic languages (such as "Pask" in Breton) and even some Germanic languages ("Pasen" in Dutch), although German uses "Ostern." In English, occasionally, the form "Paschal" is used to refer to the feast celebrated with Easter. For the most part, Slavic languages (with the exception of Russian) have remained outside this influence, with some Slavic languages opting for the equilavents of "Great Day" or "Great Night" (such as "Velikonoce" in Czech) and the South Slavic languages occasionally borrowing terms (such as "Uskrs," meaning Resurrection, in Serbian and Croatian) from Old Church Slavonic.

And finally, some Christian churches celebrate the "Eucharist" (Holy Communion) every Sunday. The word is derived from Greek eucharistía (comprised of roots for "good" and "grace"), with "Eucharistéō" being the verb "to thank" in New Testament Greek. It comes as no surprise that "Eucharist" is directly related to "efharisto," which is Modern Greek for "thank you."

Happy holidays!

(Posted by language fan and friend Silas McCracken.)

Countries that have visited here

I said in my previous post that I'd list the countries that have visited this baby blog, so I've pasted them below. There are other countries that have visited here, but due to severe lack of sleep, I'm too lazy to seek them all out. At least 150 countries have visited here. And sorry the list is in a long line instead of in a table format, but that's also due to my sleep deprivation.

United States
Canada
Denmark
Spain
Great Britain
Germany
Australia
Sweden
China
France
India
Hong Kong
Poland
Philippines
Japan
Netherlands
Ireland
Italy
Brazil
South Korea
Russian Federation
Romania
Austria
Singapore
Thailand
Indonesia
Israel
Switzerland
Taiwan
Belgium
Czech Republic
Malaysia
Finland
Hungary
Saudi Arabia
Norway
Mexico
Portugal
South Africa
United Arab Emirates
Turkey
New Zealand
Ukraine
Vietnam
Bulgaria
Slovak Republic
Panama
Estonia
Greece
Argentina
Lithuania
Egypt
Croatia
Slovenia
Iran
Chile
Myanmar
Colombia
Latvia
Kuwait
Morocco
Iceland
Luxembourg
Peru
Costa Rica
European Union
Moldova
Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire)
Puerto Rico
Jamaica
Qatar
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Mongolia
Ethiopia
Yemen
Former Czechoslovakia
Senegal
Jordan
Oman
Azerbaidjan
Lebanon
Brunei Darussalam
Syria
Kenya
El Salvador
Venezuela
Ecuador
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Malta
Fiji
Trinidad and Tobago
Bahrain
Nigeria
Guatemala
Mauritius
Bolivia
Dominican Republic
Kazakhstan
Belarus
Bangladesh
Gibraltar
Bahamas
Monaco
Macau
Libya
Armenia
Bermuda
Barbados
Uganda
Cyprus
Laos
Uzbekistan
Georgia
Cayman Islands
Polynesia
Paraguay
Liechtenstein
Tanzania
Cambodia
Belize
Benin
Northern Mariana Islands
Netherlands Antilles
Faroe Islands
Macedonia
Samoa Islands
New Caledonia (French)
Palestinian Territories
Dominica
Turkmenistan
Iraq
Algeria
Nepal
Haiti
Nicaragua
Guam
Andorra
Zimbabwe
Djibouti
Honduras
Tunisia
Bhutan
Uruguay
Sudan
Ghana
Mauritania
Botswana
Saint Lucia
Antigua and Barbuda
Virgin Islands
Unknown
Zambia
British Indian Ocean Territory
Eritrea
Greenland
Angola
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
Namibia

Over five years

I just want to say THANK YOU to the thousands of people from all over the world who have visited this baby blog. I've been here for over five years and I had no idea that I'd get so many visitors (well over a couple hundred thousand unique visitors) or that I'd still be writing here. A lot has happened since I started this blog: when I started, I was working at home a lot, doing translations, editing, and proofreading, and I needed some kind of outlet to express my love for language. Then eventually I ended up working in radio and teaching ESL (both which I love doing) and meeting some people in the media who I'd only known from afar. Now I write about Chicago-related TV for Gapersblock.com and of course have published a book (click the link on the right for a full preview).

There's more I want to say, but I don't have much time because I have to work all day and night today (first helping with English class registration and then doing radio stuff). When I get back, I'll post some of the countries that have visited here. But for now, I want to say THANKS again and feel free to tell your friends :D

Depeche Mode keep their British accent

I was listening to Depeche Mode (one of my favorite bands that I luckily saw at Lollapalooza last summer) much of the day today, and it occurred to me that they don't do what other British bands do: they don't drop their British accent when they sing to take on an American one. Note how they pronounce their R's--not like Americans!

Give blood

I would like to interrupt this language blog to give a public service announcement: please GIVE BLOOD. A few years ago, I saw someone's life saved through a blood transfusion, and it inspired me to start giving blood regularly until for some reason the hospital where I gave it said some number was too low (I forgot what they were talking about, but it was after they put it in a spinner). Then I gave early this year and even though I felt light-headed and had to lie there a while, I was glad to do it.

Several months passed, and I never made the time to give blood again until I went to the hospital recently to visit someone who got SEVEN pints of blood. That's a lot! So I thought, "Hey, I should give blood to help someone else get better," so I made an appointment and went today.

Again, I didn't feel too good afterwards and made the stupid mistake of going to the library instead of going straight home to rest, so even now I still feel funny. But I'm very glad I donated blood and I'd like to urge you to do the same.

If you've ever seen someone in the hospital after they've received blood, or if you've ever seen someone go from the brink of death to life, you know what I'm talking about. That's what blood does--it really saves lives and helps people get better!

So eat lots of food, give blood, drink juice and eat cookies afterwards, and then rest. It may not be the most comfortable thing in the world, but it is VERY important. I'll be going again in a couple of months to give some more.