Montreal Mafia murder trial put on pause following translation issues - Montreal Gazette - Translation

The trial was paused shortly after the jury heard the accused say a motorcycle used in Rocco Sollecito's murder needed to be destroyed.

Author of the article:

Paul Cherry  •  Montreal Gazette

Dominico Scarfo is charged with the first-degree murders of Rocco Sollecito and Lorenzo Giordano. Photo by Sûreté du Québec

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The trial of a man charged with killing two Montreal Mafia leaders was put on hold Monday after lawyers in the case raised concerns over how evidence was being translated from French to English.

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Superior Court Justice Michel Pennou sent the jury home without having heard any evidence at all by Monday afternoon.

“I don’t know how you felt about Friday morning’s interpretation, but (lawyers on both sides of the case) and I do not feel too great about the way things went,” Pennou explained, describing the translations as “not complete or very accurate.”

The judge asked the jury to return to the Gouin courthouse on Tuesday while the two translators assigned to the trial try to sort out the problem.

Dominico Scarfo, 49, is charged with the first-degree murders of Lorenzo Giordano and Rocco Sollecito and with conspiring to kill the two men. Both victims were killed in Laval on different days in 2016.

Scarfo’s trial is being held in English, and the jury was in the process of listening to a series of conversations secretly recorded by an informant who worked for the Sûreté du Québec. During most of the conversations, Scarfo and the informant spoke in English. But in one conversation, recorded on Sept. 10, 2019, they met with other people and the conversation switched to French.

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The informant spoke in a very unusual, rapid-fire way and often switched subjects mid-sentence, making it difficult for anyone to translate him simultaneously as the recordings were played for the jury.

The portion of a recording the jury was listening to before Pennou paused proceedings involved a motorcycle used as a getaway vehicle in Sollecito’s murder on May 27, 2016. The gunman in that homicide became an informant in early 2019 and recorded the conversations during the summer of that year.

On Sept. 10, 2019, the Sûreté du Québec released photos of the motorcycle used as a getaway vehicle in Sollecito’s murder. Police asked the public for help and advised anyone who recognized the motorcycle to contact them. But it appeared to actually be an effort to get Scarfo talking about the murder.

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At the start of the recording, the informant asked Scarfo if he had seen the news yet. It was clear Scarfo was unaware that photos of the motorcycle had been released.

“If they are asking the public for help, it means they have nothing,” Scarfo said.

“No no no, this is, this is the game, what they do, this is the f—ing game they do. This is like catch and release. They have info,” said the informant, who, in reality, had provided police with that information. After he shot Sollecito, he climbed on the motorcycle driven by an alleged accomplice in the murder.

Later the same day, Scarfo and the informant met with the alleged accomplice, whose name cannot be published for the time being, and the alleged accomplice’s father. It was then that the conversation sometimes switched to French.

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It was also then that Scarfo appeared to show serious concern about the photos the SQ had released.

“They say that there are two men on the motorcycle,” Scarfo said, referring to information the police released with the photos.

“That’s true,” the alleged accomplice’s father replied. “OK. But a motorcycle, do you know how many there are?”

“It has to be destroyed,” Scarfo said.

“This is just one information. That bike doesn’t exist anymore. It doesn’t exist anymore,” the alleged accomplice said. But as the conversation continued, the alleged accomplice clarified that the motorcycle actually still did exist.

“But if you want, I’ll get it smashed right now and throw it in the ocean,” the alleged accomplice said.

He also asked the SQ’s informant to stop talking about it.

“Right now, as long as we keep our mouths shut …,” the alleged accomplice said, not completing his thought. “This is the triangle (involved in Sollecito’s murder) right here, right?”

Last week, the jury hearing Scarfo’s trial was informed that police seized the motorcycle, in a small cabin in Nova Scotia, a month before Scarfo was arrested.

pcherry@postmedia.com

1. 

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Mandarin dictionary updates denotation of grandparents - 台北時報 - Dictionary

• By Wu Po-hsuan and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Ministry of Education has added a footnote in the abridged version of its Mandarin dictionary indicating that the terms for maternal grandparents carry the same meaning as those for paternal grandparents.

A paternal grandfather is called zufu (祖父) and a paternal grandmother is called zumu (祖母) in Mandarin, or a-gong (阿公) and a-ma (阿嬤) respectively in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).

Maternal grandparents are commonly referred to as wai zufu (外祖父) and wai zumu (外祖母) in Mandarin.

Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times

The abridged version of the Ministry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary is mainly used for elementary-school education, allowing students to learn the phrases’ meaning and contemporary definition, Lin Ching-lung (林慶隆), director of the National Academy for Educational Research’s Research Center for Translation, Compilation and Language Education, said on Friday.

The center decided to include the footnote due to concerns over gender equality, Lin said, adding that wai (外) is no longer used in legal matters.

In the Chinese language, a distinction is typically made using the terms nei (內, inner) to refer to the paternal side of the family and wai (外, outer) for the maternal side.

However, families nowadays are more likely to call grandparents of both sides of the family zufu and zumu, Lin said, adding that the footnote was added to reflect contemporary usage.

However, this does not mean that the terms wai zufu and wai zumu, or wai gong (外公, maternal grandfather) and wai po (外婆, maternal grandmother) no longer exist or that they have been dropped, he said.

The changes were made after discussions with experts and the Legislative Yuan’s Gender Equality Committee, Lin said, adding that the center is to review the dictionary three months for phrases or words that might need to be clarified.

Any person who have questions about the definitions in the dictionary can bring the issue to the academy, he said.

The academy will review the request and convene a panel of experts to discuss the issue, allowing the dictionary to be as up-to-date as possible, he said.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

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New York Times deletes rude words from Wordle's dictionary - Eurogamer.net - Dictionary

Now that Wordle has been acquired by the New York Times, several previously guessable words have been removed from the game's dictionary.

As reported by Polygon, Wordle users will no longer be able to try words such as "whore", "bitch" and "sluts". From now on, if players do try and enter any of these words, they will be greeted with the "not in word list" message.

However, at the time of writing, users can still use the arguably equally, if not more offensive, words of "twats", "minge", "shits", "cunts" and "fucks".

These remaining words are perhaps still able to be used as guesses as they have a certain British-ness about them.

But despite their current acceptable state, the above words may not stay in as guessable options for long. A New York Times spokesperson has said: "Offensive words will always be omitted from consideration.

"As we have just started Wordle's transition to The Times website, we are still in the process of removing those words from the game play".

This ties in with the rules of the company's other word play game Spelling Bee, which also does not allow vulgar words to be used.

Unlike Wordle, Spelling Bee gives players seven letters, adorably arranged in a honeycomb pattern. From there, players then have to try and make as many words as possible from the given letters.

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Jojo's Bizarre Adventure's Translations Keep Hilariously Ruining Stands - Screen Rant - Translation

The English translation of Hirohiko Araki's manga Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has continually had to rename the characters and their powers to avoid copyright disputes, but some of these changes are hilariously absurd. Araki has a fondness for naming his characters and their powers after musical acts or specific songs, but in some foreign markets, these names carry the risk of creating legal issues. Translators of the series have therefore had to rename many of the characters and powers for the American localization while also trying to preserve the spirit of the original names.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is a manga following the adventures of the Joestar family over many generations. The manga is broken up into many different parts each following a different Joestar and beginning in part 3, it has featured a unique system of superpowers called Stands. Stands are manifestations of their user’s life energy that can grant their user various special abilities. As they appear as somewhat distinct entities despite being connected to their user, they often receive names of their own.

Related: Even Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Knows Its Heroes Look Strange

Perhaps the most iconic Stand name localization is of Funny Valentine’s stand in part 7. Funny Valentine is the villainous president of the United States and his Stand name, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, reflects Valentine's willingness to get his hands dirty to make sure his country prospers. As his Stand shares a name with an AC/DC song and album, its name was localized to the much more cumbersome Filthy Acts at a Reasonable Price. While the name also conveys Valentine’s willingness to stoop to any low in the name of American prosperity, it strips away a lot of the menacing nature of the original. However, as the original Stand name is often abbreviated as D4C, a name that is not trademarked, the English translation can refer to Valentine’s Stand as D4C most of the time, disregarding the full translated name. This is unfortunately not the case for Sports Maxx’s Stand’s name in part 6.

Sports Maxx is a rather important minor villain in Stone Ocean. He is an integral part of the backstory of Ermes Costello, the main ally of part 6’s main character Jolyne Cujoh. He got sent to prison after murdering Ermes’ sister and is the main reason Ermes is incarcerated. He is a brutally violent man whose Stand Limp Bizkit enables him to turn corpses into invisible zombies that he can sic on his enemies. While Limp Bizkit isn’t the most intimidating name for such a terrifying power, its reference to the hard rap-rocking band of the same name at least indicates the aggressive nature of the wraiths it creates. The name of this ability is localized as Flaccid Pancake, stripping the stand name of any violent implications and belying the deadly nature of Sports Maxx’s Stand. It is simply impossible to take anything named Flaccid Pancake seriously, despite it being one of the most terrifying Stands in Part 6.

Given that the series often employs its band/song theme, these localized Stand names aren't uncommon, from Spice Girl becoming Spice Lady to Green Day becoming Green Tea. Of course, the American localization of these stand names in no way reflects poorly on the translators who brought this series to an English-speaking audience. Translation is already an immensely difficult job without having to add in the complications of complying with copyright law. However, the comical nature of theses Stand name localizations do make it very hard to take some of the deadliest threats in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure seriously.

More: Bleach's Most Hated Arc is its Version of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Invisible Woman Body Paint Cosplay Showcases Most Underrated Superpower

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A Devil's Dictionary of Development - Mountain Xpress - Dictionary

BY STEVE RASMUSSEN

Vast masses of money exert a powerful pull that perverts once-well-intentioned words and concepts into twisted oxymorons. Nowhere is this more true than in the world of planning and development.

Most Asheville and Buncombe County residents know the mordant joke that a new development around here is always named for the species whose habitat it wipes out. But after spending two decades reporting on, participating in and organizing against local urban planning decisions, I’ve come to realize that cynical paradoxes of that sort pervade the planning and development process so extensively that … well, only the sarcastic shade of Ambrose Bierce — the hypocrisy-puncturing 19^th-century journalist who wrote The Devil’s Dictionary — can do them justice. Accordingly, I offer the following suggested entries (with word usage examples):

Affordable housing

1. A rare, some say mythical, creature that developers insist will appear only when all tracts of forest have been replaced by blocks of apartments, but which, even then, will be frightened off by the merest whisper of “rent control.”
2. A token concession by a developer that gives an elected official political cover to approve a large luxury-housing project, thereby insidiously increasing the very gentrification that the politician claims credit for opposing.

“Of course, the area median income goes up every year with gentrification: More and more wealthy people moving to Asheville means the area median income is skyrocketing, making [the 80% of AMI] standard of affordable housing less and less relevant to people of the working class.” (Perrin de Jong, presentation to the Urban Forestry Commission, Nov. 2, 2021)

Approval

A foregone conclusion. (Planningspeak, imitative of the sound made by repeated rubber-stamping.)

Of the 18 development projects it reviewed in 2021, the Asheville Planning and Zoning Commission gave approval to 16 (per P&Z meeting minutes).

Change

1. A supposedly unstoppable force. Alleged to be beneficial when associated with development but harmful when associated with climate, even though its cause in both cases is the same.
2. The ultimate fallback argument for why one’s opponents should just give up and accept their defeat as inevitable. Formerly known as “progress,” a mid-20th-century buzzword rendered impolitic by the racist consequences of urban “renewal.”

“In his closing remarks, [attorney Craig] Justus told neighbors he understands their concerns, but the developer has the right to build housing on the land. … ‘People don’t like change, but change does occur,’ he said.” (Asheville Citizen-Times, July 11, 2018)

Compromise

A never-failing con wherein a developer demands some outrageous multiple of what he wants and then is reluctantly pressured into settling for a fraction — thus achieving his goal by letting his opponents think they’ve forced him into a concession.

The compromise, she said, is that RCG-Killian has pulled original plans that would have called for the demolition of 12 historic homes. … Under the new plan, four homes … would be demolished to make way for the 19 town homes. (WLOS news, Sept. 20, 2021)

Density

The doctrine that the more you crowd people into the city, the less they will want to flee to the country.

“0.56 acres – Asheville, North Carolina (Buncombe County): Build your mountain dream home in a clean-air, low-density and secure environment! Prime development.” (TheLandStore.com)

Growth

The unquestioned certainty that more is always better, as manifested in the gluttonous sprawl of modern cities, highways and waistlines. An ecologically suicidal compulsion to expand, just as cancer spreads till it dies by killing its host.

“One of the few ‘arguments’ we’ve continually heard from those who are in favor of building a hot-mix asphalt plant in East Flat Rock is that it will bring in new jobs and, therefore, stimulate economic growth in the county.” (Shannon Nicholson, Friends of East Flat Rock)

Infill

The monthslong chorus of chainsaws, backup beepers and roofing hammers that precedes a permanent neighborhood traffic jam. (Alt French, enfillet, to pack sardines into a tin.)

“Phyllis Pedersen, whose daughter owns a 100-year-old home in Montford, cautioned against developing parcels that serve to divert stormwater without proper engineering. She said her daughter’s home now floods after an infill home was constructed on a neighboring lot.” (“Council Supports Higher Density Residential Development,” Feb. 24, 2016, Xpress)

Market, The

An all-powerful, all-consuming god with an invisible hand that capriciously spins the world’s wheels of fate and fortune. Its most fervent cultists believe that when The Market is “up,” sacrifices of mature trees, wild animals and poor people must be offered in order to win Its favor — and to avoid being themselves pitched into Its devouring maw by competing true believers. But when Its appetite becomes “saturated,” The Market is said to fall into a “downturn,” and mystic agents of “marketing” are summoned to rouse the scowling leviathan from Its funk and persuade It to smile hungrily once more upon Its devotees, that they may forever reap bountiful “profits.”

“Quite unlike the Great Recession, the current housing market is fundamentally strong and will actually lead us back to economic recovery.” (Debbie Williams, Beverly-Hanks Realtors)

NIMBY (acronym for “nightmare in my backyard”)

1. A derogatory term for a person who is prejudiced against cranes and earthmovers.
2. An obstacle to Change (see above).

“NIMBYs can be a thorn in the side; their existence is based on overriding the concept of property rights on which the country was built and prospered. This time, however, the NIMBYs had a point.” (Tribune Papers, Oct. 24, 2021)

Sleek

In the rarefied aesthetic atmosphere of a planning board hearing, there is no such thing as an ugly building. That rigidly rectilinear glass-and-concrete box that you or I or practically anyone throughout the previous history of civilization might misperceive as sterile and impersonal is, in reality, “sleek” — and since all artistic judgments are subjective anyway, the emotional reactions of residents who will have to live in the shadow of those bleak, blank walls every day must be dismissed in favor of the out-of-town architect’s rosy portrayal of his characterless cube as “modernist.” Only if you get him drunk after the hearing will you find out that he despises the developer who hired him but refuses to pay for creative design, forcing the highly educated architect to churn out this bloated pig he now has to lipstick as “sleek.”

“Located on Beaucatcher Mountain, this 97-unit apartment community offers panoramic mountain views and sleek contemporary design.” (www.apartmentlist.com)

Smart Growth

The superstitious belief that we can stop developers from destroying rural environments by incentivizing them to destroy urban neighborhoods instead. The actual result: They are now free to destroy both (see also Density; Infill).

“If applied uncritically, Smart Growth can direct capital into projects that set the stage for new, upscale development, rather than meeting the needs of neighbors. A new bike path or pocket park may sound appealing on its face but can drive economic forces that lead to gentrification and displacement.” (mountaintrue.org, March 9, 2021)

Variance

Popes grant indulgences, presidents issue pardons and planning officials approve variances. Never rest easy, O residents, in the belief that a hard-won zoning law protects your community from bad development: Any builder who can fog a mirror can persuade those fellow developers who are warming chairs on a planning commission to champion an exception for him, and you may once again be forced to rally your weary neighbors and troop down to City Hall to do battle in the stress-sweat-drenched arena of a public hearing.

“The board did not reach a conclusion about the height variance, instead deciding to continue the discussion.” (“Richmond Hill Residents Hunker Down For Fight Over Proposed Development,” March 2, 2021, Xpress)

Former Mountain Xpress reporter Steve Rasmussen is a Wiccan priest and author, as well as a quixotically optimistic civic and environmental activist.

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Letter: RNC rewrites the dictionary | Letters to the Editor | unionleader.com - The Union Leader - Dictionary

RNC rewrites dictionary

To the Editor: The Republican National Committee describes the day seven died and over 140 were injured as a time of “legitimate political discourse.” The word legitimate is defined as “according to the law” and discourse means “talk or conversation.”

We all know that on Jan. 6 Capital Police were beaten, leaders of both parties were hunted through the halls of Congress and a noose was on display for our vice president. There was nothing lawful or conversational about it.

The RNC is minimizing and whitewashing the violence. Their bizarre description of “legitimate political discourse” defies reason. It is frightening to see this normalizing of violence and chaos. Aggression and intimidation are anathema to democracy. The RNC’s abuse of language is damaging to our country and is an attack on democracy.

KATHLEEN BOLLERUD

Harrisville

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[Weekender] What the Korean dictionary says about society - The Korea Herald - Dictionary

(123rf)

Korean men who grew up in the 1980s or 90s would likely remember the first time they were taken to the barber shop, a transformative moment of entering the realm of men instead of tagging along with their mothers to join other women at the hair salon.

Hair salons are for women, and barber shops are for men. This was the mainstream view back then. But these places are no longer defined as such, and changing definitions in the Korean language reflect changes in society.

The National Institute of Korean Language, in charge of publishing the dictionary of standard South Korean language, announced last year an update that included an overhaul of previously gender-specific words.

For example, the definition of “mi-yong-sil” (hair salon) was previously described as “a place where professional care for hair and appearence of mostly women takes place.” The new version omitted the “mostly women” part.

The same deletion of the “mostly women” part also happened for scarves and “yangsan,” which are parasols.

The NIKL has had yearly updates to its official dictionary since 2014, adding new words or revising the definition of existing ones. The online dictionary is accessible at https://ift.tt/0GXPiVt.

One of the widespread preconceptions in Korean society was that outside affairs are predominantly for men, which was reflected in the word “hak-bu-hyeong.” This literally means father or brother of a student, referring to the student‘s guardian.

According to the dictionary, now “hak-bu-hyeong” is defined as “a term formerly used to refer to a student’s guardian.” It has been replaced by the gender-neutral “hak-bu-mo,” which means a student‘s parent.

Some definitions reflect heightened awareness of animal rights. “Do-duk-go-yang-i,” translated as thieving cat, was used to describe stray cats in the standard Korean dictionary. But the latest update included “gil-go-yang-i,” which literally translates to street cat, taking away the derogatory meaning of stray cats as thieves.

According to the NIKL, when a certain word is widely used by the public and has a specific definition, it goes through a committee review and is added as a new word upon approval. Public opinion and recommendations by the Human Rights Commission of Korea also factor in the reviews.

A case of such a change was over fertility, stemming from human rights complaints. A civic group called the Korea Federation of Subfertility Family began a campaign in 2005 promoting the use of “nan-im,“ (subfertility) instead of “bul-im,” (infertility). The group claimed that using the former instigates guilt or feelings of inferiority for women.

As a result, the NIKL added the “nam-im” for the first time in its dictionary in 2011. The group’s complaint was also reflected in the 2012 revision of the Mother and Child Health Act that used “nan-im” instead of “bul-im.”

Despite the updates, some point out that the official dictionary still lacks consideration for those outside the mainstream.

Rep. Oh Young-hun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said that the NIKL’s official language is devoid of words related to social minorities or marginalized groups.

As of January 2021, there is no word in the official dictionary that refers to immigrant workers, or “i-ju-no-dong-ja” in Korean, despite its frequent use in popular discourse and government documents. The same goes for transgender or queer, although homosexuality (dong-seong-ae) and bisexuality (yang-seong-ae) are registered.

“Language is a container for thoughts and culture, and it should fulfill its duty to resolve social inequality,” Oh said in his press release.

In order to supplement the official dictionary, the NIKL in October 2016 launched an open online dictionary called “Woori Mal Saem“ (https://ift.tt/1siBwVI). The open dictionary allows users to freely add new words, except for curses. Its database currently stands at 1.1 million words and climbing, over twice the 511,348 words in the NIKL’s standard Korean dictionary.

Just like other languages around the world, the transformation of the Korean language is an ongoing process, with revisions of existing words’ definitions and additions of new words.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)

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