Disappointment at Collins dictionary word of the year 2023 - Watford Observer - Dictionary

It was the word equivalent of the emperor’s new clothes as, well, AI is not ‘a’ word, but an acronym for Artificial Intelligence. The announcement was as dull as the book it serves, yet, sadistically I will be back in 2024 for more pain when Collins have nowhere to go other than upping the ante.

Other words of the year were somewhat more impressive and worthy of the mantle: Bazball, which I had never heard of, means ‘a style of test cricket in which the batting team plays in a highly aggressive manner’. Unsure of the origins of the word, no doubt it is named after someone who is a master of leather on willow, or whatever it is, called Barry, and unsurprisingly ‘Barryball’ doesn’t fit the mould of the average cricket connoisseur.

I could do with some ‘Semuglutide’ which is a medication used to suppress hunger. I reckon it is not needed by most of us however as rampant inflation and the never-ending cost of living crises have done more to suppress obesity due to lack of family finance, than a medication that few have heard of, let alone partaken in.

If up to me, the word of the year would have been one on the Collins shortlist: greedflation. The supermarket big boys, believing we are but a rabble of sub intellectual twonks have not only shifted the work onto us via self-service but also by using ‘inflation’ as the go to reason for doubling and trebling prices in the aisles as they unsurprisingly manage to keep profit margins at healthy levels. They then wring their hands and invite us to the pity party as they recount figures of shoplifting, which is now at epidemic levels as our morals, like our finances, become crippled.

Another word (again, technically an acronym) that made the list and has every London resident spitting feathers is ULEZ. A subsidiary word is also bandied around as it is touted as the ‘brainchild’ of the London Mayor, who seems hell bent on deflecting attention away from a homelessness epidemic that leaves London looking like a shantytown at times, as well as knife crime levels that makes Soweto look like St Tropez.

And last, but not least, Collins scraped the barrel with a word that I am sure has been around for donkeys: Nepo baby. It is a term used to describe a person in the entertainment industry whose career is believed to have been advanced by courtesy of having famous parents. Of course, they would muster, they would have reached the dizzying heights of an appearance on I’m a Celebrity or Children in Need anyhow, whilst we sit there knowing that the opposite is true as we are enriched with the talents of Beckham's kids, Peter Andre’s son, Tommy Fury, who has reached ‘fame’ through having a famous brother, and Ronan Kemp, to name but a few.

But alas, our feasting over the carcass of the slim pickings that make up the Collins word of the year are now over as no doubt you wish this column had been written by a more able entity such as Gordon Ramsey's offspring or artificial intelligence…

• Brett Ellis is a teacher

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Disappointment at Collins dictionary word of the year 2023 - Watford Observer - Dictionary

It was the word equivalent of the emperor’s new clothes as, well, AI is not ‘a’ word, but an acronym for Artificial Intelligence. The announcement was as dull as the book it serves, yet, sadistically I will be back in 2024 for more pain when Collins have nowhere to go other than upping the ante.

Other words of the year were somewhat more impressive and worthy of the mantle: Bazball, which I had never heard of, means ‘a style of test cricket in which the batting team plays in a highly aggressive manner’. Unsure of the origins of the word, no doubt it is named after someone who is a master of leather on willow, or whatever it is, called Barry, and unsurprisingly ‘Barryball’ doesn’t fit the mould of the average cricket connoisseur.

I could do with some ‘Semuglutide’ which is a medication used to suppress hunger. I reckon it is not needed by most of us however as rampant inflation and the never-ending cost of living crises have done more to suppress obesity due to lack of family finance, than a medication that few have heard of, let alone partaken in.

If up to me, the word of the year would have been one on the Collins shortlist: greedflation. The supermarket big boys, believing we are but a rabble of sub intellectual twonks have not only shifted the work onto us via self-service but also by using ‘inflation’ as the go to reason for doubling and trebling prices in the aisles as they unsurprisingly manage to keep profit margins at healthy levels. They then wring their hands and invite us to the pity party as they recount figures of shoplifting, which is now at epidemic levels as our morals, like our finances, become crippled.

Another word (again, technically an acronym) that made the list and has every London resident spitting feathers is ULEZ. A subsidiary word is also bandied around as it is touted as the ‘brainchild’ of the London Mayor, who seems hell bent on deflecting attention away from a homelessness epidemic that leaves London looking like a shantytown at times, as well as knife crime levels that makes Soweto look like St Tropez.

And last, but not least, Collins scraped the barrel with a word that I am sure has been around for donkeys: Nepo baby. It is a term used to describe a person in the entertainment industry whose career is believed to have been advanced by courtesy of having famous parents. Of course, they would muster, they would have reached the dizzying heights of an appearance on I’m a Celebrity or Children in Need anyhow, whilst we sit there knowing that the opposite is true as we are enriched with the talents of Beckham's kids, Peter Andre’s son, Tommy Fury, who has reached ‘fame’ through having a famous brother, and Ronan Kemp, to name but a few.

But alas, our feasting over the carcass of the slim pickings that make up the Collins word of the year are now over as no doubt you wish this column had been written by a more able entity such as Gordon Ramsey's offspring or artificial intelligence…

• Brett Ellis is a teacher

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Interview: Janani Kannan, translator - Hindustan Times - Translation

ByChintan Girish Modi

Jan 05, 2024 10:26 PM IST

On translating the award-winning Fire Bird by Perumal Murugan and how her training as a marathon runner, an architect and a singer all show up in her work with words

What feelings did you go through when you learnt that Fire Bird won the JCB Prize for Literature?

Janani Kannan (Courtesy the subject)

I was in utter disbelief for quite a long time. Then the euphoria set it. I haven’t felt this way in a long time. I could not stop smiling the next few days. It is quite possible that I was smiling while I was asleep too!

Wrap up the year gone by & gear up for 2024 with HT! Click here

How did you end up working on this project? Were you approached with an offer to translate the novel, or did you propose this to Perumal Murugan and Penguin India?

This translation project came to me, thanks to the prolific Tamil writer Ambai (pseudonym used by CS Lakshmi). Ambai introduced me to Kannan Sundaram of the eminent Kalachuvadu Publications, who published Murguan’s novels in Tamil. I am deeply indebted to Kannan for giving me the opportunity to translate two of Murugan’s books.

What struck you about the plot, language and characters on your first reading of Aalanda Patchi?

Perumal Murugan’s style is always multilayered, and I tried to capture the main layers in my first reading. If you consider the pace of the book, it gallops in some parts, whereas it saunters in others, much like the bullock cart ride in the story. I enjoyed the contrast in how effortlessly Muthu bonded with Kuppan, versus the tenuousness of the bond with his own family built over a lifetime. I also particularly liked the portrayal of Muthu’s wife Peruma. And, despite all the uncertainties and ups and downs, I finished with a sense of hope.

What new layers, meanings and interpretations did you discover with subsequent readings?

Murugan excels at portraying complex human relationships and bringing out the various shades of grey. I started unpacking this first. The bitter and spiteful relationship laced with jealousy that the mother-in-law has with Peruma, the blind love and faith that Muthu had for his family he struggles to let go, even when he knows he was wronged. No one is absolutely right, yet everyone’s actions are relatable, if not justifiable. I quite liked Kuppan’s character, his anecdotes and actions covering a full range of human emotions from humour, loyalty and passion to melancholy, desolation and regret. I read them as small pauses in the rhythm of the main story. Additionally, I found interesting nuances on the caste and class setup sprinkled throughout the book.

To what extent did your own background as a person of Indian heritage living in the United States help you connect with themes of migration and displacement explored in the novel?

Being a migrant myself, I could immediately relate to many of the anxieties and hopes of Muthu, when he sets off on his own journey. I also hail from a family of agrarian people, and grew up spending summer times in my ancestral village where farming was central to my grandfather’s life. Some of my extended family members still practise farming. I was easily able to relate to the deep reverence for the land that comes with being a farmer. I felt deep empathy for Muthu and was able to appreciate his trepidations when first encountering a completely new community, having to kowtow to their habits and mannerisms, the pain of having to choose to move away from a tight-knit family, his expectation that his own brother would visit him sometime and so on. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic hit when I was working on this novel. I saw and heard of the grimness of migrant workers’ experiences when they got displaced due to the sudden lack of work. That affected my sensibility when working on this novel.

How was the experience of working with Perumal Murugan and your editor Manasi Subramaniam on this translation? What kind of inputs did you find most valuable while working on different drafts?

Murugan is an amazingly approachable person. I have reached out to him many times with the smallest of questions, and he has always been available for me. Not only during this translation, but this has been my experience also from other projects that I have had the honour of working with him on. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked with Manasi and her team. They have been very professional, extraordinarily patient and have guided and helped me throughout this project. I may have driven them to their wits’ ends with my reiterations and I am immensely grateful for their perseverance and thoroughness of work. Manasi also came up with the title Fire Bird. I am also particularly grateful for Shreya Punj’s insights very early in the project.

You have translated Eru Veyyil, another novel by Perumal Murugan, into English as Rising Heat. The relationship that characters share with the land they are separated from is intimate and intense in both novels. What were the challenges involved in translating emotions into English?

Both novels have autobiographical facets, one more than the other, as I understand it. That makes them both feel very intimate. Notwithstanding the fact that Rising Heat was Murugan’s first book, in my opinion, it also portrayed emotions a lot rawer and stylistically more head-on, possibly because many of the characters were based on actual people and the emotions likely very personal to him. It proved to be quite challenging to replicate the level of intensity in the translation. Fire Bird, while just as intense, was more nuanced in its approach, to me. The challenge in this translation was not to mellow it down too much to lose that fire.

How does your training as a marathon runner show up when you work with words? Does running often help you get unstuck and generate new ways of approaching a chunk of text?

My training as a marathoner helps me bring discipline to my otherwise chaotic lifestyle. Both translation work as well as training for a marathon are significant time commitments and I need that discipline for both. And of course, when I go for a run, I get precious, uninterrupted head space to ponder about the characters or think about how I relish a particular part of a text and how I could capture that in my translation. I don’t think I would get that by sitting at my desk where my efforts are more concerted.

You are also an architect and a singer. Architects work primarily with space, whereas singers work primarily with time. How do all these creative pursuits enrich each other?

I think it is impossible to separate the innate connection between time and space, be it running, design, singing, writing, even bringing up a child. What I get from my architectural background is the confidence in creative problem solving. Music lets my mind rise above the fray and the immediate care of daily life almost instantly, and is often my way of recharging. And I benefit from both these in my translation efforts.

What are you working on? Which other Tamil writers would you like to translate?

I am working on translating a few short stories for a compilation that the immensely gifted writer Perundevi is working on. There are so many great works in Tamil that are yet to receive the attention they deserve. I am very fortunate to be part of the community that is bringing them to the world.

Chintan Girish Modi is a freelance writer, journalist and book reviewer.

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Takako, known for her unpublished ‘Chemmeen’ translation, dies in Kochi | Onmanorama - Onmanorama - Translation

Kochi: Takako Thomas Mulloor, who translated the Malayalam classic novel Chemmeen into Japanese, died here on Friday. She was 81.

Takako, who spent 56 years in Kerala following her marriage with Thomas Mulloor, died at her home in Koonammavu, in the suburbs of the city, at 11 in the morning. 

Takako met Thomas Mulloor, who was an officer of the Shipping Corporation of India, in the 1960s in her homeland Kobe, Japan, as a local guide. The couple got married in 1967. 

Of the five and a half decades she lived in Kerala, Takako managed to find a space of her own in the state's cultural arena as a translator, teacher and social worker. She learned Malayalam from Sister Hilary of St Joseph's Convent, Koonammavu.

Her admiration for Malayalam literary legend Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai began after her husband gifted her the English translation of Thakazhi's celebrated novel Chemmen. Takako also got permission from Thakazhi to translate Chemmen into Japanese. Though the translation was finished way back in 1976, she could not publish it as a book.

Later, she tried to translate Thakazhi's Kayar. However, a head injury suffered in a bus accident confined her mostly to bed, forcing her to abandon the project. 

Takako taught Japanese at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) for 10 years and was also engaged in social work with the Rajagiri College of Social Sciences, Kalamassery.

She served as the liaison officer of the Japanese Consulate and translator for Japanese diplomats visiting India. She has also done translations for the Japan Broadcasting Corporation which co-produced Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Kathapurushan.

Takako is survived by children Mary Carel, Lucy Christina and Antony Joseph and children-in-law Damien, Justin and Anila. 

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Vasco Translator V4 Review: My Life Raft While Living Abroad - Condé Nast Traveler - Translation

The other thing I really like about my Vasco that isn’t necessarily an intentional function of the device is that it allows me to practice my pronunciation in Turkish. Sometimes I’ll read simple sentences or difficult words into the device and see if it transcribes the words onto the screen properly before translating them into English. If it does, I know I’m pronouncing the word or sentence properly. If it doesn’t, I know I need to keep working on how to pronounce that word. This has proved much more useful than my 220-day language learning app streak and is helping me get over my fear of making a mistake when speaking Turkish without having to make the mistakes in front of anyone other than my Vasco.

I haven’t taken my Vasco beyond Turkey just yet, but I’m confident it’ll work just as well for me while traveling: It supports 108 languages in 200 countries. The device is also equipped with lifetime LTE internet which means instant access to translations without having to fumble with a Wi-Fi code or eSIM. I also really appreciate the built-in camera that works to translate things like menus or instructions fairly efficiently. Think of it as an alternative to Google Translate—but more accurate and much easier to use while on the go.

What are the cons?

The conversations between my boyfriend's mom, Mahiye, and I are still light and playful; we mostly gently tease my boyfriend or catch up on how my family is doing back in Canada, but it gives us the freedom to communicate on a more natural level (even though she still tends to start every sentence with Hey Kait…and a brief pause as though the translation device is my personal Alexa). Although I find it adorable, the device finds this confusing and can sometimes stop recording her before she finishes her sentence, but that’s about the only hitch we tend to have.

I probably won’t use my Vasco during interactions with strangers. While it would be helpful for ordering coffee or buying groceries, I think it would feel a bit awkward and unnatural to whip out a device in those settings, as if I’m about to conduct an interview with a barista or a grocery store cashier. It has proven useful for more personal and repeated interactions, though, like effectively communicating my goals with my personal trainer while working out.

Final verdict

The Vasco V4 translator is definitely on the pricey side, but I think it’s worth it for travelers who tend to visit countries where they don't know the language or where English isn’t widely spoken as a second language. It’s comparable to free alternatives like Google Translate, but reigns supreme thanks to the precision of translation and the unlimited lifetime data—gone are the days of me hastily trying to activate an eSIM at the airport or connecting to Wi-Fi before getting into a cab. It’s a great investment for anyone moving to a new country and learning a new language in tandem or who wants to be able to practice their pronunciation on demand.

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Watch: Mohammed Siraj Credits Jasprit Bumrah For Success, Latter's Translation Wins Hearts - NDTV Sports - Translation

During the post-match presentation of the second India vs South Africa Test at Newlands in Cape Town, Jasprit Bumrah showed his humility. The ace pacer was working as a translator for Mohammed Siraj when the latter credit Bumrah for helping him during bowling. While translating it to English, Bumrah rather credited the experience of the duo and the team management. The humble act from Bumrah didn't go unnoticed as the fans widely shared the video of the interaction on social media.

"Jassi bhai hamesha jab start karte hain toh message milta hai ki kya wicket pe kon si line or length better hai. Toh wo message milne se mujhe zyada sochne ki zarurat nahi rehti hai, bas consistent wo chiz pe work karenge to success milega. Bas yahi. Wo saamne end pe rahe toh bohot hi acha lagta hai (When Bumrah starts bowling, he gives me an idea of what kind of wicket it is and which length is better on it. I don't have to think much and just have to follow it consistently to get success. When he is there at the other end, it feels good)," said Siraj.

Bumrah was kind enough to make the statement look more team centric. His translation of the statement had no mention about Siraj crediting him for his success.

"So yeah because when we play along together, he gets the message a little earlier because when I," stopped Bumrah before continuting "because of our experience, we try to analyze the wicket a little quicker so that communication goes in the bowling circuit that you know this is the wicket and this is what we are looking to do. So that helps him sometimes," said India's pace spearhead Bumrah.

Here is the video https://t.co/MJlqJNiV6Q

— Vishal Misra (@vishalmisra) January 4, 2024

While Bumrah had joined Siraj for the post-match chat as a translator, he once had to even remind him of his presence as the latter tried to answer all questions in English.

Bumrah joined as a translator, but then Siraj answered in English lol pic.twitter.com/y097PBozb7

— Mazakiya ShortLeg (@MShortleg) January 4, 2024

The Indian cricket team on Thursday capped off the tour to South Africa with a seven-wicket win in the second Test match and sqaured the series 1-1.

It was a match that belonged to Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, who picked 15 wickets among themselves. In the first innings, Siraj picked 6 for 15 while Bumrah scalped two wickets. In the following innings of South Africa, Bumrah returned figures of 6 for 61 while Siraj also picked one wicket.

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Lost in translation: New-age dictionary for expats abroad | Daily Sabah - Daily Sabah - Dictionary

Do you ever find yourself confused by what some young'uns say these days? If you're Generation X or, better yet, a boomer, you may just be confused by some of the new-age jargon that has become regular household words in the English language. From FOMO and YOLO to JOMO, gaslighting, lovebombing and ghosting, there are several new terms we best get our heads around if we want to know just what the Generation Ys and Millenials are talking about.

Top terms to know

Woke: "Woke" originally referred to being socially and politically aware, especially regarding issues of injustice and inequality. However, it's evolved and sometimes carries a connotation of performative activism or virtue signaling. It's about being awake to societal issues and actively advocating for positive change. It is an elevated version of being "politically correct," a phrase which these days has become outdated.

Hangry: We all have that friend or are one ourselves who gets agitated, light-headed and insistent on eating as soon as possible when hungry. Well, that would be because they are "hangry," which is that state of being when you're so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry or irritable. Medically, this could be a sign of low blood sugar and Hypoglycemia, which one might want to get checked out. Still, colloquially, it has become the new way of saying one is starving and snappy because of it.

Snaccident: Incidentally, another new phrase describes somewhat of an opposite situation, as the term "snaccident" refers to accidentally eating a whole snack or meal without realizing it. We've all been there, but we may not all be aware that there is now a word for inhaling something when hungry or hangry.

Nomophobia: How we survive without our cell phones is a question many of us who were privileged to have been alive before cellular phones were even a thing. This means we read maps, memorize telephone numbers and use pay phones, some of which are not nearly nonexistent. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that there is a new phobia based on the fear of being without your mobile phone and it's called "nomophobia."

Lovebombing: While it might sound like a thrill, "lovebombing" is a manipulative tactic used in relationships, where one person overwhelms the other with excessive affection, compliments and expressions of love to gain control or influence. It often involves intense and rapid displays of affection, gifts and attention, creating a sense of emotional dependency. The term is often associated with narcissistic or manipulative behavior, as lovebombing can be a precursor to more controlling and harmful actions.

Gaslighting: Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation where a person seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual, making them question their own memory, perception or sanity. It often involves the perpetrator denying or trivializing the other person's experiences or feelings, leading them to doubt their reality. By saying things such as "you're imagining things" or "I never said that," gaslighters try to undermine someone's confidence in their own thoughts and experiences, which can be a subtle and insidious form of emotional abuse.

Ghosting: The term "ghosting" used in dating and romance refers to the sudden and unexplained cessation of communication by one person, leaving the other without any closure or explanation. Essentially, it's like the person disappears as if they were a ghost, cutting off all contact forms without warning or explanation. Ghosting can be emotionally challenging for the person who experiences it, as they are left wondering what went wrong and why the other person chose to end communication abruptly.

JOMO: The "Joy of Missing Out," aka JOMO, is the latest acronym to live by and follows its predecessors, FOMO and YOLO, as mantras to live by. What used to be the popular saying "Fear of Missing Out," and in short FOMO, is no longer a desired state, but JOMO, the "Joy of Missing Out," is now. JOMO describes the pleasure of staying in and disconnecting from social events. After all, YOLO, aka "You Only Live Once," so it is important to do exactly what we want to do in life and not necessarily what others prescribe.

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