You may have come across the term “Girl Dinner,” even if you don’t scroll through TikTok. Last summer, the New York Times ran an explainer about the TikTok popular phrase women coined to describe eating an assortment of snacks (think a couple of slices of cucumber, a slice of deli meat, and a chocolate chip cookie) instead of a full entrée.
Now, Dictionary.com has taken another step to solidify that term-- and more than 300 other words-- into the lexicon of American language.
Last week, Dictionary.com announced it was adding 327 new entries, 173 definitions, and 1,228 revised additions to its site. The newly-added terms run the gamut from pop culture and slang to science words and fashion terminology.
Here’s a look at some of the new definitions:
girl dinnernoun. an often attractively presented collection of snacks that involve little preparation, such as small quantities of cold cuts, cheese, fruit, cherry tomatoes, etc., deemed sufficient to constitute a meal for one.
midadjective. mediocre, unimpressive, or disappointing.
cheat codenoun. a ploy or technique that bypasses traditional methods or rules in order to improve oneself or one’s success.
This more recent sense of the term is an extension of its use in the context of video games, in which it refers to a hidden command, code, etc., used to gain an advantage, such as by advancing levels or enhancing a character’s strengths.
bed rottingnoun. the practice of spending many hours in bed during the day, often with snacks or an electronic device, as a voluntary retreat from activity or stress.
The translator of Japanese artist duo Nishioka Kyodai’s ‘Kafka: A Manga Adaptation’ talks about hybrid translation and Kafka’s influence on Japanese literature
What drew you to translate this collection?
David Yang (Courtesy Pushkin Press)
Kafka has long been one of my favourite writers, so I jumped at the opportunity. I was immediately blown away by the art style, as I felt Nishiokya Kyodai did a fabulous job at capturing the uncanny and disorienting sense of impending doom that I had always gotten from reading Kafka’s prose. Moreover, since I had majored in German literature in my undergraduate days, I thought it was the perfect chance to combine my background in German studies with my current focus on Japanese literature.
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What was it like to translate Kafka’s stories into manga?
Unlike translating a novel, translating a manga, especially one as wordy as this, entails being as concise as I could so that the words would fit into the text boxes, preserving as much of the excellent artwork as possible. In this sense, the process of translation was kind of like translating film subtitles or poetry, where spatial and visual considerations influence what you can do. This was challenging for me as someone who prefers long sentences. Another challenge was striking a balance between German and Japanese. The title page of the English edition of the manga says “translated from the Japanese,” but actually most of it was translated from the German. As I mention in my afterword, I tried to come up with an English version that is somewhere in between Kafka’s German original and Osamu Ikeuchi’s wonderful Japanese translation, which Nishioka Kyodai selected as the basis for the text. This resulted in an extremely stimulating but also challenging process of hybrid translation, during which I was constantly confronted with the task of deciding between preserving features of the German original and that of the Japanese translation. Overall, I think I stuck more to the German than to the Japanese, but tended to use a register that is slightly more formal than that of Kafka’s original since that was the tone I got from Ikeuchi’s Japanese.
Illustrated by Nishioka Kyodai, translated by David Yang (Pushkin Press)
A lot of Japanese writers have been inspired by Franz Kafka’s works, especially Haruki Murakami. Tell us your thoughts about how Western literature and art has influenced contemporary Japanese culture.
It is not possible to properly discuss the influence of Western literature and art on contemporary Japanese culture without writing a tome so I will limit myself to Kafka. Last November, I had the opportunity to attend a conference on Kafka where three Akutagawa Prize winning Japanese novelists — Kaori Fujino, Hiroko Oyamada, and Takahiro Ueda — discussed Kafka’s influence on their works. Another Akutagawa Prize winner, Yoko Tawada, writes in both Japanese and German and has translated Kafka into Japanese. This really shows how present Kafka still is within contemporary Japanese discourse. I can’t say if Kafka’s influence is particularly strong in Japan, but it is possible that an experience with Japanese bureaucracy leads to a better understanding of his work, and I say this only half in jest.
As a translator, what’s the best way to approach a text that is a classic and has been read worldwide, especially in English, a language that’s considered hegemonic?
As a long time fan of Kafka, I really treasured the chance to produce a new English rendition of his works, but since there were already so many excellent English translations, it was quite a daunting task at first. Because the unusual nature of this project, however, with the twofold mediation of the visuals and the Japanese translation, I also felt that I was liberated from the duty of producing a more “literal” translation. The point of the project, as I saw it, was to create something fresh, a translation that was perhaps more faithful to the spirit of Kafka’s work than to the letter, as it were. Normally, relay translations (ie translating from a translation) are seen as inferior and inadequate, but in this case (although I did rely heavily on the original) I think the Japanese translation standing in between the English and the German actually yielded better results. I understand the concern with the hegemonic status of English, but my hope is that this translation might provide an entry point into Kafka’s works for as wide an audience as possible, and maybe even encourage some of the readers to pick up German or Japanese in the future. I was very heartened to read a recent article on Kafka by Nilanjana Roy in the Financial Times in which she recounts an encounter with two young women reading my translation aloud near Hauz Khas lake in Delhi on a wintry day.
Which out of these nine stories is your favourite and why?
I personally enjoy Nishioka Kyodai’s rendition of The Hunger Artist the most since it is like a flip book animation in which you can see the hunger artist gradually dwindling in size as his fast goes on. This creates a formalist frame for the story that is absent in the original prose, and I think this kind of visual formalism is an excellent complement to the story that takes it beyond what words could have achieved alone.
What are some of the other classic texts that you wish were adapted in the form of graphic novels / manga?
I think allegorical and atmospheric rather than plot-heavy expository texts work best for the graphic novel format. I am thinking along the lines of classic texts such as Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities or Cosmocomics (even has the word comics in it, so it really is a low hanging fruit!). Some of the stories of Jorge Luis Borges, like The Library of Babel and the Circular Ruins, come to mind as well.
Arunima Mazumdar is an independent writer. She is @sermoninstone on Twitter and @sermonsinstone on Instagram.
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Two recent university graduates from Lebanon say their invention, a glove that can help translate sign language, could be a game-changer for millions of people in the deaf community as well as others who have hearing loss or potential speech difficulties.
“This is basically a gesture translator,” said Samir Elias, who, along with his co-founder Wassim Omran, invented the device and started the company they are calling, Infinity Glove.
“The deaf person wears the glove, then after they would sign whatever they want to say, a phrase, a name, or their own personal sign language, a bluetooth signal is sent to the phone application, and then you can see it would say what was signed,” he explained.
The phone app has several options for translation output languages, and also allows for custom gestures to be programmed depending on user preferences, potentially broadening the use cases of the overall device.
Infinity Glove was most recently on display at the Step 2024 technology and entrepreneurial conference in Dubai, one of hundreds of start-ups seeking to leave a mark and potentially receive investment and partnerships.
“We're in the early stage in terms of start-ups,” said Mr Elias, acknowledging the bulky nature of the prototype glove that consists of chips and other computer components.
“It's a very basic prototype and we've been working on it for just a year, but now we're working on something that will be more of a comfortable design and hide the wires,” he added.
The Infinity Glove connects with a proprietary app which can translate sign language into words played through a phone speaker.
As for the company's business model, both Mr Elias and Mr Imran say the potential market is bigger than many might realise, with hundreds of millions of individuals suffering from various hearing loss and speech disorder issues.
“There are children, teens, adults and seniors who could also benefit from assistive communication technologies like this,” said Mr Elias, who noted other potential versions of Infinity Glove.
“Eventually it could be something as small as a smartwatch or a ring that could detect motion, all while keeping the user comfortable.”
Infinity Glove recently received a patent in Lebanon, but the company is actively looking to obtain more patents in other parts of the world.
Mr Elias said Lebanon's continuing and worsening economic crisis, which began in 2019, has proven to be a pain point for the start-up, which is seeking out investors.
Infinity Glove did not give an estimate for when a final product might be available, but did say the start-up is a little more than one year old.
Creators of Infinity Glove acknowledge the bulkiness of the prototype device, but say future iterations will be much smaller.
Marketing literature for the company promotes the product as a potential solution for the 'differently abled community', speech therapy centres, hospitals, and individuals with hearing and speech impairments.
“Individuals with hearing difficulties face significant challenges in communicating,” read a pamphlet from the company. “It could lead to isolation and misunderstanding.”
Overall, Infinity Glove falls into what many analysts describe as the assistive technology market.
According to Vantage Market Research, revenue from assistive technology could reach $31 billion by 2030 as technology develops and products are able to scale at a quicker pace.
Donald Trump offered an explanation for Melania Trump’s absence on the campaign trail, and Jimmy Kimmel had a crack at unraveling the spin.
The comedian said Thursday that the former president had been asked about “the notable absence of his future ex-wife Melania” during the second part of his Fox News town hall event that aired Wednesday.
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“When I do rallies, I have so many signs [saying] ‘We love our first lady,’” Trump explained.
“People love it,” he continued. “They love the fact that she’s not out there so much. You know, a lot of first ladies ...They want to be everywhere. They get angry at their husband because he’s not introducing them. If I didn’t introduce Melania, she’d be very happy about it.”
“In other words,” Kimmel interpreted, “you will not be seeing Melania any time soon.”
Melania Trump has made few public appearances since leaving the White House and rarely joins her husband on the campaign trail. Donald Trump has suggested several times that this would change. In September, he said she would be joining him on the trail “pretty soon.” And last month, he said, “she’s gonna play, and she always did play a big role” in his campaigns.
Kimmel also responded to a Wednesday Truth Social post from Trump about the late-night host’s possible retirement.
Trump wrote: “They could get a far more talented person, who would also get better Ratings, for 5% of what they are paying this Loser!”
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Kimmel was delighted by the shoutout.
“That is a hell of a way to find out you’re not going to be somebody’s running mate,” he said, adding, “I’m gonna try to enjoy it because you know, he probably won’t be able to do this when they take away his phone in prison.”
Watch Kimmel’s monologue on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” below.
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It is often said the Inuit have dozens of words to describe types of snow, and in Japan it is the same for rice. Now, a collaborative effort is underway to refine and define the terminology used to describe the nation's dietary staple.
A national research center and a private company have begun working together to think up clever definitions to be used in a rice terminology dictionary in a bid to more accurately and descriptively catalog the myriad words that define rice's taste, aroma and texture in the Japanese language.
Rice producers and distributors are hoping by setting standards for common expressions that are often a little ambiguous, they can more accurately convey the "individuality" of products to consumers, such as "rice that has a sweet aroma, is fluffy yet firm with a strong umami flavor."
In January, at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation (Naro) in Tsukuba, Ibaraki prefecture, food researcher Fumiyo Hayakawa and others were engaged in heated discussions over freshly cooked rice.
A collaborative effort is under way to refine and define the terminology used to describe rice. Photo: Getty Image
They tried to define terminology that describes differences in rice firmness or graininess, for instance. Hayakawa’s team is partnering with Itochu Food Sales and Marketing, a subsidiary of major trading house Itochu Corporation, to create the dictionary.
Naro sells an agriculture technical encyclopaedia with terms involving crops, as well as management, distribution and marketing. Its Japanese-language texture terminology describes foods including cooked white rice, shrimp, udon noodles, bread and more.
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In production, distribution and sales, experts conduct “sensory evaluations” in which they judge aroma, taste and texture. The results are used to influence the development of new rice varieties, as well as to promote products.
However, there has been concern that there is no uniformity in the recognition of expressions or that the same words are overused, resulting in less accurate evaluations.
Toshiya Amano, general manager of the rice division at Itochu Food Sales and Marketing, which sells milled rice to convenience stores and other retailers, gave an example of the descriptions of rice that have been confusing to some consumers.
“For example, some people consider ‘fresh rice’ to mean ‘sticky rice’,” Amano says.
A bowl of freshly cooked rice. Photo: Getty Images
However, since it was “unrealistic” to quantify all textures and aromas, the company sought a solution by beginning research with Naro in 2021.
First, a dozen researchers skilled in evaluation tasted 32 rice products and shared their impressions
The taste tests involved trying more than 110 types of rice, such as freshly cooked, rice that had been cooked but left out for some time, convenience store rice balls, and rice from packages for long-term storage.
“Spring in the Rice Fields” (circa 1800) by Katsushika Hokusai. Rice is Japan’s dietary staple. Photo: Getty Images
More than 7,000 terms were gathered. Hayakawa says some of the descriptions are unique, such as “a taste like natto” – fermented soybeans – or “an aroma like boiled eggs”.
“If we put them into a dictionary, we can pick up on characteristics that have been overlooked until now because they could not be contextualised,” says Hayakawa, adding they also verified what processes render such distinct flavours.
They have narrowed down the words – in the four categories of appearance, taste, aroma and texture – to about 100 and are now in the process of defining them. The meaning of even standard terms such as “glossy” and “sweet aroma” are hard to convey, Hayakawa says.
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Synonyms and antonyms are introduced, and supplements are added to provide context in evaluations.
The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2025 and will later be released on Naro’s website.
Hayakawa is enthusiastic about what the dictionary will have to offer people fond of rice in its various forms.
“I want to make this a tool to convey the attractiveness of rice not only to evaluation experts but also to consumers,” she says.
