FEATURES
WHO'S WHO?
Can you identify the people above and the
language-related reason they have been in
the news?
1 2 3 4 5
WHO SAID (AND WHY)?
1 "Can you imagine Christmas at Sandringham
is like: 'I'm sorry your majesty, but I only
drink yang yank yong ying ming milk'."
2 "When, in my books, Italian succumbs and
takes on dialectal cadences, it's a sign that,
in the language as well, past and present
are getting anxiously, painfully confused."
3 "I've wasted the entire morning insulting the
mothers and rhetorical paucity of Spanish
fascists and Francoists on Twitter. But I have
learned that 'smell your balls' is actually a
compliment. So it's a bit of a break-even."
4 "[I] told them that I would only accept a
translation with no cut of any sort. They
basically wanted to cut almost all parts
referring to contemporary China, and in
particular to inequality and opacity in China."
5 "It would be kinda like The Matrix – you
want to speak a different language, no
problem, just download the program."
Answers on page 29.
EMBARRASSING BLUNDERS
1 What retailer was accused of using
"garbage machine translation" after
labelling a cat T-shirt with a vulgar word
due to the double meaning of 'pussy'?
2 Why did Sky apologise to the fans and
players of Rangers (pictured) and Celtic
football clubs following an incident
dubbed Translate-gate?
3 How did Facebook get into trouble with
the Chinese President Xi Jinping?
4 Why did an Australian mining company
change its name from Adani to a Latin
word meaning 'crooked', 'mercenary'
or 'assassin'?
5 Why did Fox News anchor Sean Hannity
change the subtitle for his book Live
Free or Die: America (and the world)
after it was published by Threshold
Editions in August?
'GLASGOW
RANGERS
VS
HEARTS,
IBROX
STADIUM,
23/7/11',
ALEX
CHAPMAN
(CC
BY-SA
3.0);
'BONG
JOON-HO
2017',
DICK
THOMAS
JOHNSON
(CC
BY
2.0);
'BTS
FOR
LG
ELECTRONICS
IN
2018',
©LG
ELECTRONICS
(CC
BY
2.0);
'SAMUEL
L
JACKSON
ON
JUNE
26,
2019',
©
GLENN
FRANCIS,
WWW.PACIFICPRODIGITAL.COM;
'MISHAL
HUSAIN;
REPORTER
FOR
THE
BBC',
WILLSTAR
7/5/10
(CC
BY-SA
3.0)
WATCH WORDS
1 Why were there special updates to the
OED in April and July?
2 Why was a US professor sacked after using
the Chinese word na-ge (那个) in a lecture?
3 How did the world learn the Chinese word
jiayóu (加油; lit. 'add oil') in January?
4 Why was a family barred from putting
In ár gcroíthe go deo (meaning 'in our
hearts forever') on a gravestone in Coventry
(a decision that was later overturned)?
5 Funding was cancelled for the translation of
US census forms into which languages?
NEWSWORTHY
1 Released in the UK in February, what is the
film Les Traducteurs about?
2 What percentage of adults in the UK
attempted to learn a language during the
first lockdown?
3 Why was rapper Jay Park allegedly slapped
by UFC featherweight Brian Ortega?
4 In which language did Prince William
congratulate Alex Duguid as the TV
interpreter was awarded an MBE?
5 Why was a 'Happy Brexit Day' note
reported to the police after it was pinned
up in a Norwich block of flats?
@Linguist_CIOL
WHAT LINKS…
1 Canadian Brewery Hell's Basement
and Huruhuru leather shop in
New Zealand?
2 Artists Black Eyed Peas and
Minor Science?
3 Pando, Miss Rona and
happy hypoxia?
4 Changes to education policy
in India and Mongolia?
5 BLM, Megxit and TikTokers?
