Words Wide Web – Christmas edition

Yes, recently this blog has been left behind. But I’m not completely gone — or done yet. My Christmas gift for you is this new collection of links:

Button based on an image by Ben-ichi on Flickr

Biscuits and cookies: etymology of cookie names

Full stop: a guide to punctuation marks (“¿Seriously… You’re, doing- it- wrong»”).

Geography: the meaning of names

Illuminated: the British Library has decided to release the images on the Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts as public domain works.

Writers: ways to improve sales for self-published writers

Words Wide Web – November

Alternate title: interesting things I read on the Net this month.

Button based on an image by Ben-ichi on Flickr

Better: make everything OK (don’t worry, it doesn’t do anything bad to your computer!)

Children: how to raise word geeks

Irrational: the periodic table of non-scientific theories

Symbols: lesser-known editing and proofreading marks

Humor: me translate funny one day

Untranslatable: Fuchsia MacAree’s illustrations of words English could adopt

Click here for Italian links.

Words Wide Web – October

Alternate title: interesting things I read on the Net this month.

Button based on an image by Ben-ichi on Flickr

Chart: the Asian restaurant rule.

Colors: a dictionary dancing flamenco.

Fail: just hilarious.

Translation: 10 ways it shapes your life.

Translation (2): death by translation?

Click here for Italian links.

Their words – June reading list

A round-up of interesting things I read on the Internet:

Italian: I’m not sure what to think about this piece by Peter Hainsworth on Italian literature

Myths: Nathalie Kelly on the 10 most widespread myths about the translation industry

Origins: 11 common phrases and how they came to be

Slang: Julie Coleman comments on slang lifespan

If you can read Italian, check out my round-up of Italian links.

The good and the bad of translation

The good:

Want to read a good translation? Check out the 2012 finalists of the Best Translated Book Awards, chosen by the University of Rochester.

The bad:

I’m not a Potter-fan, have never been, and am even less so whenever I read how Ms. Rowling and all the Potter-establishment deal with translators. Read this horror “gorilla vs translator” story by the Hebrew translator of the series.