The Art of Transcreation

February 6th, 2012

We are all familiar with the results of bad translation work. During a recent project, we came across the following unfortunate misuse of a word: “The Finance Minister frequently exposes himself in public.” Google Translate has a lot to answer for.

Here at Gilpie HQ, we are all too aware that word-for-word renderings just don’t work. In fact, good translation is about much more than conveying the meaning of the original piece. A good translation must flow naturally and maintain the correct mood and tone. It must also speak to the target audience.

This means a skilled translator must not only possess excellent language skills, but an in-depth understanding of the culture he or she is writing for. It is important to know, for example, that the Hong Kong Chinese appreciate direct messages while the Mainland Chinese respond to more flowery, descriptive language.

Effective translation is a creative process that requires a great deal of skill. We like to refer to it as the fine art of ‘Transcreation’, a term coined by authors Louise Humphrey, Amy Somers, James Bradley and Guy Gilpin in their book, ‘The Little Book of Transcreation’. Over the next two weeks, we will be taking a look at some transcreation projects we have worked on, as well as some famous examples from the annals of marketing history.

Who versus Whom

January 31st, 2012

Grammar dilemmas don’t get much more challenging than who versus whom. When is each one used?

Who/whom should win the Best Actor Oscar?

Who/whom did you invite to Macau?

We’ll come back to these examples. Let’s start with helpful background. As pronouns, who and whom are simply substitutions for nouns. In this sense, who and whom are just like he and him.

To understand the distinction between who and whom, note that the two are different kinds of pronouns. Like he, who is a subject pronoun. It does the action – He sang a song. In contrast, object pronouns employ whom, which, similar to him, have the action done to them – The dog jumped on him.

Here’s how to distinguish between who and whom. Use who when referring to subjects of the sentence. Use whom when referring to objects of the sentence. In other words, substitute he or she for who and him or her for whom as a test and you have your answer.

Now back to our examples, each re-phrased with other pronouns:

Should he win the Best Actor Oscar? Who should win the Best Actor Oscar?

Did you invite him to Macau? Whom did you invite to Macau?

One more example:

Who/whom does Pat like? Does Pat like him?

Here the correct choice is whom because it’s the object of the sentence and of Pat’s affection. Some grammar gurus suggest remembering in the ‘test re-phrasings’ that both whom and him contain the letter m. That’s one mercifully easy way to navigate this vexing linguistic limbo.

How We Work: A Case Study

January 11th, 2012

Extolling Hong Kong’s virtues as a business travel destination

Over the past few months I’ve had the pleasure of working with the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions division, helping them put together an attention-grabbing publication to talk up Hong Kong’s selling points for business-related travel.

Specifically, we helped HKTB shine a spotlight on an India-based manufacturer that sent a large delegation of its most productive employees to Hong Kong on a reward trip. The idea was to use the case study to illustrate why Hong Kong is an ideal destination for business travel.

In order to gather information, I personally met with and interviewed members of the delegation, who turned out to be an enthusiastic bunch! When writing case studies, it’s important to include those special details and avoid formulaic stories. Hearing about the delegates’ experiences first hand enabled me to write vivid copy with a personal touch that readers would be able to relate to.

After submitting the first draft, I worked closely with HKTB staff to edit the copy to their satisfaction, then coordinated with GP’s savvy designers to assemble the publication’s layout. Everyone was pleased with the result.

The experience was rewarding on many levels and drew upon several qualities we Gilpies love to put forward – communication with a personal touch, a patient and professional attitude, a sharp eye for detail and a healthy dose of humour.

Where does that full stop go?

January 6th, 2012

Alright, stop. Grammar time.

If you’ll all kindly excuse that ridiculously silly introduction, we can move on to the more pressing matter of where to put that full stop when using quotation marks. Inside or outside? That is the question.

Well then, let’s break this down.

If an extract ends with a full stop, put it before the closing inverted commas.

His maxim was that “love follows laughter.”

If a complete sentence in quotes comes at the end of a larger sentence, the final full stop should be inside the inverted commas.

He said “I think my jokes have too many puns.” She replied, “No, your jokes are not punny at all.”

If the quotation does not include any punctuation, the closing inverted commas should precede any punctuation marks that the sentence requires. Thus:

“Once it’s been given to you,” the wizard said, “it will always be yours”.

In summing up, if the quoted material would have contained the punctuation mark in the absence of any interruption, the punctuation stays inside the closing quotation mark. However, if the full stop is part of the carrier sentence, it should instead follow the closing quotation mark.

Auld Lang Syne

December 30th, 2011

Wherever you find yourself this time of year, you can be sure that someone will be singing this song on New Year’s Eve. It’s as familiar as a home-cooked meal, but do you know what the words mean?

Robert Burns

The words ‘auld lang syne’ are actually Scottish in origin. Literally translated, they mean ‘old long since’, invoking sentiment like ‘times gone by’ or ‘long ago’. Scottish author Matthew Fitt began his fairytales with “In the days of auld lang syne,” like many of us would begin with “Once upon a time” as we tuck our children in.

As for the song itself, the present version is attributed to the poet Robert Burns, who wrote it in the late 1700s. However, he explained that parts of the song were much older, and that he “took it down from an old man.” It is an enduring piece of history passed down, honouring the endless cycle of endings and new beginnings.

So as we approach another new beginning, we Gilpies would like to dedicate Robert Burns’ song to you:

 

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup,
And surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

We two have run about the slopes,
And picked the daisies fine,
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
Since auld lang syne.

We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till dine,
But seas between us broad have roared,
Since auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend,
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
For auld lang syne.

Most Searched Words of 2011

December 13th, 2011

Word nerds rejoice! The dictionary company Merriam-Webster has released its list of the most-searched words of 2011. Top entries for selected weeks:

prefecture (March 11) – after a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, news sources told of the damage and recovery in these administrative districts comparable to provinces or states

hegemony (April 26) – this word popped up in response to an interview Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao conducted in which he said his government would not seek predominant influence over other countries

sartorial (July 11) – the royal wedding in England between Prince William and Kate Middleton drew considerable attention to the bride’s sense of style, often invoking this word relating to clothes

mercurial (October 6) – on the passing of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc, many obituaries included this word to describe the unpredictable, demanding and opinionated visionary of the technology sector

disburse (November 30) – in light of an escalating debt crisis spreading across the European Union, this word meaning to pay out of public funds took on new prevalence as the year came to a close

What words will increase in everyday use in 2012? Chances are the news of the day will point the way.

British English vs American English (Part 3): Collective Nouns

December 7th, 2011

Our three-part series (point here for Part 1 and 2) on common differences between British and American English closes with an examination of the collective noun, a word referring to a group of people or things.

The team have finished the project (British) / The team has finished the project (American)

Senior management are meeting next week / Senior management is meeting next week

Spain are the reigning World Cup champions / Spain is the reigning World Cup champion

Note in the last example how the last word is changed to champion. American-English speakers tend more than British-English speakers to form sentences in which the subject and verb strictly agree. Brits allow exceptions to this normally ironclad grammar rule to emphasise (emphasize?) the collective noun’s implied multiple parts over its singularity. For example, a team, by its very existence, has multiple members, hence ‘The team are…’ is deemed acceptable.

The sporting world prompts collective noun-verb structures aplenty. As football/soccer fans know, Manchester United are perennial powerhouses (‘They won again, unfortunately’). But most tennis mavens agree that Davis Cup is the greatest team competition in the sport. Then there are teams with single names, such as American pro basketball’s Miami Heat, whose fans, regardless of their English tradition, are known to proclaim, ‘They should be NBA champions!’.

As these examples illustrate, even fluent English speakers can be of two minds grammatically when it comes to following the British or American style. The situations presented in this entry are more heard than seen, as conversational English is more permissive of the collective noun than, say, a spellchecking function, which enforces subject-verb agreement of a purer form.

Whichever English you fancy, one guideline always applies: mind your audience. By writing in a style that resonates with your intended reader, you’ll likely be effective in the way that you intend.

See British English vs American English (Part 1): A Brief History
and British English vs American English (Part 2): Spellings and Pronunciations

There must be a tree in there somewhere…

December 5th, 2011

Our little tree makes another brave stand this year, despite droopy treetops, a loose base, a snapped trunk (oops!) and a screaming flying monkey (what?).

We love our tree.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Word Play

November 29th, 2011

As one might expect of editors, we Gilpies spend our days steeped in a world of words, keenly polishing and perfecting all kinds of corporate communications.

Recently I noticed that the number of words you can type using just your left hand far exceeds what the right hand can muster. Lengthy examples illustrate the divide:

Left hand only

reverberated

desegregated

stewardesses

cataracts

crevasse

freebase

reverted

Right hand only

polyphony

lollipop

While typing out the ‘lefty-only’ word rebated, I noticed that its letters can be re-arranged to spell berated and debater. This type of word play is known as an anagram. Another example is listen, which can become silent, tinsel, enlist and inlets.

Curious to create anagrammatic phrases, I came up with these two referring to local institutions:

I take the MTR = he ate Mr Kitt

Star Ferry ride = dry rats are rife

Are rats even dry? And let’s presume Mr Kitt was a pastry.

British English vs American English (Part 2): Spellings and Pronunciations

November 8th, 2011

The first entry in this series examined the history behind British and American English variations. Now let’s look at different spellings of English words encountered every day. First up: words whose different spellings are reflected in their different pronunciations.

speciality (British) / specialty (American)

aluminium / aluminum

learnt / learned

Plain-old tradition accounts for most such variations. And as if this quirky phenomenon weren’t vexing enough, there are many words with different spellings that are pronounced identically:

emphasise (British) / emphasize (American)

colour / color

licence / license

Here’s a sentence revealing the British-American divide in its head-spinning splendour/splendor:

Demonstrating wise judgement/judgment, his mum/mom organised/organized the labour/labor groups and authorised/authorized cheques/checks to the counselling/counseling centre/center.

It helps to remember which letters of the alphabet trigger these different spellings. As Brits well recognise and Americans also recognize, the letters s and z regularly interchange. And there’s u, which Brits frequently favour inserting after o, a practice Americans view with less favor. As for word endings, Brits tend to double the l before ‘-ing’, while Americans finish with ‘e-r’, not ‘r-e’.

Intriguingly, there is no shortage of words whose spelling has remained intact despite different pronunciations. Tomato, garage and respite come immediately to mind.

See British English vs American English (Part 1): A Brief History