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Three unicorns running

Unicorn Bets Set in Race to Carbon Zero

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Are capitalists hoping to harness unicorns to lead the charge to a zero carbon economy? Some experts think so and are calling for investment in unicorn incubation programmes with the promise of great returns. Recently the unicorn has lent its name to the elite group of billion dollar startup tech firms, and now looks set to sire a whole new breed of firms focused on facilitating low carbon living. As icecaps melt, sea levels rise, and global overheating threatens human extinction, can a magical horse with a pointed hat save the human race? Some hard-headed technologists are advocating this, so is it time we understood this beautiful beast and its future a bit better?

Three unicorns runningThe unicorn has captured the human imagination since the earliest days of India, appears in the Christian Bible, in medieval bestiary books illustrating beasts of every alleged kind, and has often been harnessed as a symbol. Typically understood to be a forest-dwelling white horse with a single, spiralling and pointed horn sticking out of its forehead, it might initially have been the ancients’ remote misinterpretation of actual one-horned animals such as the ibex or rhinoceros, or of profile representations of cattle, but it developed a mythical presence in the Middle Ages in Europe which lives on to this day.

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The Goggo effect

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Déjà Vu is an advanced Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) program, which was introduced in 1993 and became know as the Ferrari among CAT tools. It was developed by the ingenious Emilio Benito of Atril, who sadly is no longer with us. Quote from his obituary by Michael Benis:

A fond goodbye to the king of CAT – It was with great shock and sadness that the translation community learned of the death of Emilio Benito on Sunday, February 8, 2004 at the age of 56 from complications arising from cancer and its treatment. Emilio earned himself a great many friends in the industry due to the innovative strengths of the Déjà Vu translation memory software system he created, his constant willingness to listen to and act on feedback and his indefatigable support for any users experiencing problems, sometimes nothing to do with the software itself, at any time of the day or night, seven days a week.Continue reading full article…

Peace, prosperity and friendship

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A passionate debate has erupted over the grammar of the wording on the new 50 pence ‘Brexit coin’ due for release by the Royal Mint on Friday, January 31 2020. It was prompted by a tweet from high-profile author Philip Pullman last Sunday:

“The ‘Brexit’ 50p coin is missing an Oxford comma, and should be boycotted by all literate people,” he said. Readers who are unfamiliar with the Oxford comma can read the Wikipedia entry here. It makes interesting reading in any case, and has been known to contribute to translation headaches.Continue reading full article…

Question mark in labyrinth

Translating web pages – easy snap or tempting translation trap?

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Could you just translate this web page please? Well…

Spider in spiderwebIt’s easy you say, but a simple request that sounds like a snap can turn into a translation trap. Web pages are where we read these days, so why not start the job there and just translate what you see on the website? Well, web pages are actually made up of not just the words and images you see on the surface, but also technical code you don’t see, and styling you do, so you may regret your words when you find yourself swimming in a simmering sea of alphabet soup. And what if the result can’t be served up in a way that can be readily consumed? So before just jumping in and translating web pages, let’s look at what really is on a web page and how the text there might, or might not, mesh with the professional translation process to deliver a successful result – in a final format translator and client can readily use.
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Bauhaus school building in Dessau

From Bauhaus to Baumhaus to Our House via Oz

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2019 sees centenary celebrations for Germany’s groundbreaking Bauhaus design school, whose 14 year lifespan influenced art, architecture and design worldwide throughout the twentieth century and beyond. On 8 September The Bauhaus Museum opens in Dessau, and HE Translations have added the word Bauhaus to our growing list of German words used in English, many of them highly influential terms.Continue reading full article…

Image of Gears

Germany’s Mittelstand: standstill or foundation of the Industrie 4.0 future?

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The German economy owes much of its success to the country’s Mittelstand, a uniquely German term used to refer to Germany’s highly developed and export-oriented mid-sized business sector. Mittelstand is roughly translated into English as SME or Small and Medium Enterprise sector, but the Mittelstand is characterised by more than just the simple number of employees or the size of the annual turnover. Due to its ethos and importance, and focus on manufacturing, the Mittelstand has been the subject of considerable study and discussion, as well as concerns for its future when facing the challenges of technological change and international competition. Clearly it can’t afford to stand still if the German Wirtschaftswunder is to continue, so what is the Mittelstand and where is it going? Can small business and manufacturing survive in a world of globalised giants and the feverish flow of investor funds into speculative startups?Continue reading full article…

raised knife

Are EU elections a betrayal? Dance of the Dolchstossers

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As the UK faces EU elections some promised to end, Germany offers us the lesson of the Dolchstosslegende, a myth much used to paint defeat as the work of backstabbing traitors, rather than failed leaders. After First World War defeat in 1918, Germany’s militarists promoted the Dolchstosslegende, or Stab-In-The-Back Myth, contrafactually claiming that they could and would have won the war if weak-kneed pacifist politicians had not undermined them and stabbed them in the back, robbing the country of a great victory.

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Battery Storage Guide book cover

Battery Storage Guide now on sale

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A topical new energy study is out this month and charging ahead with the publication of The Definitive Guide to Commercial and Industrial Battery Storage Systems. This thorough new report from German energy consultancy denersol, in cooperation with publishers DGS Franken, has been translated by the experts at HE Translations.

HE Translations are specialists in the Energiewende, the ongoing energy transition to sustainable energy, and are offering a 20% discount off the purchase price to early bird buyers in the month of May only.Continue reading full article…

Batteriespeicher book jacket

Translating the Guide to Commercial and Industrial Battery Storage

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Batteriespeicher book jacketHE Translations are pleased to be translating from German a valuable new resource, a definitive guide to the commercial and industrial battery storage technology and products available today. This comprehensive guide has been researched and written by expert Dietmar Geckeler of German energy consultancy Denersol, who specialise in decentralised energy solutions.

The transition to sustainable energy sources, known in German as the Energiewende, faces a significant challenge when energy from renewables must be stored outside the active generation period to provide a continuous power supply. So what exactly are energy storage systems, and where do we find them, and how do we use them?
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wind turbine and sunQuaschning

What is Energiewende

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wind turbine and sun

What is Energiewende and where does it come from?

English is getting a new word as energiewende creeps in and cleans up. No, not energy for a Wendy house, but the turning point and transition to renewable energy without the cost of nuclear. The most concise word for this today comes from German, where the national energy policy of Energiewende is leading the way towards… read more…

 

Imports are making English rich, and HE Translations are assembling an online treasure-trove explaining words that English has imported from German.  Technology, sustainability, psychology and even food are fueling our appetite for new terms, and Germany is serving them up freely. Lost for words? Try some
new ones and go with the zeitgeist!