At a coffee shop or similar establishment that offers free wireless Internet, a person who is oblivious to everyone and everything except the screen in front of them.
source: WordSpy
9 novembre 2010
Killer App
Abbreviazione di "killer application", applicazione assassina.
Tecnologia (o applicazione secondaria di tecnologia) decisiva, vincente per imporre un prodotto contro altre tecnologie concorrenti.
fonte: Wired
Tecnologia (o applicazione secondaria di tecnologia) decisiva, vincente per imporre un prodotto contro altre tecnologie concorrenti.
fonte: Wired
8 novembre 2010
The world's most difficult word to translate
The world's most difficult word to translate has been identified as "ilunga" from the Tshiluba language spoken in south-eastern DR Congo.
It came top of a list drawn up in consultation with 1,000 linguists.
Ilunga means "a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time".
It seems straightforward enough, but the 1,000 language experts identified it as the hardest word to translate.
In second place was shlimazl which is Yiddish for "a chronically unlucky person".
Third was Naa, used in the Kansai area of Japan to emphasise statements or agree with someone.
Although the definitions seem fairly precise, the problem is trying to convey the local references associated with such words, says Jurga Zilinskiene, head of Today Translations, which carried out the survey.
"Probably you can have a look at the dictionary and... find the meaning," she said. "But most importantly it's about cultural experiences and... cultural emphasis on words."
Source: BBC NewsWimbledonization
This term (originally coined by financiers in the Far East) refers to developments which make a particular centre flourish, although its own natives are not in a majority, or even dominant, in its use. This has happened to the Wimbledon tennis championships, which remain the global peak of the sport, and centered in England, even though vanishingly few of its performers, let alone stars, are British. It is also true of the City of London as a global financial centre, dominated by the activities of foreign institutions much bigger than its own domestic ones, but still believed to be beneficial to its home country.
It can happen to English too - but for how long?
full article: Penguin.co.uk
Great question!
At what point along the trajectory from touristic phrasebook to Safiresque linguistic mastery do you feel comfortable claiming to 'speak' a given language?
Great question.
Full post: Johnson, Economist
Great question.
Full post: Johnson, Economist
5 novembre 2010
Thumbo
An error made while using the thumbs to type, particularly on a mobile device keypad. [Blend of thumb and typo.]
read more on: Word Spy
How do you get rid of "thumbos," those cellphone message typos? Practice. And some handy tips.
—"Touch Type With Your Thumbs," One News Page, March 17, 2010
read more on: Word Spy
3 novembre 2010
Surge voters
The roughly 15 million Americans who voted for the first time in 2008
more on: Washington Post
La percentuale molto alta di elettori al di sotto dei trent’anni e quella degli elettori “di colore” (o latino americani) che favorì l’elezione di Obama nel 2008.
more on: L'Occidentale
more on: Washington Post
La percentuale molto alta di elettori al di sotto dei trent’anni e quella degli elettori “di colore” (o latino americani) che favorì l’elezione di Obama nel 2008.
more on: L'Occidentale
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