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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 10h

🤖 New AI-driven capabilities are expected to accelerate the shift from #translation done by humans to machines. But jobs and meaning are getting lost
washingtonpost.com/business/202...
by @danielleabril.bsky.social
via @washingtonpost.com

AI is taking on live translations. But jobs and meaning are getting lost.

New artificial intelligence-driven capabilities are expected to accelerate the shift from translation done by humans to machines.

washingtonpost.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 1d

🤖 It is implied that in cracking the equation how humans use language patterns, gen AI has gained access to the values we transmit via #language. But it is always just calculating, and we should not mistake it for more
theconversation.com/actually-ai-...
via @aunz.theconversation.com

Actually, AI is a ‘word calculator’ – but not in the sense you might think

How do we make a complex piece of tech easy to understand? An analogy helps – as long as it’s not misleading.

theconversation.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 2d

⏳ Do you speak Sylheti? Tamajaght? Klingon? Inside the Festival for Endangered #Languages
🫥 Every 2 weeks, a #language is lost – and by the end of the century, ½ of the world’s 7,000 tongues could have vanished.
theguardian.com/culture/2025...
by @etansmallman.bsky.social
via @theguardian.com

Do you speak Sylheti? Tamajaght? Klingon? Inside the Festival for Endangered Languages

Every two weeks, a language is lost – and by the end of the century, half of the world’s 7,000 tongues could have vanished. We meet the artist using eyeliner and chokeberries to rescue everything from...

theguardian.com

Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 3d

🇯🇪 The British isle with its own #language that was used to outwit the Nazis
bbc.com/travel/artic...

The British isle with its own language

The UK entered WW2 on 3 September, 1939. Eighty years after the war's end, few people know that a British island's unique language was used as a clandestine code during Nazi occupation

bbc.com

Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 4d

🤖 The debate about ChatGPT’s use of the em dash signifies a shift in not only how we write, but what writing is for
nytimes.com/2025/09/18/m...
via @nytimes.com

With the Em Dash, A.I. Embraces a Fading Tradition

nytimes.com

Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 5d

😆 Quiz Part II: pair each of these 25 literal #translations with what they actually mean
boredpanda.com/literally-fu...
via @boredpanda.com

25 Literal Translations That Don’t Mean What You Think – Try To Pass This Quiz

After the success of Part 1, we’re bringing 25 brand-new direct translations of words from different languages into English. From Afrikaans to Italian, the magic behind these words is that they make n...

boredpanda.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 5d

😆 Quiz: pair each of these 28 literal #translations with what they actually mean
boredpanda.com/literally-fu...
via @boredpanda.com

Pair Each Literal Translation With What It Means In These 28 Literal Funny Translated Terms

Translated sayings was a success, so we thought of bringing you a snappier version of it. This time, we’ve made 28 direct translations of words from different languages into English.

boredpanda.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 6d

🍿 With the biggest technology companies based in the US, a cultural blind spot has emerged where we often assume that the English internet is representative of the rest of the world
bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

How language is hiding the real internet from you

Most of the internet is out of your reach, but the barrier isn't just algorithms. In another language, the same platforms turn into whole other worlds.

bbc.co.uk

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 7d

😶‍🌫️ #Language attrition: can you forget your first #language?
ciol.org.uk/can-you-forg...
via @ciol-linguists.bsky.social

Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 8d

🤦‍♀️Biemlfdlkk, Mixue, White Elephant, Chint, Youngor, Adolph: As they race to go global, many Chinese companies are choosing new names - but failing to get them right ...
economist.com/business/202...

How do you pronounce Biemlfdlkk? The brands lost in translation

As they race to go global, many Chinese companies are choosing new names

economist.com

Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 10d

🥳 Today is International Translation Day 2025!
🤝 In these turbulent times, where peace often hangs in the balance, and global communications and relations are strained by a lack of trust, this year's theme is more important than ever.
#InternationalTranslationDay2025
#ITD2025
#ITD25
#JMT2025
#JMT25

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 15d

🇬🇧 UK House of Lords call out ‘appalling’ treatment of “disheartened, disillusioned, exhausted" court #interpreters; says they "should be given the respect & facilities they need like any of the lawyers and not be treated like a tea lady”
slator.com/uk-lords-cal...
via @slator.bsky.social

UK Lords Call out ‘Appalling’ Treatment of Court Interpreters

UK debate on the state of public service court interpreting.

slator.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 16d

🪭 The hidden #languages of dating: people have perfected the art of discreetly signalling their love over many centuries
bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

Beyond words: The 200-year-old hidden languages of dating

From Regency-era "fan flirting" to online dating, we decipher the timeless looks, signs and gifts that signal secret love.

bbc.co.uk

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 18d

😤 Paraphrasing the quote of a quote by Lemn Sissay on page 190:
"I find it funny that people think we should work for free ... people ... assume – because they assume *translation* is a luxury – that you have another life and the *translation* is what you do on the side."

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 19d

"#Translators are [...] required to [...] sign up to the idea that invisibility is hard-wired into their value, and that a truly great translation is the one that the reader fails to notice".
In @jencalleja.bsky.social's"Fair" (pub. by @prototypepubs.bsky.social )
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

Fair by Jen Calleja review – on the magic of translation

A highly original book from the author of Goblinhood explores the art and work of translating fiction

www.theguardian.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 20d

🥯 'Schmaltz', 'glitch' ... here are some of the more well-known #Yiddish words to have entered the English #language
merriam-webster.com/wordplay/eng...
via @merriamwebster6.bsky.social

'Chutzpah' & 'Kvetch': English Words from Yiddish

Our little list is not the whole megillah, but it ain't bubkes either

merriam-webster.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 22d

🌍 I’m honoured that @wlvuni.bsky.social chose to share my story in their alumni magazine.
✨ It highlights the importance of #languages & #translation, of being open to the world, and reminds us that one opportunity can transform an entire life.
👉 Read it here: www.wlv.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

From Clearing to the Indian Ocean: Wolverhampton Alumna’s Global Journey

A story about an alumna who joined via clearing and has gone on to international success, living in Reunion

www.wlv.ac.uk

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 23d

🗣 What do Kim Kardashian and James Bond have in common?
The Economist #language correspondent @lanegreene.bsky.social explores the controversy behind their creaky vocal quality
youtube.com/shorts/XXYYQ...

Why do people hate vocal fry?

YouTube video by The Economist

youtube.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 25d

🌎 Today, September 15, marks the start of National Hispanic American Heritage Month
www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov
(H/T @becauselanguage.com)

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · 29d

🍎 Neck of the woods, by the skin of (one’s) teeth & apple of (someone’s) eye: exploring the obscure side of body-related expressions
antidote.info/en/blog/repo...

Odd Body Language

This Word Stories examines English expressions that refer in odd ways to body parts.

antidote.info

Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · Sep 10

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival: Literature of Repair
asymptotejournal.com/blog/2025/09...
(see also my LinkedIn post: tinyurl.com/4s5hjyz8)

The 2025 Edinburgh International Book Festival: Literature of Repair - Asymptote Blog

[T]he Festival itself . . . is a collective project, reminding us that repair is not, and will never be, a solitary act.

asymptotejournal.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · Sep 9

🕵️ @michaelidov.bsky.social on being culturally accurate with foreign protagonists' names when writing fiction
nytimes.com/2025/08/23/o...
via @nytimes.com

Opinion | Would You Believe This Spy’s Name?

nytimes.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · Sep 8

📆 Today is United Nations International Literacy Day.
This year's theme is “Promoting literacy in the digital era"
www.unesco.org/en/days/lite...
#LiteracyDay
#ILD
🎉 And a on a different note, it's also Ampersand Day! (H/T @becauselanguage.com)
www.checkiday.com/8f43a7dbd7b4...

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · Sep 7

🧐 How different are #Spanish dialects around the world?
blog.duolingo.com/spanish-dial...
via @duolingoverde.bsky.social

How different are Spanish dialects around the world?

Spanish dialects can change a lot from country to country. Here are the pronunciations and slang words you’ll hear in 6 Spanish dialects.

blog.duolingo.com

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Catharine Cellier-Smart | Smart Translate @smart-translate.bsky.social · Sep 6

🌈 The people who 'see' foreign #languages: How synaesthesia (seeing in colour) can help learning a new #language
bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
by @kathla.bsky.social

The people who 'see' foreign languages: How synaesthesia can help language learning

Synaesthesia is a neurological condition found to enhance memory and learning. Now, scientists say seeing in colour could help when it comes to learning a second language.

bbc.co.uk