Jun 10
The Gift, the Fold, and the Antidote.
They say the English language is full of hidden pitfalls. Step across the border into Germany, and a lovely "Gift" becomes literal poison, cyanide. Tell a paraglider that you hope things "fold perfectly" for him, and he will panic, because in his world a fold is a useless rag and a freefall. For a beachgoer, "we are swimming" is a triumph; for a sailor, it means the ship has gone down.
How am I, a 66-year-old, supposed to translate my book into English now? In a sea of gifts that are poisons, folds that mean freefall, and swims that mean shipwrecks... how do I stay afloat?
A word is a sharp blade. Watch who hands you the shot glass.
Full tri-lingual text on my blog
