New work...

[alexpgp]

I am reminded of a fairly awful (yet catchy) song by a group called Herman's Hermits, from about the time when I started to pay attention to such things, called I'm Henry the Eighth, I am. The line I am recalling goes:

Second verse, same as the first.

Dig it: a client calls with a job to incorporate about 7,000 new words done in revision mode in a Russian translation back into the English original. The overall document is 30,000+ words, and they want it all back by Sunday morning. With that kind of deadline, I ask:

"Can I rely on the fact that I need not check any text not in revision mode?"

"Yes, absolutely," says the PM.

I've had this conversation before. Many times. And sure enough, what do I see, about a half-dozen revisions into this document?

Revised translation:

(см. раздел 3.2.1Приложение R2)

Original text:

(see below)

Changing this to

(see belowAttachment R2)

sort of does the job, as it inserts the new text, but you don't have to understand Russian to tell that "см. раздел 3.2.1" is not "see below." Ah, well... life is not perfect, is it?

More translation goodness, as reflected in a note to the PM:

Please note that revisions made to the translation that that do not change the meaning of the original (and which may be considered to be an edit of the language of translation itself) will be reflected in the text by cutting and repasting the same text. However, I do not intend to change the punctuation of the original to match that preferred by the Russian side.

This is going to be one of those assignments, I can tell.

When am I ever going to learn?

Cheers...

Comments

[astroprisoner.livejournal.com]

Well, at least here's something to make you smile: Thanks to this post, I now have that #@!% Herman's Hermits song stuck in my head most likely for the rest of the day.

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

That makes two of us. :^)

I don't suppose that will result in a shift in the Earth's axis, do you?

Cheers...