Captcha Recap and Update (reCAPTCHA)

In a post last year I referenced an article in the New York Times that explained the acronym-based etymology of the word Captcha and told how entering a Captcha code helps transform old articles and books into computer text files.

One of the inventors of CAPTCHA is heading up a new project that will not only help translate the web, but will also teach people a new language for free.

I urge you to take a few minutes to watch this entertaining presentation about the project.

DuoLingo has my support.

The official CAPTCHA Site

The official reCAPTCHA Site.

Failure to Translate

Following is a list of words that do not have a direct (word for word) translation to English:

L’esprit de l'escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means “the spirit of the staircase.”

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Waldeinsamkeit: (German) The feeling of being alone in the woods.

Meraki: (Greek) Doing something with soul, creativity, or love.

Forelsket: (Norwegian) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.

Gheegle: (Filipino) The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.

Pochemuchka: (Russian) A person who asks a lot of questions.

Pena ajena: (Mexican Spanish) The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation.

Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.

Ilunga: (Tshiluba, Congo) A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.

Saudade (sow-da-jee): (Portugese, Galician) the feeling one gets when realizing something one once had is lost and can never be had again

Sgriob: (Gaelic) The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whisky.

From dminkin.tumblr

Translation Dead Giveaway

Having read all three of the books in Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, I found it surprising that it wasn't until page 424 of the hardcover edition of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest (the third book in the trilogy) that I noticed a dead giveaway that the book was translated from a different language (Swedish in this case).

"I won't make any promises. My marriage broke up because Erika and I couldn't keep away from each other," he said, and then he added in English, "Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt."






I wonder... do other countries really associate "Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt" with Americans as much as we associate "C'est la vie" with the French and "Que sera sera" with the Spanish?


C'est la vie. =That is life.

Que sera sera. = What will be will be.

Shit Happens (Apparently it Doesn't Translate Though)