March 2010

Department of redundancy department

form asking me what it's telling me.

I encountered this when setting up web access to my account with a utility. To get to this page, I had to enter my account number from one of my bills. Note the information provided at the top, and the information requested at the bottom.

The most unusual dictionary I own

Cover of National Security Agency Japanese-English Technical Terms Dictionary, Volume I

Back before every translator worth his salt had an always-on, high-speed Internet connection, we had to be more self-reliant in the way of reference sources. So we bought dictionaries. Lots of dictionaries. When I lived in Japan, I’d stop in Jimbocho at least once a month. There was a used bookstore that specialized in technical and scientific books, and I’d buy dictionaries there on the off chance that someday I would translate something relevant.