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inchword : translation tools to help people translate books
<!doctype html> <html> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1"> <title>inchword : translation tools to help people translate books</title> <meta name="author" content="Derek Sivers"> <link rel="icon" href="favicon.svg"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css"> </head> <body> <header> <a href="/"><img src="inchword-350.png" alt="Inchword translation logo"></a> </header> <main> <h1> Author answers Translator’s questions, now visible to future Translators. </h1> <style> dd { background-color: #efffef; margin-left: 4em; margin-bottom: 4em; padding: 0.5em; } </style> <dl> <dt>« Always be a stranger in a strange land. » <p><strong>Do you allude to the verse from Exodus or the sci-fi novel with the same title? Could you rephrase this for me? </strong></p></dt> <dd>Originally Exodus, but now it’s a common phrase. The meaning is: Always be in a place you don’t know — a place that seems strange to you — where you seem strange to them.</dd> <dt>« From France, learn idealism and resistance. » <p><strong>Resistance as in “Full commitment to what you believe in, unwillingness to change your opinion”? </strong></p></dt> <dd>Yes, like that, and fighting for your rights. Not just accepting what the more powerful are insisting must be.</dd> <dt>« People say they’re not doing the work because it’s hard. » <p><strong>This paragraph can be interpreted in many ways. Could you explain it to me in other words?</strong></p></dt> <dd>They say they’re not exercising (or studying a difficult subject) because it’s too hard. But it’s too hard because they have not been doing it. If they started exercising, or studying a difficult subject, it would be getting easier by now.</dd> <dt>« “What did she say?” » <p><strong>According to local conventions it’d be more grammatical to inset a line break before a dialogue. If it’s not possible, ignore this comment, if it is, let me know and I’ll change punctuation. </strong></p></dt> <dd>Good point! I think I’ll make that change for English, too. Thank you for pointing it out.</dd> </dl> </main> <footer>Inchword is made by <a href="https://sive.rs/">Derek Sivers</a>. © 2024 Sivers Inc</footer> </body> </html>