Categories: germany, translation, triumphs
Date: 24 October 2008 10:58:39
The phone at Tiggywinkle Translations has just rung. As I may have mentioned before this is not a terribly usual occurence as 99% of my interaction with clients takes place by e-mail. It was my new best friend, Georg, wanting to discuss what sounds like a very interesting but also quite scary project. Scary because it is a very grown-up project - it will be published in a real proper genuine book - with covers and pictures and things. I have to do a test translation first, so let's not get too wobbly around the knees and brain cells just yet.
Anyway, [waffle, waffle] what I was really going to tell you was that having been Georg, Kerensa and du, dich and dir in writing - we were back to Frau Tiggywinkle, Herr Klient and Sie and Ihnen. I'm not sure where to take it from here. Clearly drinks are not appropriate [winks] ... but seriously, I shall have to see what he writes in his next e-mail and just follow suit.
Thank heaven that e-mails don't "speak" as quickly as he did - I misheard him at first and thought that he was offering me a job in 1500 parts (Teilen). I wilted inwardly... it sounded a bit [understatement for "super"] complicated... I queried it. Not Teilen but Zeilen (lines) which is how some German agencies calculate the volume of a project. I happened to say that I calculate by the word... He said "Typisch Englisch" - to which I retorted (whoops!) that calculating by the line was "typisch Deutsch".... he graciously conceded I had a point! Still my new best friend even though we are back to the formal form of address.