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A Labo(u)r of love

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by deskslave, May 2, 2008.

  1. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    No it isn't.

    One is using a generally acceptable name transliterated from one language to another. One is FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGING THE NAME OF AN ORGANIZATION. One is fine. The other should never be attempted.
     
  2. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    In other words . . .

    If the exact name of an organization has a spelling in its native language that happens to be verrrrrry close to a word we use in America, we will go ahead and use the foreign version.

    But if the exact name of an organization has a spelling in its native language that is nothing an American would recognize (Коммунистическая партия), then we retreat back to the comfort of the good 'ol American version (Communist Party). We do not even dare to use the phonetic "Communisticheskaya Partiya" . . . which is, of course, the EXACT NAME of the organization.
     
  3. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    I'm not talking about keeping Коммунистическая партия in an American newspaper story. That is not AT ALL the same as spelling the British Labour Party as Labor Party. They are two completely different ballgames.

    Too bad you don't seem to be able to tell that.
     
  4. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Jesus, we're talking about variations of English usage, not translating from one language to another.

    Why is that so difficult?

    Going back to my original post, if an American paper referred to the rink where the Leafs play as "Air Canada Center", well, it would be wrong.

    If you want to refer to the "radical labor movement in Britain", that's perfectly acceptable. If you are talking about the British Labour Party and call it the British Labor Party, that's well, just ignorant, not to mention arrogant.
     
  5. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    Also, don't take it for granted that just because the NYT does something, it's right.

    An acronym that can be pronounced as a word is still an acronym, and should be spelled as such. NASCAR, not Nascar.
     
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