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<p>For the record, most of us now translate “いいえ” as “iie.”</p>
<p>Carry on.</p>
<p>Oh, and the one thing that tons of people do that drives me batty?</p>
<p>MAC instead of Mac. MAC means media access control. Mac is an abbreviation of Macintosh.</p>
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<p>You mean “transcribe.” (As a translator, I always notice this point of English.) </p>
<p>But kudos to you for using Japanese characters in your post. And of course “kudos” is a Greek word like “ethos,” and is not the plural of “kudo” and never to be spelled k-u-d-o-e-s.</p>
<p>Huh. Whereas I would say “transliterate.”</p>
<p>Sorry, Ari…all my Japanese comes from either sushi places or reading SHOGUN twelve times.</p>
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<p>There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.</p>
<p>“MAC” can also be:</p>
<p>cosmetics
antique auto parts
the Marine Aquarium Council
Market Access and Compliance
NASA’s Multi-instrument Aircraft Campaign
the Mid-American Conference
McKinney Avenue Contemporary</p>
<p>“Mac” can also be:</p>
<p>a familiar, gruff reference to a male of unknown name (“move it, Mac”)
performance accessories for cars and motorcycles
the last name of an actor
a prefix meaning “son of” (actually, this is what it means in the Apple Computer product)</p>
<p>… and so on</p>
<p>(Not trying to swing a punch here. I’m just being a pendant.)</p>
<p>“Transliterate” is defensible in the case of Japanese hiragana to English Roman alphabet spelling, because you are dealing with “letters” of sound-indicating writing. The preferred term for Chinese script to English alphabet conversion is “transcription,” because at one end of the process the transcriber is not dealing with letters. And of course “transcribe” is the general term to prefer in doubtful cases. Transliteration is at its best in Serbo-Croatian, because there is a one-to-one match of Cyrillic letters (Serbian) and Roman letters (Croatian), by design of the standard spelling of that language in each script.</p>
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<p>Here is a little exercise that will help you make the correct choice. Write (or say) two sentences:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Bob and I went downtown.</p></li>
<li><p>Me and Bob went downtown.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Now take Bob out of both sentences:</p>
<p>1a. I went downtown.</p>
<p>2a. Me went downtown.</p>
<p>Now which one of these 2nd two sentences sounds correct? That little trick should guide your thinking as to which of the first two sentences is correct.</p>
<p>Saying “Me and Bob went downtown” contains exactly the same error, and the same degree of error, as saying “Me went downtown.”</p>
<p><a href=“Not%20trying%20to%20swing%20a%20punch%20here.%20I’m%20just%20being%20a%20pendant.”>quote</a>
[/quote]
OMG, is Washdad trying to be a pedantic chandelier?</p>
<p>LOL at Marite’s chandelier. By the way, did you know that Bill Lear, the inventor of the Lear Jet, named his daughter Shanda? She’s famous in her own right now.</p>
<p>tokenadult,</p>
<p>Well, I do post a bit on Japanese forums as well, so I’m pretty used to switching between the good ol’ Nihongo and Eigo when need be.</p>
<p>At any rate, you are 100% right. It is most definitely not “translate.” Actually, the most common term I see used these days is “romanize,” but that might not be the best word either.</p>
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</p>
<p>Actually, if you were truly a pedant, you’d say Apple product, as Apple is no longer Apple Computer. Just saying, is all. ;)</p>
<p>TA, I don’t think transliteration requires a one-to-one correspondence between alphabets. I’ve been known to transliterate Russian to English and the alphabets don’t match up. I find the soft sign the most difficult, both to pronounce (or rather, change the vowel’s pronunciation when the soft sign is present) and to transliterate. </p>
<p>Come to think of it, “transliteration” is the word I’ve seen to describe the Chinese-to-English systems, whether Wade-Giles or pinyin or whatever…I get soooo confused.</p>
<p>And please come to a full glottal stop before proceeding through the intersection.</p>
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<p>NJ res–I have had trouble with separate also–2 As or 3 Es! Here’s how I remember:</p>
<p>I have no trouble with “desperate”–so I remember that separate is different from desperate.</p>
<p>I always mess up “necessary” and “occurrence”–which letters are repeated??</p>
<p>Transpire DOES mean “to happen”</p>
<p>4 : to take place : GO ON, OCCUR</p>
<p>M-W.COM</p>
<p>Bob and I
Me and Bob</p>
<p>It should be either Bob and I or Bob and me depending on the sentence. I am not aware of any usage of “me and Bob” that would be acceptable. </p>
<p>Martha cooked lunch for Bob and me.
Bob and I cooked lunch for Martha.</p>
<p>forgot to mention my pet peeve…</p>
<p>Signing off of an email with Chow instead of Ciao. Makes me think I’m talking to a dog.</p>
<p>For strugglers with “separate:”</p>
<p>Long ago, someone told me to remember that you always want to keep “a rat” separate from well, you get the idea. Sep-a-rate but think rat.</p>
<p>Vyse, actually, no it doesn’t. The fact that a meaning is listed as a fourth definition in nothing more than a grudging acquiescence to widespread incorrect usage. Doing so robs the language of a more precise word for more precise circumstances. The next time I have to grab my Fowler or my Bernsteins, I’ll see if I can come up with an on-point citation.</p>
<p>Certainly language evolves. Sometimes the evolution is useful, other times it does not. The barbarians have not completely come in over the wall on this one.</p>
<p>TA, I’m thinking more about “transcribe.” I don’t have a reference at hand but I think there’s more of a connotation of setting down a written account from one medium to another, such as a speech to print or even notes to prose, e.g., “I transcribed my notes from the lecture…”</p>
<p>BBM: it’s entirely possible that “Chow” means the writer is signing off due to an impending meal about to be served. Yes…that must be it.</p>
<p>The dad: If its in the dictionary, I’d say its a legitimate entrant in the vernacular.</p>
<p>The other night my 13 year old asked me to read his essay that had already been reviewed by his teacher.</p>
<p>When I noticed the word “stupidness” I told him it was not a word and I was shocked the teached hadn’t noticed it. He insisted it was indeed a word and proceeded to look up the word in the dictionary. He soon found it and pointed out my ignorance…or should I say, my stupidness.</p>
<p>I was thrilled that he challenged me though and told him so! Humbled and proud…a strange combination!</p>