Category Archives: law

Fürther ist Feuer und Flamme für den Kilt

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I have to admit I have sometimes thought Franconians were like Scots because they are equally dour. (I’m allowed to say this for reasons of ancestry).

It feels a bit odd, though, to read of a gentleman from Fürth who is fixated on a kilt. And not a sensible kilt with tool pockets but a thing out of tartan. Martha (his surname) seems to equate the English with the Bavarians and regard them as enemies.

Martha ist überzeugt, „dass wir Franken die Schotten Bayerns sind“. Schotten und Engländer würden sich hassen, Bayern und Franken sich auch nicht unbedingt liebhaben, argumentiert er.

He bought his kilt from Andreas Hertl, another Fürth scotophile.

It’s not surprising, then, that there’s at least one Franconian tartan.

August 1997. Designed by (or for?) the Highland Circle – a group of Malt Whisky drinkers in Franconia, Germany. Sample in Scottish Tartans Authority’s Johnston Collection and Lochcarron swatch. Scottish Tartans Society notes say designed by members of the Highland Circle and produced by Hugh MacPherson of Edinburgh. Blue & green lightened to show sett.

There are even Catalan tartans.

The Ballad of Legal Aid

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On 6 January there was actually a lawyers’ strike protesting against cuts in criminal legal aid.

For some reason I had missed this wonderful song by a practising barrister: The Ballad of Legal Aid. Watch and listen!

But the topic is a popular one in music, as shown by this clip promoting legal aid in Bangla Desh (the Bengali term is ‘legal aid’, and ‘hotline number’ can also be heard).

Thanks to Trevor

Transblawg hits the big time

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Fame at last! One hour translations have devoted at least an hour to describing Transblawg. Here’s a screenshot – spot the deliberate errors:

Werner has become a political commentator now and I fear he would not be impressed to be described as Transblawg’s author.

It’s unusual for me to get this kind of accolade, since I never get an award as Best Translation Blog or the like (possibly because I don’t advertise the chance of voting for me on the site advertising the competition).

Thanks to Kevin Lossner of Translation Tribulations for this. Sadly his blog didn’t make the list.

Why are litigation letters often so dreadful?

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Why are litigation letters often so dreadful?

I picked this old article up from a tweet by Jack of Kent (David Allen Green), the author.

It’s reminiscent of the kind of tone I sometimes hit when translating similar correspondence by German lawyers.

The authors of this dreadful correspondence will invariably profess themselves “surprised” or “astonished” (or even “surprised and astonished”). They are “bewildered” and “confused” and sometimes “shocked”. If any of these assertions were literally true then the dispute resolution departments of many law firms must be in a constant state of noisy hyper-ventilation. It would be close to a national medical emergency.

The comments are good too. Anonymous writes:

David,

I am dismayed and surprised to read this post. The allegations are bewildering when they are not misconceived and illiberal.

I await your response within fourteen days.

I wonder if Rupert Haigh’s Oxford Handbook of Legal Correspondence advises this kind of thing.

Schleierfahndung

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When the word Schleierfahndung first began to be used, I tried to pin down its meaning for a translation (I don’t seem to have blogged it, though – this was in the mid-90s, which predates the blog).
The phenomenon seems similar to ‘stop and search’ – stopping and searching people although there is no reason to suspect them. There have been calls for it to be extended since border controls were removed in the Schengen area (which now comprises 26 European countries, not all in the EU, but not the UK and Ireland).
How the word – literally ‘veil search’ – was coined I am not sure.

Neusprech has now taken up the term. It refers to something called ein Verdachtsschleier – a veil of suspicion. The typical search takes place after vehicles have been seen crossing the border and are followed and stopped inside the border.

Das ist eine Suche auf gut Glück, bei der Menschen gerne allein deswegen schikaniert werden, weil sie fremd aussehen und bei der jeder zum Verdächtigen wird. Der Ausdruck S. lässt dabei offen, ob hier Bösewichte entschleiert, oder ob umstrittene Überwachungen verschleiert werden sollen. Die Fakten sprechen für das Letztere. Denn die S. hat weder etwas mit Fahndung noch mit Schleiern zu tun und vernebelt, dass hier Menschen grundlos durchsucht und ihrer Freiheit beraubt werden.

It’s sometimes translated by the term dragnet, but that means searching a large area thoroughly searching for one particular person. It appears the word dragnet reminded some translators of the word Schleierfahndung, but it doesn’t work like that!

More in the Alternatives Wörterbuch:

Herkunft: gegen Ende des 20. Jh. vom Frankfurter Strafverteidiger und Bürgerrechtler Dr. Sebastian Cobler geprägter Begriff; Schleier: Bed. in diesem Zusammenhang ungeklärt, wohl von der Idee her, dass keine spezifische Fahndung, sondern eine Art verdeckte oder eben „verschleierte“ Fahndung in Form einer allgemeinen Fahndung durchgeführt wird {Spek. FAL}; Fahndung: in der Bed. von „polizeiliche Suche nach Verdächtigen“, zu fanden, wohl aus dem Niederdeutschen, von mniederd. vanden = aufsuchen, besuchen