There’s been a discussion of the (Mexican) Spanish term fojas utiles. Two points came up here: firstly, these may be ‘sheets with valid text’ – at least, the other sheets are either blank or crossed out (inutilizadas). Short lines may be used to fill up a ‘blank’ page so nothing can be entered there. I thought this was interesting because I can remember some German birth certificates contain a line with the words ‘eine Zeile’ (a line), which I suppose is the same thing. I’ve never found a source for information on the procedure for documents. I doubt there is one online – this kind of thing would be in materials for court office staff and that kind of thing.

The second question relates to the term sheets – would not pages be better? A sheet (the term was new to me) means a leaf of paper with a front (recto) and a back (verso). Actually, I know the term folio rather than sheet for this. One always wonders whether to use it when the German reference to a big register says Blatt.

OED:

folio: 1. A leaf of paper, parchment, etc. (either loose as one of a series, or in a bound volume) which is numbered only on the front. … recto/verson
2. In Bookkeeping, The two opposite pages of a ledger or other account-book in which these are used concurrently …

One commenter said that in archival speak, the term is leaf, which can have a front and back. Although people do talk about the fronts and backs of pages, this isn’t correct.

The Chicago Manual of Style (14th ed., 1.1), for the USA:

The trimmed sheets of paper that make up a book are often referred to as leaves. A page is one side of a leaf. The front of the leaf, the side that lies to the right in an open book, is called the recto page (or simply recot). The back of the leaf, the side that lies to the left when the leaf is turned, is called the verso. Rectos are odd-numbered pages; versos are even-numbered.

New Hart’s Rules, for the UK, confirms this use of leaf, recto and verso, and also introduces the term spread or opening.

But when it comes to folio, things get more confusing. Folio can mean a page number, which is not relevant here. Or it can mean a sheet of a typescript, which should be printed on one side of the paper only.

My conclusion is that the correct term for Blatt is leaf, but the terms sheet and folio are more generally used. Page is not correct.

All clear as mud.

I remember making fun of Lidl’s British Week in Germany, but can’t remember actually making a recommendation. Still, I seem to have put someone’s back up:

HATERWORDS*SALT AND VINEGRE STICKS*EX LIDL

Englaender sind ja bekannt, dass diese weder kochen koennen , noch von kueche etwas
verstehen. Alles fuer den SCHWEINETROG

Haette ich wissen muessen, als ich mir diesen Dreck bei Lidl gekauft habe.

Schde um die 2 eur….was fuer ein schweinedreck. igitt und ab in die muelltonne
adios

It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person. Could it have been a lawyer? The first word of the header is a variation on Hatherwoods.

Actually, I do think crisps already impregnated with vinegar taste very strange. In my youth we used to get the little bag of salt in blue paper to put on them, but nowadays all the flavourings are added in advance.

1914-1918 war memorial, Stadtpark

The name of the rose – rose garden, Stadtpark

Unfortunately I had no bird food with me

Please don’t touch

Currywurst is not really a Franconian thing, but you can get Nürnberger here too. Snowing too much to take many pictures. The town hall now has energy-saving light bulbs.

This is ridiculous. I already said some books I could read again, so the rest are the ones I won’t read again.

The most likely category are potboiler crime novels, which I have read a lot of but not recently. And I don’t have too many of them left on my shelves. I have been known to read Ruth Rendell, and I liked the Barbara Vine novels, at least those I read. I have read P.D. James but liked it less. Also Ian Rankin, Sue Grafton, Sarah Paretsky. And whoever wrote Bella Block, before Bella Block became Hannelore Hoger. I have found one of the spook Minni Mann series by Helmut Zenker, Die Mann ist tot und lässt Sie grüßen, which has a touch of Müllers Büro about it. Maybe I could read that again. But these are mostly page turners, and when I know the story I won’t enjoy the book on a second reading.

The EPO announced on November 30 that it is going to collaborate with Google:

The EPO and Google have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to improve access to patent translations in multiple languages.

Under the agreement, the EPO will use Google’s machine translation technology to translate patents into the languages of the 38 countries that it serves. In return, it will provide Google with access to its translated patents, enabling Google to optimise its machine translation technology. Google technology will be used to translate patents originating in Europe as well as patents originating in other regions of the world and enjoying protection in Europe.

Exactly how the MT will be used is not clear from this announcement. It’s clear that patents can’t be translated by MT, but rough-and-ready translations which give the gist might be useful when it comes to searching lots of patents and seeing which might be worth investigating further.

I don’t translate patents. Although the legal and language aspects interest me, the technical knowledge is beyond me. But I know they can’t be translated by Google’s online MT.

The matter was discussed by Dave Grunwald on the GTS Blog and more positively by Renato Beninatto.

(Thanks to Karen for reminding me of this)