Post #2232550
2026-01-03 07:31 UTC
@Etche_homo@mas.to Really glad this was boosted into my feed. Without your share and the subsequent boost, I wouldn't have come across this piece.
I often work with writers and translators, and though I respected their work and the countless decisions they make with each piece, in this age, I've come to appreciate them even more.
And while their work is on the page and interpreters must make decisions in the moment, this passage can also apply, to a certain extent, to people who are communicating as humans themselves or for other humans (and for humanity): "An interpreter does not merely convert words from one language to another. They carry meaning across the chasm between us. They hear what silences say. They make split-second ethical and semantic decisions over which synonym preserves dignity, when a pause holds more truth than a sentence."
Replies (1)
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@Etche_homo@mas.to 2026-01-03 13:03
@Furthering@convo.casa Thank you for your enthusiastic feedback! This, too, conveyed meaning across a chasm. I came to be bilingual as a young adult. I love using automated tools for their ease but from having had to translate scientific pieces, especially twenty-thirty years ago when I didn't know how to say no, know how much more meaning can be conveyed with non-automated choices. Like everything else, we shouldn't reduce our choice ecosystem but invest in keeping it as broad and diverse as possible.