100 word minimum

A matter of substance

More translation work came in, so I can thumb my nose at the wolf hovering around the door and look up nifty words. I now know a couple different ways to say "dermabrasion" in Japanese. The document I'm working on relates to a widget that Does Things to skin (not including dermabrasion, oddly enough).

I'm reading along, doing my initial read-through and terminology research, when I see a word I don't need to look up:

肉眼

This means, basically, "the naked eye" or in this context "visually" as in "the operator visually verifies the area to be treated."

But literally it means "meat eyes." Use your meat eyes to verify…

I can't translate it like that, obviously, but I can't read it without thinking of The Wizard of Oz:

"What is that little animal you are so tender of?"

"He is my dog, Toto," answered Dorothy.

"Is he made of tin, or stuffed?" asked the Lion.

"Neither. He's a—a—a meat dog," said the girl.

165 words | June 30, 2005 07:57 PM | Lost in translation