ProZ.com Translation Forums

Your favourite films for the last year? | Concussion (2015)

ATIL KAYHAN — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 19:15:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Your favourite films for the last year?
Poster: ATIL KAYHAN
Post title: Concussion (2015)

I watched this 2015 movie today for the first time. It is a two-hour biography/drama based on a true story. A successful neuropathologist originally from Nigeria discovers the true cause of concussions some football players experience in Pittsburgh PA. He publishes his results in a medical journal. However, he immediately faces fierce criticism from NFL for his discovery. By the way, Pittsburgh happens to be the city I had my graduate education back in nineteen eighties, and I have a lot of memories there. So, it was pretty sentimental for me to watch.

[url removed]

Coin a new word! | Glamor

Cilian O'Tuama — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 08:24:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Coin a new word!
Poster: Cilian O'Tuama
Post title: Glamor

[url removed]

Coin a new word! | The same in Portuguese

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 09:01:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Coin a new word!
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Post title: The same in Portuguese

Aestivation = estivação (a state of inactivity, with reduced or suspended metabolism, which various animal species enter in order to survive when climatic conditions become very hot and dry

Hibernation = hibernação (lethargy in certain animals during winter, when their metabolism slows down, their body temperature drops, and they draw on their food reserves)

Coin a new word! | Diphthongs

Philip Lees — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 04:59:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Coin a new word!
Poster: Philip Lees
Post title: Diphthongs

[quote]Eva Stoppa wrote:

I'd consider "estivation" as only spelling. Why the "a"? [/quote]
Because it comes from the Latin word "aestas", meaning summer.

US English tends to compress the diphthongs that come from Latin or Greek, whereas UK English tends to retain them.

This is very obvious in the medical sphere, as much of English medical vocabulary is just transliterated Greek. So for example αναιμία becomes anaemia in UK English and anemia in US.

US English also sometimes changes the order of letters: θέατρο = theatre (UK), or theater (US).

Yet in some cases US English keeps the diphthongs, I'm not sure for what reason. I mean, why not go the whole hog and write Urope, nurology, anurysm, and so on?

Coin a new word! | Again something new

Eva Stoppa — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:57:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Coin a new word!
Poster: Eva Stoppa
Post title: Again something new

I'd consider "estivation" as only spelling. Why the "a"?

I look at the French word for "summer" "été". Is it not originally a latin word, something like "estata"? There was a song "Una Estata Italiana".

Coin a new word! | Coinless

Philip Lees — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 05:20:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Coin a new word!
Poster: Philip Lees
Post title: Coinless

No new word needed. The word for sleepy time in summer, rather than winter, is "aestivation"

[url removed]

Or "estivation" if you live in a spelling-challenged country. :)

Coin a new word! | Estivating

Michele Fauble — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 15:42:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Coin a new word!
Poster: Michele Fauble
Post title: Estivating

zoology : to pass the summer in a state of torpor or dormancy

[url removed]

Coin a new word!

Daryo — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 14:25:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Coin a new word!
Poster: Daryo

There was recently in UK a number of heatwaves.

Many people slowed down to the point of saying they are 'hibernating'.

That doesn't sound right. Any ideas for the hot summer equivalent of 'hibernating'?

Interpretation project in France and Georgia. | Unusual requests

expressisverbis — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:17:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Interpretation project in France and Georgia.
Poster: expressisverbis
Post title: Unusual requests

And what’s unusual is asking colleagues to make phone calls to certain countries.
I also vaguely remember this member asking to make a call to Spain and wondering if I could help, and I am in Portugal...
It’s really best not to engage.
With today’s technological advances and the many resources available, I can’t understand this kind of request.

Interpretation project in France and Georgia. | Remember

Lieven Malaise — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 06:58:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Interpretation project in France and Georgia.
Poster: Lieven Malaise
Post title: Remember

[quote]Dan Lucas wrote:
...of plaintive requests for information that appears once or twice a year, typically for information pertaining to (a suspiciously wide range of) other countries that could easily be googled.

I'm not exactly sure what the driver of this behavior is, but probably better not to engage.[/quote]

Yes, I vaguely remember a discussion with this person about their weird posts. I must say they haven't become less weird.

Interpretation project in France and Georgia. | The latest in an irregular series...

Dan Lucas — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 06:05:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Interpretation project in France and Georgia.
Poster: Dan Lucas
Post title: The latest in an irregular series...

...of plaintive requests for information that appears once or twice a year, typically for information pertaining to (a suspiciously wide range of) other countries that could easily be googled.

I'm not exactly sure what the driver of this behavior is, but probably better not to engage.

July 2026:
[url removed]

January 2026:
[url removed]

October 2025:
[url removed]

September 2025
[url removed]

October 2023:
[url removed]

July 2023:
[url removed]

And many others.

Interpretation project in France and Georgia. | proz

Gregor Trebec — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:01:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Interpretation project in France and Georgia.
Poster: Gregor Trebec
Post title: proz

Proz is getting wierd day by day.

Interpretation project in France and Georgia. | Why sending messages to the airport? Ask Google for help

Natalie — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 15:41:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Interpretation project in France and Georgia.
Poster: Natalie
Post title: Why sending messages to the airport? Ask Google for help

Here is what i received within 5 seconds:
Is there a shuttle from Orly to Charles de Gaulle?
Air France bus between Orly and CDG: The "direct bus": Line 3 of the Air France coach network provides a direct link between Orly and CDG airports. The service is continuous between 6:00 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. and between 7:00 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. on weekends.
See more at [url removed]

Is there a hotel for a good price close to Orly Airport?
[url removed]

Do you procrastinate? | Y a pas le feu au lac !

Daryo — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 18:33:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Do you procrastinate?
Poster: Daryo
Post title: Y a pas le feu au lac !

[quote]Philip Lees wrote:

I was going to respond to this topic, but then I decided to leave it until later in the week.

[Edited at 2026-08-03 04:36 GMT] [/quote]

'Next week' would be hasty - I'll be back in a month or two...

Ageing disgracefully | After-glow

Dan Lucas — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 07:13:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: Dan Lucas
Post title: After-glow

[quote]Philip Lees wrote:
Don't forget that hers was the generation that lived through WWII - the Blitz and so on[/quote]
I often think of this quote from The Siege of Krishnapur.

"We look on past ages with condescension, as a mere preparation for us....but what if we are a mere after-glow of them?"

My sense is we have an (understandable) bias that favours the accomplishments of living generations. There is this idea that all movement is "progress", and in some way inevitable and laudable. But suppose that the movement of some aspects of society is not a straight line but a curve, gentle enough not to be initially recognized as such. If that unperceived shift continues, the direction of travel will eventually be backward rather than forward.

Could we have survived let alone thrived under the conditions experienced by those who came before us, such as Philip's grandmother? Would we just buckle down and get through it or would we fail? And if the latter, what would that say about us?

I suppose the corollary would be to question whether Philip's grandmother could have survived the morally chaotic luxury of our times, where the vast majority of those living in western or equivalent societies enjoy better conditions than were available at any previous point in history.

Dan

[Edited at 2026-08-05 07:15 GMT]

Ageing disgracefully | Grandmother

Philip Lees — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 04:46:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: Philip Lees
Post title: Grandmother

[quote]The Shredder wrote:

Older people previously didn’t have the money or health to be having fun later in life. And it wasn’t the done thing, perhaps. [/quote]
My grandmother used to throw great parties. Don't forget that hers was the generation that lived through WWII - the Blitz and so on - when having fun at home, despite what was going on, could be considered as a gesture of defiance.

Interpretation project in France and Georgia.

yugoslavia — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 01:52:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Interpretation project in France and Georgia.
Poster: yugoslavia

Dear French colleagues from Proz.com,

I hope you are doing well in France and also in other European countries.

I'm writing to you because I was hired for an interpretation project in Paris, France, and the country of Georgia. I have some questions for those who live in France and are familiar with the country.

Do they have shuttle services from Orly International Airport in Paris to Charles de Gaulle Airport? Or shuttle services to the hotels?

Do you know if they have trains or buses from both airports? (Orly and Charles de Gaulle)

I sent a message to the airport, but I haven't gotten a response.

I need to take a flight from that airport to Tbilisi, Georgia. I haven't traveled there in many years. I was last there more than 24 years ago. They have many new buildings now.

Do you know a good travel website or travel agency where I can find a hotel for a good price close to Orly Airport in Paris? Or close to the Latin Quarter neighborhood in Paris? We may stay in Paris for two days. I will be Interpreting in two conferences there.

We may travel there in around seven days. Feel free to write to me in Spanish.

Thanks for your help and advice.

Yugoslavia.

Ageing disgracefully | Scraped knees and lasting friendships

expressisverbis — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 15:35:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: expressisverbis
Post title: Scraped knees and lasting friendships

One memory that seems to unite many of us in Generation X is falling off our bikes.
We'd simply get up, brush ourselves off, wipe the blood from a scraped knee, and carry on as if nothing had happened. Looking back now, it still makes me smile.
Those were simple times, but they gave me memories and friendships that have stayed with me ever since.
I also think resilience is one of the defining traits of Generation X. Those childhood experiences taught us that falling wasn't the end of the story. You got back up, learned from it, and kept going.
Somehow, that became a lesson for life, at least for me. It's probably one of the reasons I don't subscribe to the idea that everything is doomed in our profession.

Confession: I absolutely hate the '80s. 😂
But I do love having grown up as part of Generation X. Those are two very different things.

Do you procrastinate? | YES

Zea_Mays — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 10:50:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Do you procrastinate?
Poster: Zea_Mays
Post title: YES

I find procrastination annoying, but what I procrastinate even more.

Ageing disgracefully | Nuance

The Shredder — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 06:25:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: The Shredder
Post title: Nuance

You might well be right, Philip. My kids have turned out fine, despite my best efforts, but my partner’s daughter is stuck down a phone-based spray-tanned fast-fashion rabbit hole of unfathomable entitlement.

I find people bleeding on about lattes and avocados in the broadsheets somewhat irksome, but I do see the young wasting money left, right and centre. Their lifestyles seem much more lavish than ours at their age. But wages are low, jobs are being lost rapidly to AI and housing is so much more expensive now. At some point they’re going to have to buckle down and fund my pension.

My point about affording to have fun also works retrospectively, I think. Older people previously didn’t have the money or health to be having fun later in life. And it wasn’t the done thing, perhaps. And lots of them were still working.

Ageing disgracefully | Fun

Philip Lees — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 04:50:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: Philip Lees
Post title: Fun

[quote]The Shredder wrote:

*can afford to have fun [/quote]
I do appreciate your point, Chris, but I really don't think that's it.

I would certainly not necessarily equate having fun with spending money, and actually I think I would feel sorry for anyone who did.

When I was a kid, in the 1950s, most of the things I and my friends did for fun didn't involve money at all. Apart from that, my family used to throw parties, where people would do "turns" and we played silly party games. They were great fun. Do people even do things like that any more?

Fun means different things to different people, and involves many aspects, but I would say that two essential components for having fun are: 1) exercising your imagination, and 2) having a well-developed sense of the ridiculous, the absurd. With those skills at your disposal, you can have fun doing not very much at all. But I think the constant media bombardment people are subjected to nowadays must make it much harder to develop those skills.

Back to my early childhood, we had a radio in the house, but no TV until I was 6 or 7 (most people didn't). We used to read a lot, which is a great way to develop the imagination, and we would take stories from the books and act them out in our kids' games. My parents would bring a new batch of books from the local library every couple of weeks.

Do kids even read books any more?

I know this isn't the kind of fun Maria Teresa's quoted article was talking about, but I think once you've learned to have fun, you never forget how to do it, and the fun you have as a child gets extrapolated into different activities during adulthood.

But some people never learn.

[Edited at 2026-08-04 04:52 GMT]

[Edited at 2026-08-04 05:45 GMT]

Ageing disgracefully | unique strengths

Lucas Fischer — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 14:06:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: Lucas Fischer
Post title: unique strengths

Ageing disgracefully sounds more like embracing life than resisting it. Many Baby Boomers and Gen Xers have shown how adapting to change — from typewriters to AI — keeps us vibrant. Instead of focusing on generational divides, it’s inspiring to see how each group brings unique strengths. Living with curiosity and humor may be the best way to age “disgracefully” yet gracefully.

Ageing disgracefully | Ageing disgracefully?

Daryo — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:36:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: Daryo
Post title: Ageing disgracefully?

Sounds like a far more interesting variant.

Ageing disgracefully | Generations

expressisverbis — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:18:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: expressisverbis
Post title: Generations

Much of today's public discussion focuses on Baby Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Z.
But Gen X is sometimes called the "middle child" of generations because it receives comparatively less media attention.
However, let's keep in mind that they learned to use typewriters, fax machines, floppy disks, dial-up internet, smartphones, cloud computing, and AI.
They remember finding information in libraries and paper encyclopedias, but they also adapted to search engines, smartphones, and now AI.
Of course, it's worth remembering that people's personalities and values are shaped by many factors (temperament, family, education, peers, culture, opportunities, and their own choices over time) besides the years in which they were born.

Transferring PC-PC | .exes

Gjorgji Apostolovski — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 10:48:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Transferring PC-PC
Poster: Gjorgji Apostolovski
Post title: .exes

I think that from pc to pc for .exeS the best way would it be to reinstall them freshly on the new pc and new OS, but if you have any licensed software locked on machine Id you might got problems.

Winpinator allows you to transfer files (no .exes) via local wi fi network. So, no usb cables, external drives...
Also works from Windows to Linux and vice versa.

Ageing disgracefully | Correction 😉

The Shredder — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 05:59:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: The Shredder
Post title: Correction 😉

[quote]Philip Lees wrote:

Summing up some of the main points of the article:

1. Our generation - the baby boomers - know how to have fun.

2. Subsequent generations don't.

3. That's why they resent us. [/quote]

*can afford to have fun

Ageing disgracefully | Fun

Philip Lees — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 04:45:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Ageing disgracefully
Poster: Philip Lees
Post title: Fun

Summing up some of the main points of the article:

1. Our generation - the baby boomers - know how to have fun.

2. Subsequent generations don't.

3. That's why they resent us.

Do you procrastinate? | Not today

Philip Lees — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 04:35:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Do you procrastinate?
Poster: Philip Lees
Post title: Not today

I was going to respond to this topic, but then I decided to leave it until later in the week.

[Edited at 2026-08-03 04:36 GMT]

Transferring PC-PC | Use backup software

Samuel Murray — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 15:43:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Transferring PC-PC
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: Use backup software

[quote]Gregor Trebec wrote:
I want to transfer programs to the new PC via USB keychain. Google says it cannot be done and programs should be downloaded, installed from fresh. [/quote]
Yes. You have to find the installers for the software and install them one by one.

Alternatively, use backup software to create a "mirror" of your existing computer and then transfer that mirror onto the new computer. This will overwrite anything that is on the new computer (so, e.g. if the new computer has Windows 11 and your old computer has Windows 10, transferring a mirror would remove Windows 11).

E.g. in Macrium Reflect you'd select the option "Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows". Macrium will create the mirror file somewhere e.g. on an external hard drive. Then you'd have to figure out how to transfer the mirror onto the new computer.

Do you procrastinate?

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 12:25:00 +0000

Forum: Off topic
Topic: Do you procrastinate?
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida

I have never been a procrastinator (work-wise). When something needs done, I do it — as soon as possible. During the heyday of my translation career, when I had more than one project on the go, I always started with the most complex one. So, I found interesting this article in “The Economist”.

“How to stop procrastinating

Thwarting the thief of time

PUTTING THINGS off exacts a hefty toll. One study published in 2013 ranked 22,053 people on a procrastination scale of one to five. Each increase of one point was associated with a drop of nearly $15,000 in annual earnings. Those who habitually engage in “self-regulatory failure”, as procrastination is also known, are more prone to delaying medical treatment. A study of 3,525 Swedish university students published in 2023 found that those who scored highly for procrastination were more likely to suffer debilitating pain.

It gets worse. The same Swedish study also found procrastinators more prone to anxiety, stress and loneliness. A 2025 meta-analysis, published in Frontiers in Psychiatry and covering 88 studies involving 63,323 people in 17 countries, found procrastination and its resulting erosion of self-esteem to be a predictor of future depression. How might procrastination be curbed?

Mental exercises appear to help. One set is known as mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII). Popularised in a number of smartphone apps, the idea is simple: picture the benefits of achieving a goal; contrast that image with the main obstacle; and devise a tactic to overcome it. In two randomised trials reported in 2020 undergraduates were given online MCII exercises designed to reduce the delaying of bedtime, which research has linked to procrastination in general. They missed their intended bedtimes by around 38 minutes less each night than those in a control group given advice about healthy sleeping habits.

Exercise shows promise too. A Chinese trial published in March assessed procrastination in 77 male teenagers. Those randomly assigned to 12 weeks of strength training, high-intensity interval training, or a combination of the two, showed “significant reductions” in putting things off. An earlier study of 564 Chinese university students, published in 2022, found that the most physically active also procrastinated less. The researchers speculated that overcoming the stress of exertion gave them a “sense of mastery” that boosted confidence and motivation.

Then there is the question of diet and other habits. A 2024 study of Italian university students found higher procrastination among breakfast-skippers, heavy drinkers and poor sleepers. The researchers speculated that missing the energy from breakfast might hinder “motivation and ability to focus on tasks”. But the skipped breakfasts may have been a consequence of procrastination, rather than a cause: studies have yet to show convincingly that diet affects it.

As for medications, none as yet targets procrastination. But an intriguing finding emerged in 2021 from an American randomised controlled trial. Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder showed significant gains in cognitive executive function, including the ability to get started on tasks, while taking the stimulant lisdexamfetamine rather than a placebo.

These days, opportunities for procrastination are greater than before. Many people work from home, out of the boss’s sight. Smartphones offer endless distractions. In one review published in 2022, each of the 18 studies assessed linked excessive smartphone use to procrastination. Scrolling often delays bedtime, too. Lack of sleep impedes executive function, leading to more failures of self-regulation. It would be helpful if the scientists involved could stop dawdling.”