News from JMS
Welcome to our blog, where we plan to feature news, views and translation clues. Things like: did you know that English cats say ‘meow’, German moggies ‘miau’, French felines ‘miaou’, and Spanish Siamese ‘miau’. Pause for thought…
Cold Turkey
How’s that for a non sequitur following Jane’s post about the latest cakes on the block! Translated into German it is ‘Entzugssyndrom’, but many other languages simply haven’t bothered and have stuck to ‘cold turkey’, albeit uttered in a charming foreign accent. The origin of the phrase is uncertain, but it probably comes from the USA. Brown Turkey on the other hand is not a variation on giving something up painfully and quickly, but the Ficus carica, a fig tree that you can actually grow successfully in the UK. The fruit is ripening now, but you need to get to it before the wasps do.