Author: AdminBarbier
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I am the only one who cringes when I hear the word “savage”?
Are we the only ones who cringe when we hear the word “savage?” We are not the politically correct police, but now that Gen Z is using it to mean “amazing,” “cold-blooded” or “wild”- sometimes in a positive light – it makes explaining our “cringiness” even more complicated. Many at Barbier grew up learning through…
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Let’s start a movement to stop saying ‘your guyses’.’
Are the Barbier linguists getting cranky? Or does everyone else cringe when they hear this English language atrocity? After breaking down the use of this unofficial term referring to the possessive form of ‘you guys,’ we think that by starting a petition against its use will inspire English language speakers to find a better and…
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Overwhelmed with the constant tsunami of new English words?
With an average of 1,000 words officially accepted every year, the Language Service Industry braces for their impact in both good and bad ways. Barbier wants to make the situation worse… At the rate that the English language is growing, maybe there’s a societal reason behind it. The Global Language Monitor states that we actually…
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How Influential are Portmanteau Words?
In the 1500’s, A Portmanteau was originally used to describe a two sided suitcase, packing two different items into one space. Lewis Carrol in 1882 coined this word to identify the creation of a new word from two other words or names, like smog= smoke + fog. Some old words that impressed us are: motel = motor…
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Barbier International Joins ELIA!
Barbier International is proud to announce that we are now part of ELIA, The European Language Industry Association. This is due to the expansion of our language services, with a Barbier office in Madrid, Spain in addition to our offices in Oregon, California and Guatemala. ELIA was founded in 2005 with the entrepreneurial spirit of…
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Barbier International Joins JUNTOS LATAM
Barbier International is proud to announce that we are now part of JUNTOS LATAM, the Association of Language Services of Latin America and the Caribbean. This association was born from the entrepreneurial spirit of uniting friendly nations, building bridges for collaboration and giving visibility to the language industry in Latin America and the Caribbean. JUNTOS LATAM also…
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Overwhelmed with the constant tsunami of new English words?
With an average of 1,000 words officially accepted every year, the Language Service Industry braces for their tsunami impact both good and bad. I want to make the situation worse… At the rate that the English language is growing, maybe there’s a societal reason behind it. The Global Language Monitor states that we actually create an average of 5,400…
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Do idioms make you feel like an idiot?
Throughout many types of language services like interpreting, translating and language training, one of the most troublesome parts of serving our clients is handling idioms. The words “idiom” and “idiot” come from the same ancient Greek word “idios” which means “of one’s own” or “private.” According to a study by the Guardian, idioms were seen as a private expression, impossible to decode…
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Translate This! Podcast is Live
Barbier is proud to sponsor the Translate This podcast! Subscribe to this weekly podcast and learn about language, culture and the hilarity of it all. Your hosts are our very own Barbier CEO Melissa Meyer and Barbier Language Training Director Richard Fisher. Weekly each will explore topics that intrigue them and other topics that they have…
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5 Benefits of Video Remote Interpretation (VRI)
A person who understands one language and speaks in another is called an interpreter because they are explaining what a person is saying to someone who doesn’t understand that language. Video Remote Interpretation ( VRI ) is a telecommunications service that uses devices to provide an online, remote and professional language interpretation service to facilitate multilingual communication between people limited by a…