5.28.2008

OWN UP

own up (to something) = to admit that you have done something wrong (assumir a culpa)
E.g.1: What you did was wrong, but because you owned up to it I won't punish you.
E.g.2: After 3 days in the police station he finally owned up and admitted that he had committed the crime.
This phrasal verb can't be separated.
Fonte: Knights English

NERD / GEEK / SCENESTER / DUD / SUCKER

Nerd (noun) = A foolish, inept, or unattractive person. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept (nova gíria para "square", dos anos 50-70)

Geek (noun) = young people who spend their youth studying at the expense of their social life (ou seja, um CDF)

Scenester (noun) = (Youthspeak) Someone intent on "making the scene," a really cool groupie always at the right band concerts, hanging with the right nest of other cool groupies. Scenesters are identified by their drab clothes, smoking, drug use (or talk of drug use), use of cool words from in(tellectual) magazines, which they don't know the meaning of, and lack of attention to the music at the concerts they attend. An offensive hair-do is a must, if not with spikes and bizarre colors, at least with highlights. The antonym is "geek."
Usage: This word refers to groupies or "band aids," young people who follow bands from concert to concert and who become disdainful in their knowledge of the lore of contemporary rock bands. Scenesters often end up working for geeks in later life. Ouch!

Dud = One that is disappointingly ineffective or unsuccessful.

Sucker (noun) = One who is easily deceived; a dupe. One that is indiscriminately attracted to something specified: “The nation's capital is a sucker for a symbolic gesture”

5.26.2008

PIRATE / PIRACY / SOFTLIFTING

Pirate
One who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without commission from a sovereign nation. A ship used for this purpose. One who preys on others; a plunderer. One who makes use of or reproduces the work of another without authorization. One that operates an unlicensed, illegal television or radio station.v., -rat·ed, -rat·ing, -rates.
v.tr.
To attack and rob (a ship at sea).
To take (something) by piracy.
To make use of or reproduce (another's work) without authorization.v.intr.
To act as a pirate; practice piracy.

Piracy
Robbery committed at sea.
A similar act of robbery, as the hijacking of an airplane.
The unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented material: software piracy.
The operation of an unlicensed, illegal radio or television station.

software piracy = The illegal copying of software for distribution within the organization, or to friends, clubs and other groups, or for duplication and resale. The software industry loses billions of dollars each year to piracy, and although it may seem innocent enough to install an application on a couple of additional machines, it may ultimately shatter the profitability of a small software company. Software piracy is a major issue in the U.S. and Europe, but it is rampant in the rest of the world where major applications are routinely copied for resale. ‘Software Police' are cracking down hard and the penalties are harsh. ‘Softlifting' recently became a felony with penalties of up to $250,000 and five years in jail.

Fonte: Answers.com

COPYCAT VERSION / CÓPIA PIRATA

copycat (noun) = imitador (One that closely imitates or mimics another.)
(verb tr./intr.) = -cat·ted, -cat·ting, -cats = To act as an imitator or mimic. / To imitate closely; mimic.
adj. = Closely imitating or following another: a copycat version of a successful product; a copycat crime.
Fonte: Answers

5.22.2008

IDIOSYNCRASY

An eccentricity of character or behavior:

"All interesting people have idiosyncrasies."
"Language has its idiosyncrasies, too."

Etymology: Greek idiosynkrasi comprising idios "own, personal" + synkrasis "admixture" from syn "together, with" + krasis "mixture, temperament." Attic Greek "idiotes" meant "private, ordinary person" as opposed to a public figure. However, since this implied that an idiote was unaware of the koina "affairs of the city," he was, by implication, also ignorant, hence the English meaning of "idiot."

RECONFIGURING / DISFIGURING

All interesting people have idiosyncrasies but they can be difficult to express in a society where reconfiguring (or disfiguring) your body with tattoos, scrap metal, and rainbow-colored hair dye is now commonplace.

5.21.2008

TO FEIGN IGNORANCE

se fazer de desentendido

(Recebi um e-mail de uma grande amiga e colega com a tradução acima e acho que isso serve de teste para saber se realmente você gosta de traduzir: se você não sente entusiasmo ao encontrar uma boa tradução para um determinado termo, esse ofício não é o seu "cup of tea".)

INDUSTRY / SECTOR

An area of activity:
-the public sector
-the private sector
-the agricultural sector

Businesses that produce a particular type of thing or provide a specific service:
-the manufacturing industry
-the automotive industry

ALIGHT HERE!

Um termo comum nas ruas de Londres, escrito em placas de paradas de ônibus, ou quando você está em um ônibus circulando dentro do aeroporto de Stansted: "Passengers to Rome, please alight here", ou seja, "desçam aqui".

- She alighted from the train at 74th Street.
- The Queen alighted from the car.
- We alighted on Baker Station.
- I thought and thought and then alighted on a clever solution. (neste caso, descobrir por acaso).

TOP UP

Reencher, recarregar
Top-up = recarga (completar o valor)
to fill something again, after it has been partly emptied. (British English)

- Would you like me to top your glass up with wine?
- If your bath water has gone cold, let some water out then top it up with hot water.

Quem já esteve em Londres sabe que precisa "top up the Oyster Card (Used on the Tube, trams, buses, DLR, London Overground and some National Rail services in London). Auto top-up ensures you never run out of pay as you go credit by automatically topping up your Oyster card whenever your balance falls below £5. You’ll never have to queue to top up your Oyster card again."

5.20.2008

I or Me?

Myself (pronoun)

Usage: Increasingly, speakers in the US are using "myself" to bail out of the "I or me?" trap. The ultimate solution to the "I or me?" trap is to drop everything before the word in question to figure out what you want to say. In "XX and myself went shopping," think "____ went shopping." Now the problem is easy to solve. "I went shopping," so "XX and I went shopping" is the way to go. "No one saw XX and me shopping" is correct for the same reason.

Etymology: The reflexive pronoun in English is used to show action reflecting on the subject, so it can never be the subject of a sentence itself. You can, however, also use these forms as emphatic pronouns, for which the 'no-subject' rule does not apply. "I didn't actually see Bill himself," simply emphasizes "Bill." This emphatic use also shows up in the subject, as "He himself doesn't eat caviar but he serves it at parties;"
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

5.19.2008

Attorney / Lawyer

Attorney = aquele indicado para agir em nome de outrem', um representante legal (ou procurador: attorney-in-fact, private attorney); indivíduo que exerce a advocacia (lawyer, attorney-at-law). Utilizado para mandatários em geral (e.g. representantes legais de uma empresa), bem como para os profissionais no exercício da advocacia (e.g. attorney-at-law).

Lawyer= indivíduo habilitado para exercer a advocacia, empregado tanto para o advogado que exerce o direito como para aquele que não exerce (e.g. He is a lawyer by training)

attorney fees – honorários advocatícios
attorney of record – advogado constituído para representar o cliente em juízo
attorney-client relationship – relação cliente-advogado
briefing attorney – advogado especializado em elaborar peças (e.g. petições, recursos)
called to the bar – profissional do direito membro da ordem dos advogados
law firm – escritório de advocacia
power of attorney – procuração
research attorney – advogado especializado em pesquisa, pareceres

(Transcrito parcialmente, de forma resumida, de "Migalaw English").

DISPARATE

Disparate (adjective) = Incompatibly different or incongruous in character or make-up.

Usage: Today's word gives us two meanings for the price of one: "disparate" is semantically is a combination of "distinct" and "separate." If Elmer's business personality and home personality are not the same, they may be distinct but still compatible. If his two personalities are disparate, they share little or nothing in common. This adjective has two nouns: "disparity," which refers to the specific difference between two things, and "disparateness," which reflects the simple fact that two objects are incompatibly different.

Suggested Usage: This word offers a subtle way around the negative connotations of "hypocritical": "Thalia seems to have disparate attitudes about the dangers of sunning when she is talking to her friends and when she is alone at the beach." Remember that unlike "difference," "disparity" implies incompatibility, "Their attitudes toward art and sports are so disparate they could never be friends." With different or even distinct attitudes, friendship would still be possible.

F0nte: YourDictionary

5.16.2008

NARROWLY TAILORED / BROADLY DRAFTED

Narrowly tailored (adjective) = to carefully draft laws or craft policies to address only the objective sought without impinging on other rights such as freedom of speech, and commerce generally. "The legislation must be narrowly tailored to protect minority rights, without placing too great a burden on businesses."

Broadly drafted: "The proposed legislation was so broadly drafted that activities which did not present a risk to national security were inadvertently brought into the regulatory framework."

Related words and concepts
Tailor-made (adjective) - drafted to meet the specific needs of a particular party. "The supply contract was tailor-made to meet the manufacturer's need for short lead times and off-site storage."

Fonte: Translegal

5.15.2008

ENCLOSE / ENCLOSURE

Enclose (verb):
1. To put something inside an envelope: Please enclose a cheque with your oder. Please find enclosed an agenda for the meeting.
2. to surround something, especially with a fence or wall, in order to make it separate (usually passive): The pool area is enclosed by a six-foot wall. An enclosed area.

Enclosure (noun):
1. An area surrounded by a wall or fence and used for a particular purpose (Cercado).
2. something that is put inside an envelope with a letter (Anexo).

Fonte: Longman Dict of Contemporary English

RUBRIC (TÍTULO) / INITIALS (RUBRICA)

RUBRIC (noun) = (1) A title or heading. (2) A class or category. (3) An authoritative rule on a certain topic. (4) A brief description of a broad topic.
Usage: The first definition gives the original meaning, and the word is derived from the old practice of writing important titles or information in red ink (see Etymology). Meanings (3) and (4) refer to the sort of information that printers or medieval manuscript writers might choose to highlight in red in this way. Meaning (2) is the most commonly encountered today, and is a metaphorical extension of the idea of a "heading." To create rubrics of type (3) or (4) is to "rubricate," and the process itself is "rubrication."
Suggested Usage: We are beset in modern life by pieces of text that are part brief description and part authoritative rule: "The IT department has just issued a little booklet of rubrics concerning the care of the office PCs." Next time you feel the need for the word "heading," try using "rubric" instead: "This long-distance call to the speaking clock in Kuala Lumpur must surely fall under the rubric of 'unnecessary expenditure,' my dear."

INITIAL = Of, relating to, or occurring at the beginning; first: took the initial step toward peace.
Designating the first letter or letters of a word.n. The first letter of a proper name.
INITIALS = The first letter of each word of a person's full name considered as a unit: stationery monogrammed with her initials. The first letter of a word. A large, often highly decorated letter set at the beginning of a chapter, verse, or paragraph.tr.v., -tialed also -tialled, -tial·ing -tial·ling, -tials -tials. To mark or sign with initials, especially for purposes of authorization or approval.

5.14.2008

ENJOIN

Enjoin (verb) = (1) To force or compel someone to take an action or cease in some action, usually with a court order or "injunction" (to enjoin someone to act/from acting). (2) To forbid or prevent by legal action (to enjoin any public activity).

Usage: (1) This term is from English legalese: "The Republican Party asked the Florida courts to enjoin the election boards of four counties from counting votes by hand."
Suggested Usage: The term may be used outside the courts as an emphatic substitute for "compel": "I will enjoin you from parking here by whatever power I may" or "I know of no injunction against parking here." Still, it maintains a legalistic ring.

5.13.2008

FACTOID / RED HERRING

Factoid = A piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition: “What one misses finally is what might have emerged beyond both facts and factoids—a profound definition of the Marilyn Monroe phenomenon” (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt). Usage Problem. A brief, somewhat interesting fact.

Red herring (noun) = (Arenque defumado) An issue or idea that serves no function other than to divert attention away from more important issues. Some have argued that the war with Iraq is a red herring diverting our attention away from the War on Terrorism. This is such an obvious and patent falsehood that it smells of (red) herring.

Usage: The first question is whether some herring are really red. There are white herring, black herring, gray herring and red herring, depending on how they are prepared. If smoked slowly over burning willow branches, herring do turn red and develop a distinctive aroma.

Suggested Usage: Today's words come from the phrase "to draw a red herring across the track," originating in the second half of the 17th century. Originally, red herring and dead cats and foxes were dragged along a trail to train hunting dogs to follow a scent. Because the scent was so strong and familiar to the dogs, farmers were wont to drag a red herring around their fields to divert the howling hounds and stamping steeds of the fox hunt away from their crops. Fleeing criminals would also mislead blood hounds in hot pursuit by dragging the occasional red herring across their tracks and sending the dogs off on a wild goose chase.
Etymology: Yes, a red herring can send you on a wild goose chase. This is another common English idiom with an interesting story. After all, exactly what is it that wild geese are supposed to chase? In fact, the wild goose chase was a kind of horse race of 17th century England in which the horses behind the leader had to follow the leader's course. This encouraged the leader to set as tortuous and confusing a course as possible to prevent the other horses from passing. A wild goose chase thus became a confusing chase in many directions with little chance of success. The name of this race was chosen because wild geese always strictly follow a leader in their migrations across the spring and autumn skies.–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

5.11.2008

OK

Ok (adjective)
Definition: As an adverb or adjective, today's word means "all right." When it's a noun, it's an approval, and the verb means "to approve."

Usage: OK is spelled OK, O.K., Ok, or okay. The US astronauts have extended it to A-OK, meaning "absolutely OK."

Etymology: Urban legend has it that Andrew Jackson, with a dubious grasp of written English, spelled "all correct" as "oll korrect." Another assigns "OK" to a World War II body-count system which included 0K (zero + K), meaning "zero killed," implying that everything is all right. But OK entered English well before the 1940s. Allen Read claims that the word entered American English in the Boston Morning Post in March of 1839 during a fad of acronyms and abbreviations, including OFM (Our First Men), NG (no go), and SP (small potatoes). Apparently, it was the scenesters' jargon of the time. As scenesters tried to establish an even more "elite" vocabulary for the in-crowd, facetious spellings began to appear, with NG turning to KG (Know Go). OK came from that silly spelling "Oll Korrect." By autumn, 1840, the term had traveled from New York to New Orleans via the popular press, and during the Van Buren campaign, OK was used to take advantage of the acronym game to refer to "Old Kinderhook," an extension of the name of Van Buren's birthplace in the Hudson Valley, Kinderhook.

Fonte: Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

5.10.2008

CITIZEN / DENIZEN

Citizen (noun):
A person owing loyalty to and entitled by birth or naturalization to the protection of a state or nation. A resident of a city or town, especially one entitled to vote and enjoy other privileges there. A civilian. A native, inhabitant, or denizen of a particular place: “We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community” (Franklin D. Roosevelt).

Denizen (noun): An inhabitant; a resident: denizens of Monte Carlo. One that frequents a particular place: a bar and its denizens. Ecology: An animal or a plant naturalized in a region. A plant, animal, or person that legitimately belongs in a certain area or place, whether they reside there or appear there frequently, as violets are denizens of the wood, fish are denizens of the deep, and criminals are denizens of jails

Chiefly British: A foreigner who is granted rights of residence and sometimes of citizenship, without rights of holding office or inheritance. The British sense, however, implies a process (to be denizened in a country) and the status of "denizenship" (to have rights of denizenship revoked).
"I am a denizen of Camden County," suggests a much deeper and more intriguing involvement in the county than merely saying, "I am an inhabitant of Camden County" or even "I am a native of Camden County." (Keep in mind, though, the animals (dogs, cats, etc.) who live in Camden County are also denizens, not to mention the birds and the trees they nest in. )
"The denizens of QMUOL are generally accepted in the best colleges and universities."

5.05.2008

PROCURADORIA / CORREGEDORIA / DEFENSORIA

corregedor – comptroller
corregedoria – comptroller’s office
defensor público – public defender
defensoria – public defender's office
mandatário – agent, substitute, proxy
ouvidor – ombudsman
ouvidoria – office of the ombudsman
procuração – proxy (para assembléias)
procuração (em geral) ("ad negotia" e "ad judicia") = power of attorney
procurador / procurador "ad negotia" = attorney-in-fact
Procurador do Estado – state attorney
Procurador Geral de Justiça ="Chief public prosecutor";
Procurador Geral do Estado = "Attorney General for the State of ..."
procurador judicial / procurador judicial ("ad judicia") = attorney, attorney-in-fact
procuradores de Justiça (Ministério Público Estadual) ="public prosecutor".
Procuradores do Estado, que representam e defendem o Estado = "State attorney".
procuradoria do estado – state attorney’s Office
1) Procurador possui diversas acepções em Direito (De Plácido e Silva1 ), dentre as quais:
a) "Pessoa que trata ou administra negócios de outrem, em virtude de mandato, o mandatário".
• No sistema anglo-americano, tais atividades são realizadas por um agent, substitute ou proxy. Este último, mais usado para assembléias, é também utilizado para denominar o instrumento, i.e., a procuração.
b) "O procurador judicial, o advogado". • Nesse caso, o procurador é o attorney ou o attorney-in-fact, aquele que detém procuração judicial (power of attorney).
c) "Na Administração Pública, o representante do estado", o Procurador do Estado. • No sistema da common law, esse cargo é exercido pelo State Attorney.
d) "O procurador chefe dos demais procuradores", o Procurador Geral. • Em inglês, o Attorney General.
2) Corregedor, no mesmo vocabulário, é o "órgão de segundo grau do Poder Judiciário, encarregado da fiscalização e disciplina dos serviços judiciários dos juízos a quo, objetivando zelar pelo bom funcionamento da justiça. Estendeu-se a expressão aos demais Poderes, criando-se as corregedorias no Parlamento e nos órgãos do Poder Executivo".
a) Comptroller2 – Em inglês, não há um termo específico para o órgão corregedor do Poder Judiciário. Entretanto, no setor público, usa-se comptroller, para o órgão fiscalizador de contas, principalmente. No Brasil, comptroller é termo utilizado pela Corregedoria Geral da União (CGU).
b) Ombudsman3 – Há, também, a figura do ombudsman que é, na administração pública4 de diversos países de língua inglesa, a autoridade competente para receber, investigar e relatar reclamações dos cidadãos sobre os órgãos públicos. Assim, possui algumas funções de órgão corregedor, prevalecendo, todavia, as de ouvidoria.
3) Defensor também possui mais de uma acepção (De Plácido e Silva), entre elas:
a) "Toda pessoa que defende uma outra" o advogado. Em inglês, lawyer, attorney ou defense counsel.
b) "Órgão essencial à função jurisdicional do Estado, incumbindo-lhe a orientação jurídica e defesa, integral e gratuita em todos os graus, dos necessitados", o defensor público.
• Nos Estados Unidos, é o public defender que representa, criminalmente, os indivíduos incapazes de arcar com os honorários de um advogado. O public defender não é, necessariamente, um staff attorney, i.e., funcionário contratado para o cargo de defensor, mas pode ser indicado (appointed).
• No caso de ações fora da esfera criminal nos Estados Unidos, a assistência (legal aid) é oferecida por instituições (ex.: community legal clinics) ou escritórios de advocacia que prestam ou oferecem atendimento à população de baixa renda (pro bono legal services).
• Como grande parte da assistência aos carentes e necessitados nos Estados Unidos, não é exercida pelo estado, espera-se que os advogados (apesar não haver lei obrigando) realizem trabalho pro bono. Alguns escritórios, exigem que seus advogados cumpram um determinado número de horas por ano. Outros fazem doações a programas de assistência jurídica, em vez prestar o serviço gratuitamente.
1De Plácido e Silva . (2005). Vocabulário Jurídico. Rio de Janeiro: Forense.
2Pronuncia-se da mesma forma que controller, i.e. sem o 'p'.
3Lexema de origem sueca que ingressou no inglês, e em outras línguas, a partir da década de 50.
4A figura do ombudsman também existe no setor privado.
Fonte: Luciana Carvalho, Migalaw English
Colaboração: Maria Cristina Godoy, Tamara Barile, M.Irene Montezzo

5.03.2008

COMODATO / COMODANTE / COMODATÁRIO

Comodato = "commodatum (a gratuitous loan of goods to be temporarily used by" ou "loan for use"
comodante = commodans (he who lends) / lender
comodatário = commodatarius (the person who receives the thing) / borrower
ação de comodato = free lease suit
comodato / alienação fiduciária = loan for use; free lease commodatum; gratuitious use or loan; loan for use; commodate; free lease; bailment
comodato de bens móveis = loan for use of assets; free lease of assets
comodato emergente = venture capital company
contrato de comodato = loan for use agreement, free lease agreement

Black's:
Commodate: Exists where property is loaned gratuitously by owner for sole benefit, accommodation and use of borrower, and specific thing loaned is to be returned.
Commodatum: A gratuitous loan of goods to be temporarily used by the bailee, and returned in specie. He who lends to another a thing for a definite time, to be enjoyed and used under certain conditions, without any pay or reward, is called "commodans"; the person who receives the thing is called "comodatarius" and the contract is called "commodatum". IUt differs from "locatio" and "conductio" in this: that the use of the thing is gratuitous.

Other Law Dictionary:
"COMMODATUM. A contract, by which one of the parties binds himself to return to the other certain personal chattels which the latter delivers to him, to the other certain personal chattels which the latter delivers to him, to be used by him, without reward; loan -for use. Vide Loan for use.
Loan for use agreement for long-term loan for use*: E.g.: Loan for use is a good way for museums to make the most of their collections. The Museum has developed two standard Loan for Use Agreements for its members: One for a Definite Period of Time and one for Long Term Use.
Compare "loan for use" and "loan for consumption".
In Scots Law, a commodate (commodatum) is a gratuitous loan; a loan, or free concession of anything moveable or immoveable, for a certain time, on condition of restoring again the same after a certain time.
It is a kind of loan, or contract, with one difference: the commodate is gratis, and does not transfer the property; the thing must be returned in essence, and without deterioration, so that things which consume by use, or time, cannot be objects of a commodate, but of a loan, because although they may be returned in kind, they cannot in identity.