3.30.2011

INTERNETÊS > INTERNETESE

"My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-@ kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc."
It is translated like this:  "My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend, and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place."
Veja a lista completa de text messaging lingo: http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php
Bloggable = serve para blog
heart = I heart this song
LOL = Laughing Out Loud = Morrendo de rir
Nom-nom (comida deliciosa)
OMG = Oh, my God!
onliner = plugado
TBH To Be Honest (Quer a verdade?)
TMI = Too Much Information = Informação demais
WAG = wives and girlfriends = maria chuteira
mommy-save = Slang for the act of indiscriminately clicking 'Save' without first choosing an appropriate folder to in which to store the document. Common among newbies (e.g., moms) who don't understand the concept of folders, directories, etc., as in "All of his papers and correspondence were mommy-saved in the MS Word folder."

3.29.2011

SPECIAL, ESPECIAL, SPECIFIC, PARTICULAR, INDIVIDUAL

Relating to one thing or class.
special stresses having a quality, character, identity, or use of its own [special ingredients]
especial may add implications of preeminence or preference [a matter of especial importance]
specific implies a quality or character distinguishing a kind or a species [children with specific needs]
particular stresses the distinctness of something as an individual [a ballet step of particular difficulty]
individual implies unequivocal reference to one of a class or group [valued each individual opinion]
Source: Webster's

Top 10 most annoying Americanisms

By Toby Harnden
            Michelle Obama just sent me an email wishing me “Happy Holidays” and asking me to give money “to causes that are especially meaningful to me and my family” (food banks and deployed troops – not the Obama campaign this time).
            She doesn’t mention Christmas at all, instead talking vaguely of “a time to celebrate our blessings, the new year, and a new era for our country”.
            The term “Happy Holidays” is certainly one that grates on this British ear and I confess it’s not the only one. Every day, I have to navigate the common language which, as George Bernard Shaw put it, divides our two nations.
            But I don’t mean simple Americanisms like stroller (pushchair), diaper (nappy), ladybug (ladybird), Mom (Mum), entrée (main course), Santa (Father Christmas), takeout (takeaway), pre-owned (secondhand), mad (angry), chill (calm down), Santa (Father Christmas) etc etc but the phrases that really make you want to go postal.
            Here are the top 10 that, after nearly seven years here, infuriate me most:
1.         “Happy Holidays.”Translation: “Merry Christmas but I realise you might be Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Bahai, something even more exotic, agnostic or Godless and I don’t want to offend you.”
2.          “Have a Nice Day.” Translation: “I would like you to have a pleasant time today” or “I hate you” – or anything in between.
3.          “You’re welcome.” Translation: Meaningless Pavlovian response to thank you.
4.          “Do the math.” Translation: “Work it out yourself, stupid.”
5.          “Let’s visit with each other.” Translation: “We should spend time together.”
6.          “How are you today?” Translation: “We mean nothing to each other, but let’s pretend.”
7.          “Good luck with that.” Translation: “You have no chance at all.”
8.          “Oh my gosh!“ Translation: “I fear you may feel that taking the Lord’s name in vain is blasphemous.”
9.          “Can I use your bathroom?“ Translation: “I would like to use your lavatory.”
10.          “Not so much.” Translation: “That’s completely wrong.” Used on me in classic fashion by a Clinton aide back in February.
              Maybe there are others that make your blood boil – or some Britishisms that really get under your skin.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/6043777/Top_10_most_annoying_Americanisms/

Americanisms

               If you use Americanisms just to show you know them, people may find you a tad tiresome, so be discriminating. Many American words and expressions have passed into the language; others have vigour, particularly if used sparingly. Some are short and to the point (so prefer lay off to make redundant). But many are unnecessarily long (so use and not additionally, car not automobile, company not corporation, court not courtroom or courthouse, transport not transportation, district not neighbourhood, oblige not obligate, rocket not skyrocket, stocks not inventories unless there is the risk of confusion with stocks and shares). Spat and scam, two words beloved by some journalists, have the merit of brevity, but so do row and fraud; squabble and swindle might sometimes be used instead. The military, used as a noun, is nearly always better put as the army. Gubernatorial is an ugly word that can almost always be avoided.
               Other Americanisms are euphemistic or obscure (so avoid affirmative action, rookies, end runs, stand-offs, point men, ball games and almost all other American sporting terms). Do not write meet with or outside of: outside America, nowadays, you just meet people. Do not figure out if you can work out. To deliver on a promise means to keep it. A parking lot is a car park. Use senior rather than ranking, rumpus rather than ruckus,and rumbustious rather than rambunctious.
               Put adverbs where you would put them in normal speech, which is usually after the verb (not before it, which usually is where Americans put them). Choose tenses according to British usage, too. In particular, do not fight shy—as Americans often do—of the perfect tense, especially where no date or time is given. Thus Mr Bush has woken up to the danger is preferable to Mr Bush woke up to the danger, unless you can add last week or when he heard the explosion.
               Prefer doctors to physicians and lawyers to attorneys. They rest from their labours at weekends, not on them and during the week their children are at school, not in it.
               In an American context you may run for office (but please stand in countries with parliamentary systems) and your car may sometimes run on gasoline instead of petrol. But if you use corn in the American sense you should explain that this is maize to most people (unless it is an old chestnut). Trains run from railway stations, not train stations. The people in them, and on buses, are passengers, not riders. Cars are hired, not rented. City centres are not central cities. Cricket is a game not a sport. London is the country's capital, not the nation's. Ex-servicemen are not necessarily veterans. In Britain, though cattle and pigs may be raised, children are (or should be) brought up.
               Make a deep study or even a study in depth, but not an in-depth study. On-site inspections are allowed, but not in-flight entertainment. Throw stones, not rocks, unless they are of slate, which can also mean abuse (as a verb) but does not, in Britain, mean predict, schedule or nominate. Regular is not a synonym for ordinary or normal: Mussolini brought in the regular train, All-Bran the regular man; it is quite normal to be without either. Hikes are walks, not increases. Vegetables, not teenagers, should be fresh. Only the speechless are dumb, the well-dressed smart and the insane mad. Scenarios are best kept for the theatre, postures for the gym, parameters for the parabola.
               Grow a beard or a tomato but not a company. By all means call for a record profit if you wish to exhort the workers, but not if you merely predict one. And do not post it if it has been achieved. If it has not, look for someone new to head the company, not to head it up.
               You may program a computer but in all other contexts the word is programme.
               Try not to verb nouns or to adjective them. So do not access files, haemorrhage red ink (haemorrhage is a noun), let one event impact another, author books (still less co-author them), critique style sheets, host parties, pressure colleagues (press will do), progress reports, trial programmes or loan money. Gunned down means shot. And though it is sometimes necessary to use nouns as adjectives, there is no need to call an attempted coup a coup attempt or the Californian legislature the California legislature. Vilest of all is the habit of throwing together several nouns into one ghastly adjectival reticule: Texas millionaire real-estate developer and failed thrift entrepreneur Hiram Turnipseed...
               Do not feel obliged to follow American fashion in overusing such words as constituency (try supporters), perception (try belief or view) and rhetoric (of which there is too little, not too much—try language or speeches or exaggeration if that is what you mean). And if you must use American expressions, use them correctly (a rain-check does not imply checking on the shower activity).
http://www.economist.com/research/styleguide/index.cfm?page=673931

Top 10 most annoying Britishisms

By Toby Harnden ---------------------------------------
          Well, I rattle off a cheery pre-Christmas blog post about annoying Americanisms and, Bob’s your uncle, my inbox fills up with beastly rotten emails full of effing and blinding. Gordon Bennett! Excuse me, but there’s no need for people to get the hump or their knickers in a twist. I was only just trying to wind you up.
          It’s not like I think we British are the dog’s bollocks. It’s only a laugh, init? So, in the spirit of promoting transatlantic balance, having browned off all those whose country was terribly late for the last two world wars I’ll now gratuitously offend those whose country needed baling out by the Yanks twice in a century.
          So, have a butcher’s at this: my top 10 list of most annoying Britishisms, those phrases that banish any thoughts of homesickness and make me thank the Lord that the land of my forefathers is an ocean away and have a sudden desire to be very rude about the Queen:
1.       “Know what I mean?“
Translation: Meaningless phrase added to the end of a sentence, usually by someone who is either stating the bleeding obvious or is making no sense at all. Sometimes used as an innuendo to imply something dirty’s going on, as in this classic Monty Python sketch.
2.        “Take a pew.“
Translation: “Have a seat.” Usually deployed by a member of the older generation trying to be something of a card. Once you’ve sat down, the same old codger may well ask you: “What’s your poison?” (translation: “What can I offer you to drink?”)
3.        “At the end of the day.“
Translation: “In summary.” The type of long-winded inanity – “when all’s said and done” means much the same thing – is beloved of football managers and airheads like the Spice Girls.
4.        “It’ll sort itself out, dear.“
Translation: “If I ignore it and do nothing then maybe the problem will go away.” Often used by the emotionally stunted British male (probably educated at a public school) telling his wife not to worry, instead of trying to intervene, understand or help her.
5.        “With all due respect.”
Translation: “I am about to insult you.” Sometimes used out of mock politeness, sometimes from an excess of deference to someone above one’s station in class-ridden British society.
6.        “I’m feeling a little poorly.“
Translation: “I’m as sick as a dog, perhaps even at death’s door.” (an understament, or alternatively a wheedling plea by a malingerer or a hypochondriac). In its worst form, a whine by an English person (particularly a Northerner) who wants a day off work because of a minor or imagined cold. Not to be confused with something done badly or with being broke.
7.        “It’s rather warm.“
Translation: “It’s as hot as s***t.” Classic British understatement, part of the national fondness for euphemism rather than telling it straight. I once used this phrase is Las Vegas when the temperature was soaring above 110 degrees. The translation was provided by a bemused local.
8.        “He’s doing my head in, he is.“
Translation: “He’s driving me crazy.” Usually with the all the hs dropped. The superfluous “he is” is tagged on the end of many phrases by the British in the vain hope of giving added weight to what they are saying.
9.        “I’m gobsmacked.“
Translation: “I’m shocked and stunned into silence.” I first remember this being used Bet Lynch in the soap opera Coronation Street, who, for upper crust types, was the epitome of someone as common as muck. A mildly vulgar phrase but, of course, the British are a people much given to over-the-top vulgarity these days, even by “celebrities” on television. As reader Edward Rogers put it (his emphasis) in an email to me: “If you can get Gordon Ramsey to stop using the F-Word as a noun,adjective, pronoun and an adverb, I’ll do my best to stop the phrases that annoy you.”
10.        ”Ah, Bless.“
Translation: “Isn’t that sweet.” Used in a patronising or ironic tone. If someone says this to you and about you, you’ll probably – and justifiably – want to punch them.
(...)       Next up, I’m thinking of a list of useful American words for which there is no British equivalent, like “segue” and “no-brainer”.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
BTW, it's rather warm today...

18,888 VISITS!

3.27.2011

VIVENDO & APRENDENDO

Não há como fugir desse "motto". Ou vamos em frente ou ficamos para trás. Por exemplo, reluto em trocar de celular mas, fazer o que? E quando me acostumo com o novo, vejo que não era tão complicado assim e que até que é bom. Mas não sou a primeira a comprar as novidades. Espero todos usarem, passar algum tempo, os "bugs" serem consertados, ficar mais barato, daí compro (ainda não estou pronta para os tablets). E além da tecnologia, muitas outras coisas mudam ou surgem totalmente novas. Como as novas profissões e palavras abaixo:

home stager = encenador de imóveis / home staging = encenação de imóveis (um profissional que examina o seu imóvel e sugere uma "maquiagem" para facilitar a venda - pode ser uma pintura na parede, remoção de "clutter"/fotos pessoais, modernização dos azulejos da cozinha, etc.)

crowdfunding = financiamento colaborativo (sites onde os interessados aporesentam seus projetos e pedem colaboração dos visitantes para o financiamento)

3.25.2011

PROVENTOS > EARNINGS = PROCEEDS

Proventos:
Aurélio: rendimento, lucro, proveito, honorários.
Aulete: Remuneração recebida por profissional liberal; honorários. Pagamento recebido do Estado pelos servidores públicos civis e militares inativos .
Earnings:
Salary or wages. Business profits. Gains from investments.
Proceeds:
Answers.com: earnings from business; funds received from the sale of assets, or from the issue of securities, after deduction of selling or marketing expenses incurred.
Oxford: financial result, profit
Black's: the value of goods, lands or investments when converted into money.

DILUTION CLAIM

(INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW) - AÇÃO DE DILUIÇÃO DE MARCA (uso indevido de marca registrada em produto de outra classe): a subset of trade mark law which forbids the use of a famous trade mark in a manner that reduces the mark's uniqueness or distinctive character.
E.g.: The use of the famous NIKE trade mark on poorly-made bicycles was the subject of a dilution claim.

EMPRESA LIMITADA PODE TER PRESIDENTE?

Perguntei aos meus colegas:
- Aprendi em algum momento que empresas limitadas não tem "presidente" (somente sociedades anônimas teriam presidente) e, sim, gerente ou diretor geral ou sócio-gerente. Mas vejo muitas limitadas em que o principal executivo é denominado "presidente". Há alguma norma ou legislação que define isso?
Respostas:
- Você se refere a empresas brasileiras? Caso sim, me parece modismo, copiado dos EUA.
- Estagiei durante quatro anos num escritório de advocacia empresarial. As Ltdas. tem diretor, diretor geral ou sócio gerente (aqui e na Europa). Pelo menos é o que me foi impingido. Presidente só em S/A, etc.
- É o código civil! As limitadas possuem mais liberdade de movimento, e podem chamar seu CEO de presidente ou qualquer outro nome que quiserem, diretor geral, etc.
- O DECRETO No 3.708, DE 10 DE JANEIRO DE 1919, que criou as limitadas, fala em sócios gerentes, mas não em presidente. - O novo Código Civil não dispõe sobre terminologia, mas diz que: "Art. 1.053. A sociedade limitada rege-se, nas omissões deste Capítulo, pelas normas da sociedade simples. Parágrafo único. O contrato social poderá prever a regência supletiva da sociedade limitada pelas normas da sociedade anônima." Ou seja, onde o Código Civil silencia, a Limitada pode reger-se pelas normas da S.A. e, portanto, ter um presidente.
- O sócio gerente agora é "administrador" (...) terminologia (...) confusa, já que a lei das S/A chamava de administrador tanto o conselheiro como o diretor - esse novo código trouxe muita confusão) (...)
-SIM, conforme o Art. 1.053: A sociedade limitada rege-se, nas omissões deste Capítulo, pelas normas da sociedade simples. Parágrafo único. O contrato social poderá prever a regência supletiva da sociedade limitada pelas normas da sociedade anônima.

MARKET X MARKETPLACE

Marketplace (n): An open area or square in a town where a public market or sale is set up. The world of business and commerce.  A situation or place in which values, opinions, and ideas are put forward for debate or recognition: a marketplace for new ideas; the literary marketplace.

Market (n.) : A public gathering held for buying and selling merchandise. A place where goods are offered for sale. A store or shop that sells a particular type of merchandise: a vegetable market.  The business of buying and selling a specified commodity: the soybean market. A market price.  A geographic region considered as a place for sales: grain for the foreign market; the West Coast market. A subdivision of a population considered as buyers: cosmetics for the upscale market.  The opportunity to buy or sell; extent of demand for merchandise: a big market for gourmet foods. An exchange for buying and selling stocks or commodities: securities sold on the New York market.  The entire enterprise of buying and selling commodities and securities: The market has been slow recently.

v.tr. To offer for sale. To sell.
v.intr. To deal in a market.  To buy household supplies: We marketed for a special Sunday dinner.
in the market: 1. Interested in buying: We are in the market for a used car.
on the market: 1. Available for buying: Many kinds of seasonal flowers are on the market.  2. Up for sale: They put the family business on the market.

CONSIDERANDOS: CONSIDERING THAT X WHEREAS

Whereas: em contratos, em linguagem jurídica
Considering that: em outros escritos

VOCATIVO

Uso correto do vocativo em ofícios e cartas comerciais, no aspecto da pontuação:
Prezado Senhor, [com vírgula]
Prezado Senhor: [com dois-pontos]
Prezado Senhor  [sem nada]

3.18.2011

SÃO DOIS PRA LÁ, DOIS PRA CÁ

THE PROSPEROUS TRANSALATOR

       On investing first, and reaping the benefits later: “Like every other business, translation means investing money and taking risks. You can’t dip one toe in the water and expect the fish to bite.”
       On charging right for translation services: “High prices don’t necessarily mean impeccable quality, but low prices are a strong indicator of sub-par quality.”
Source: Fabio Said [http://fidusinterpres.com/?p=8957
Book: The Prosperous Translator, by Chris Durban

3.15.2011

MUITA PALHA PRA POUCA BRASA

É assim que tudo começa: estava eu lendo a newsletter "Migalhas" de hoje:
"TJ/SP concede 200 salários mínimos de dano moral ao ex-governador XXX por reportagem publicada na revista YYY. Segundo a reportagem, havia boatos ... que o político tinha, por meio de homem de palha, imóveis no município."

"por meio de 'homem de palha'"?
daí: homem de palha, laranja, testa-de-ferro = straw man / man of straw; nominee
figurehead, dummy
dummy shareholder = acionista laranja / ficticio / simulado. laranja; testa-de-ferro
dummy director / accommodation director / nominal director = diretor simbólico; diretor laranja.
dummy corporation = sociedade de fachada; sociedade laranja.
act as a "front" - servir de "laranja"
fogo de palha, estardalhaço = seven-day wonder
"seven-day wonder"?
a seven-day wonder = Fig. a person or a process supposedly perfected in only seven days. (Sarcastic.) Tommy is no seven-day wonder. It took him 6 years to get through high school!
nine days' wonder = Fig. something that is of interest to people only for a short time. Don't worry about the story about you in the newspaper. It'll be a nine days' wonder and then people will forget. The elopement of Bob and Anne was a nine days' wonder. Now people never mention.

ou muito barulho por nada = too much ado for nothing
"ado"?  "cada um no seu quadrado"?
.. só sei que foi assim! (citação recorrente no "Auto da Compadecida")
"Auto da compadecida"? [Auto é uma representação teatral, geralmente de alguma passagem bíblica. Portanto, quando se diz Auto de Natal, refere-se à encenação do nascimento de Cristo. No caso de Auto da Compadecida, trata-se de representação envolvendo Nossa Senhora, que se compadece ( solidariza-se com os ) dos sofrimentos dos humanos. Daí o nome "Compadecida". O filme foi traduzido como "A Dog's Will", por razões mercadológicas, enquanto que o mais apropriado talvez fosse: "Our Compassionate Lady"] 
Socorro! Preciso parar!

3.14.2011

LEGAL TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Consideration                Reasonable                        Equity (Remedy)
Equity (ownership)        Equity (of Redemption)      Estoppel
Specific Performance    Liquidated Damages           Will
Shall                             May                                   Finder of Fact
Finder of Law              Adversarial System              Four Corners Rule
INSTRUCTIONS TO WATCH THE RECORDING:
Go to:http://www.lexmercator.com/virtual-classroom.
Click “attend”, and then enter the event identification number: MHS315348.
You will see a message that the event has already taken place, but if you look below that you will see a spot to click “playback”. The whole lecture was recorded and is available on-demand.
[Authorized by Kit Williams]

SET PRICES / FIX PRICE / PRICE FIXING

Se você quiser fixar preços [no bom sentido, sinônimo de estabelecer], use "to set prices"!  Ex.:
- How to Set Prices for Your Services - One of the trickiest issues for many new businesses is working out how to set prices for your services.
- modelo de fixação de preços: pricing model
- fixação de preços com base no custo = cost-plus pricing
- precificação = pricing
- fixação de preço alto/excessivo = peak-load pricing
- fixação de preços predatórios/abusivos = predatory pricing
- política de fixação de preços elevados = price-skimming policy
- sistema de fixação de preços de transferência em duas fases = two-part transfer pricing system
- fixação de preços estratégica = strategic price setting
- fixação de preço global = lump-sum pricing

[no sentido negativo]
fixação de preços = price fixing; pegging (mercado de capitais)
fixação de preços abaixo dos custos = dumping
cartel de fixação de preços = price-fixing cartel
- The courts confront XYZ's involvement in price fixing - Four companies face powerful evidence that they colluded to limit production and fix prices of their products.

3.08.2011

JUDICIAL PRECEDENT

A precedent is a ruling that a judge must follow when considering a case that raises similar legal issues. It's a foundation of common law legal systems. But how are precedents established? ...
[É importante assistir ao vídeo porque ajudar a fixar o conceito.]

Transcript of video - This video is presented by TransLegal - the world leader in Legal English
       - Hi, my name's Matt Firth and welcome to TransLegal's lesson of the week.
       - Today I'll be talking about how precedents are established. A precedent is a ruling that a judge has to follow when considering a case that raises similar legal issues. It's a foundation of common law legal systems.
       - So, how are precedents established?
       - I'm going to use the example of a fictional act, let's call it the Dogs Act. This is a fictional act, it doesn't exist, you won't find it anywhere. So the Dogs Act.
       - The Dogs Act is introduced into England and the Dogs Act says that by the first of January 2012 all dogs have to be handed in to be put to sleep. For whatever reason, England wants to get rid of all of the dogs. OK.
       - The second of January 2012 I haven't given my dog in, I love my dog and I'm out taking my dog for a walk, somebody sees me and reports me and I get arrested. And I get arrested under the Dogs Act.
       - My case is a criminal case and in England all criminal cases, begin at the Magistrate's Court. And serious cases then get sent up for trial at the Crown Court. And the Crown Court is the first major criminal court in the UK.
       - So what am I going to argue? Well, lets' say the text of the Act says simply that all dogs have to be handed in to be put to sleep. How can I argue that my dog isn't a dog. Well, maybe I could argue that my dog is actually a hound. I could try and argue the difference between a dog and a hound. I could try and say look, if you think of a dog most people think of a domestic animal, a nice sort of cuddly pet. If you think of a hound, it's a working dog. Dogs that used to be used for hunting.
       - Maybe the judge likes my argument, maybe he’s a hunter himself and he says,
       - “Yes, ok, I can accept that. I think in most people's eyes a dog is a domestic animal, a domestic pet. Yours isn't a dog, it's a hound. I don't think that was the intention of Parliament. I'm going to allow it.”
       - Now that's then set a precedent. Future cases that come up to the Crown Court, would rule that there is a distinction between a dog and a hound and under the Dogs Act hounds do not have to be handed in. However, the state aren't happy with that. The prosecutor (Procurador do MP), the prosecution (Procuradoria / Ministério Público) aren't happy with that. They don't like that interpretation of the Dogs Act.
       - They appeal the decision. It goes up to the Court of Appeal, the Criminal Division. Now, the Court of Appeal can uphold the judgment (manter/confirmar a sentença) of the Crown Court or they can overrule it (revogar, anular). In this case, they decide to overrule it. So, what then happens?
       - Well, the final Court of Appeal within the UK legal system, before going on to Europe, is the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court could, again, they could uphold the judgment of the Court of Appeal or they could overrule it and reinstate the original judgment. And in this case let's say they decide to reinstate (restabelecer) the original judgment. That's fantastic for me. I don't have to go to prison. That's then set a precedent.
       - The Supreme Court is generally bound by its own decisions. There are certain circumstances under which it will depart from previous decisions but for reasons of predictability it's very important that, as far as possible, they stick to their own decisions and all lower courts have to then follow that precedent. And in this case the precedent is that a hound under the Dogs Act is a working animal, it is not the type of dog that was meant under the Dogs Act. So I'm free.
Source: http://www.translegal.com/legal-english-lessons?utm_source=LexMail&utm_campaign=f8b5c813cc-LexMail_2011_03_08&utm_medium=email

3.05.2011

Kudos = Congrats >< Criticism

Kudos n. Acclaim or praise for exceptional achievement. From Greek κῦδος, meaning "glory" or "renown". The word is singular.
Phrases:
- Kudos to ABC (UK supplier) - I thought I'd take a moment to give thumbs-up to ABC in the UK, one of the few suppliers without a dedicated sub-forum.
- Kudos to the postal system: Christmas card delivered without address, town or postcode.
- Congrats to former ABC star, DEF,
- A new leak of US government documents includes serious criticism of UK operations in Afghanistan.
- Salvation Army clothing collections company faces criticism over earnings.

3.02.2011

TO TABLE

        In his history of the Second World War, Winston Churchill records that differences in the interpretation of the verb "to table" caused an argument between British and American planners.
        The British wanted a matter tabled immediately because it was important, and the Americans insisted it should not be tabled at all because it was important (it had to be studied beforehand).
In British English, the term means "to discuss now" (the issue is brought to the table),
whereas in American English it means "to defer" (the issue is left on the table).
Source: https://www2.bc.edu/~stantoro/en307/presentations/08handouts/usuk.ppt
UK: to formally announce that you want something to be discussed during a meeting.
       Ms Scott tabled an amendment (=change) to the suggestion.
US: to postpone discussion on a particular subject or motion until a later time
      We'll have to table this last item until our next meeting.
Phrasebank
• A new clause was tabled to the Criminal Justice Bill.
• The proposal was tabled by Matthew Shefras MP.
• On the last day, the House of Representatives tabled the legislation.
• The proposal failed to gain support so they had to table it.
Common mistakes
• Note that this term has opposite meanings in BrE and AmE. Make sure that you know who your readers or listeners are when you use this term.