From Ian Stewart, University of Warwick
I wish to enter a priority claim for redundant translation syndrome (French), going back 30 years (Feedback, 21 May).
In 1975, under the pseudonym “Cosgrove”, I published a cartoon in the student mathematics magazine Manifold (15 December 1975, p 36). The two characters (Ferd’nand and Gilbert) are studying a modern painting in an art gallery.
Frame 1: “It has a certain je ne sais quoi…”
Frame 2: “…but I don’t know what.”
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From Laurence Berry
Peter Shaw may have coined the term redundant translation syndrome (Feedback, 2 April), but we in New Zealand have been experts in the field for many years. We have institutionalised the art through our place names, and challenge anyone else to better the following.
Consider: Lake Rotoiti (Lake Small Lake); Mount Maunganui (Mount Big Mountain); Awatere River (River Fast River); Whangarei Harbour (Harbour of Reitu Harbour) and Oneroa Beach (Long Beach Beach). These are just a few of the many similar but perhaps the final coup de grace comes from Northland where one might paddle in the Te Awaoteaouhi Stream, translated as the The Stream of Teaouhi Stream.
Northland, New Zealand
Coventry, Warwickshire, UK
