iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Switzerland top European nation and 3rd worldwide at this global competition of vocational talent (not sure of the English title). But as the article says, success began much earlier with apprenticeships. One for you @phillipwatson.bsky.social 😉 www.20min.ch/story/erfolg...

20min.ch

WorldSkills 2026: Schweiz holt 12 Medaillen und ist beste europäische Nation

Viermal Gold, zweimal Silber und sechsmal Bronze: Die Schweizer Nachwuchsfachkräfte überzeugen in Shanghai und werden beste europäische Nation.

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Indeed, if possible. Some EU countries still don’t allow dual citizenship though. Still, where possible, do it. I’m for ever thankful that something in my gut told me to naturalise as soon as I was eligible in 2012/13

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Thanks to everyone below. I'm now looking for respondents to a full survey of whether & how linguists use personas in their professional work. I'm also seeking volunteers for a pilot study. Survey completion ≠ commitment to study! Please respond & repost! 🙏 forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/Respon...

forms.cloud.microsoft

Microsoft Forms

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Cats with Jobs ⚒️ @catworkers.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Assistant window cleaner.

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The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

There is gonna be one heck of a newcomers’ karaoke night up in that there heaven this weekend.

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William Gibson @greatdismal.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Just cancelled Mongolian publication deal for something of mine because the translation would have been done by AI.

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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Gosh it's lovely

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Oh my. @nickwithheld.bsky.social should we put a little camera on Carrot's tracker?!

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Phillwatson FBPE 🇬🇧🇨🇭 🇪🇺🖖 🔶 @phillipwatson.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Morning BlueSky. Buckle in for another thread 🧵 On LinkedIn and I agree with much of the diagnosis. But I think describing the problem mainly as snobbery risks missing something deeper. Parents are responding to the structure of the system too. 🧵 www.linkedin.com/pulse/last-a...

linkedin.com

The Last Acceptable Snobbery: Why Parents Still Prefer Degrees to Apprenticeships

Parents increasingly recognise the financial and professional value of apprenticeships. Yet many still feel more comfortable announcing a university place.

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

A question for my contacts in #translation and #localization: Have you ever used, or been asked to use, a persona in your translation or localization work? Please answer "yes", "no" or "I don't know what a persona is" & tell me your field/specialisation. Please also feel free to share! 1/2

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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

"Yikes, Odysseus -- you looke prettye roughe aftir your journeye." "Well, you Odyssey the othir guye!"

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Sometimes social media warms the cockles of your heart

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Rebecca Makkai @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Obsessed with this part of the Time Magazine Wikipedia entry: Timestyle made regular use of inverted sentences, as famously parodied in 1936 by Wolcott Gibbs in The New Yorker: "Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind ... Where it all will end, knows God!" 1/

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Note to self. And, as an aside, is there an argument that the word “should” is one of the most toxic?

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Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 16/07/2026

For your convenience, the Pride and Prejudice live-posting super-thread 📚

A drawing of Elizabeth Bennet, a lovely young woman with her long hair tied up nearly under a ribbon and wearing what is most likely a neo-classically inspired dress, looking pensive, two letters in her hand. Meanwhile Darcy, a handsome but stern-looking fellow, looks longingly at her. Also there is me, a little gremlin in big round glasses, skulking about in the background and hoping that they kiss.

The accompanying text reads “Trung reads Pride and Prejudice for the first time, somehow.”

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Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 28/05/2026

So I’ve started Pride and Prejudice, and already I feel bad for Mrs Bennet.

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Photo shows current temperature in my office Link is what @nickwithheld.bsky.social is playing while cooking Wishful thinking? Or are the local wolves running? open.spotify.com/track/4gj1dE...

Desk clock showing a temperature of 34 degrees C in my office at 7.30 in the evening

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

I can’t believe they need over a minute’s report for a one word answer - scorchio! (Open the screenshot, it’s cut off the critical part)

Screenshot of a Sky News video report entitles “Why is it so difficult to sleep in ‘tropical night’ temperatures?”

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

People who can’t live with typos without deleting and trying again are called professional linguists 🤣🤣🤣

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Jenn Odd @jentranslations.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

The latest interview with localizers is out! This time with manga and game translator Leo McDonagh (@leotranslations.bsky.social) who's currently doing an MA at the University of Tokyo. #interviewswithloc j-entranslations.com/leo-mcdonagh...

j-entranslations.com

Leo McDonagh - Manga and Game Translator

This month's Interviews with Localizers is with manga and game translator Leo McDonagh about his experience in the translation industry.

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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

For those keeping track at home. The Iranians have now blockaded the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US blockading it because the Iranians had blockaded it, in response to the US attacking Iran to ensure that the Strait which was fully open at the time wasn't blockaded.

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badly drawn boo! 🎃👻🧛🏼‍♀️ @soapachu.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Watching them move through a decaying orbit, hit the atmosphere and then deploy the Tunnocks Teacakes is pretty fab

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RedruM @dorsalstream.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake

By A Horse

Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food.

I am thinking I would like to try cake.

Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape.

Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy.

Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much.

I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on."

Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Thank you @minaskar.bsky.social for expressing this so clearly: grunt work is only grunt work when you have the knowledge and experience to know so well what the result should be that it’s become routine. For the younger and less experienced, grunt work is learning your craft/tricks of the trade 1/2

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Jenn Odd @jentranslations.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Directly translating removes the original intent of the text and can easily result in mistranslations. Localization by experienced and professional translators and editors results in better translations.

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Oh Carrot - are you happy in the sunshine or getting ready to pounce? @nickwithheld.bsky.social #Caturday

An orange cat lying curled up on top of some garden posts looking down on his people. It's unclear whether he is happy and relaxed or whether his inherent evil is just waiting to be revealed

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cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

there's so much bad in the world but there's also people who lift up and carry an elderly bat around every day so he can pretend he's flying again, and that's the part of the world I think is worth fighting for

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

If you go down to the woods (castle) today…

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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

"The true genius is a mind of large general powers, accidentally determined to some particular direction." ~ Samuel Johnson

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Cynd @galgomom.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

My final post for Día del Galgo. Honestly, this is a terrible day for us in the galgo/podenco world and it's overwhelming. I'm horrifically sad. (Reel courtesy of Quirbach Dogs.) #freethegalgo #galgo #diadelgalgo #sighthounds #noalacaza

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Sigh. As if the wretched man wasn’t messing up the world, he’s messing up my airport now. Sitting on a ✈️ all ready to depart and the whole airport is now closed for an hour while he lands. Good thing it’s a brand new A350 with lots of cool toys to play with

Seat-back screen with user-controlled location views

Seat-back screen with external cameras showing forward, side x2 and top views from the plane

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Sitting airside at Zurich airport and all the ads are for Davos (WEF). Spot the disconnect with this one - hmmm

Ad for the company WorkHuman reading “Identify future mentors with AI-powered employee recognition”

Ad for the company WorkHuman reading “Elevate performance with AI-powered employee recognition”

Ad for the company WorkHuman reading “Elevate results with AI-powered employee recognition”

Ad for the company WorkHuman reading “AI-powered employee recognition”

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POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · 01/01/2026

OPINION: An interpreter does not merely convert words from one language to another. They carry meaning across the chasm between us ... and make split-second ethical and semantic decisions that could preserve dignity - or shatter a survivor. 👇

politico.eu

When the interpreter wept: What automation erases inside Europe’s institutions

We are building a world that treats translation as a problem to be solved. But translation was never just a technical challenge — it is an act of witnessing.

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Brexit Bin 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 @brexitbin.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

"The Swiss startup is using the open spaces between railway tracks for solar panels. The long term aim is to re-inject the produced energy into the trains so they're self-propelled. Brushes installed on the trains will help remove dust and debris from the panels as they pass over them." #NetZero 🌻

ecowatch.com

Switzerland Pilots First Solar Power Plant on Active Railway Tracks - EcoWatch

A solar technology startup in Switzerland is using open spaces between railway tracks to place solar panels.

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

Bit of a baking marathon the last two days - making up for all the baking I haven't done all year: - Rock cakes - Ginger bites - Christmas cake (not being iced or owt) - Salted caramel ice cream - Rosemary shortbread and - Lime and ginger cheesecake Phew! Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Now this is a fun event for linguists

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Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

There is a story the bees used to tell, which makes it hard to disbelieve. #Storytime

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

As one of the comments on the French thread says, just try to imagine Pratchett translated by AI 👀

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Yippee! I've been waiting for @dannybate.bsky.social 's book to be available as an eBook and found it today on our local bookseller's site :D One happy linguist here ;) For those in Switzerland, here's the link to the eBook (they have the hardback too): www.orellfuessli.ch/shop/home/ar...

orellfuessli.ch

"Why Q Needs U" als eBook kaufen

Kaufen Sie "Why Q Needs U" von Danny Bate als eBook. ✓ Sofort-Download ✓ eBook verschenken

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

"no matter how proficient AI translation becomes, it can never substitute the cultural understanding and personal rapport that learning a language offers." Spot on. AI isn't sentient & doesn't understand people. Trade, diplomacy, communication are about people www.spectator.co.uk/article/in-p...

spectator.co.uk

In praise of learning German

The University of Nottingham has just announced that it is closing its languages department. This is a mistake.

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Who made it white and too cold to go out? I’m going out anyway. Oh, no I’m not. But I want to go out. But I don’t, it’s too cold…. #Caturday

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Emma Gledhill @linguistforsail.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

I’m as fond of a neologism as the next woman but I wonder whether “winningest” is really going to catch on

Mikaela Shiffrin in the start but of the slalom second run in Levi today. The caption states she is the winningest skier ever in Levi

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