03 April 2006

Linguists, come hither!

Dear bloglings. I have a bit of a, situation. You see, I'm starting my new job in June. It's great, it's amazing, I'm so looking forward to it, and all that.

But I have no title.

They'll be printing my visiting cards, and all titles are in English, only my title is, apparently, untranslatable.

A bummer for a company that lives on dictionaries...

We could, of course, find a translation. The thing is, though, there may already exist a similar job position in English, and we just don't know it. So - will you help me?

I'll be editing, compiling (or extending / expanding, rather) and proof reading dictionary entries. I'll be supervising similar work done by others. I'll be responsible for the biannual updates of the dictionary. The Norwegian title translates "responsible editor".

I could be just that, only it doesn't sound very English. I could be "liable editor" but I'm not really liable, I'm responsible for the words, not the financial bit. I could be editor-in-charge. Sounds like a translator-in-arms...

Any others? I'll donate a letter to the winner ;) Oh, and quickly - please - they're printing the visiting cards before Easter...

2 comments:

kimananda said...

Hmmm...that dreaded 'ansvarlig'. I've never been able to come up with a good English way of saying this, and I've had lots of students ask.

But how about Supervising Editor? Senior Editor? Editing Consultant? Senior Editing Consultant?

Sam said...

I would go for a mash of the lot and say "Chief Supervising Editor", or "Editing Chief", or somesuch.

Congrats on the new job, though!