METM26 presentation

Taming pesky words: an interactive IT-EN session

Miriam Hurley, Florence, Italy

At METMs past, we’ve gathered in Spanish, Catalan, Italian, French, and Portuguese language breakout groups to translate wickedly tricky texts. In Perugia, we’re going to put the spotlight on pesky words and phrases in Italian—with a nod to other Romance languages—to see what the hive mind can come up with.

My Pesky Words list originated early in my career when I realized that fellow translators would have come up with myriad possible solutions for these head-scratching, recurring terms and phrases that crop up so often in Italian texts and have no easy, fit-all solution. I started collecting the suggestions in a table on my website, and it has become an ongoing, collaborative project.

At this session, I’ll briefly introduce my Pesky Words resource, and then we’ll divide into small groups to tackle a selection of single words and short strings in specific contexts. To ensure fresh, spontaneous solutions, attendees should resist the temptation to look up options on my website. Afterwards, we’ll share our solutions with the rest of the room, referring back to my list to see how many are there already and to add new contenders.

While the session is suited to Italian-to-English translators, everyone is welcome to attend. Francesca Matteoda will be joining me on the day specifically to cover Romance language overlap and look after non-Italian-speaking attendees who need their annual dose of translating tricky texts with peers.

The session will be interactive and may get loud.

About the presenter

Miriam Hurley is an ATA-certified IT>EN translator. Originally from Oregon and long based in Florence, she has been translating since 2000. She opened a translation studio in Florence in 2024, specializing in certified translations, film, and social sciences. She likes to be a connecting glue in both virtual and in-person communities.