Author: William Lise

Long-term (49-plus years) resident of Japan. Former electrical engineer and have been translating and interpreting for over four decades.

Don’t know nothing? Get help from diddly-squat

Some words mean nothing, others can mean anything, and some can mean either.

Comments I saw somewhere yesterday about double negatives—it was evidently aimed at people who don’t know nothing—made me think of a convenient word that can mean and replace both anything and nothing. 

Some people might not know diddly-squat about such words, in which case they would also know diddly-squat about such words.

The function of diddly-squat can, of course, be performed by things such as shit and bubkis, those also being able to replace both anything and nothing, depending upon whether the sense of the expression is negative or positive, respectively.

Care is required in the extended application of such expressions, as not knowing your ass from a hole in the ground is different from knowing your ass from a hole in the ground. 

And now back to our regular programming.

The scales have been tipped.

The majority of posts and comments on social media platforms—that includes LinkedIn, which Microsoft purports is a business platform—are generated not by humans, but by collections of computer commands executed in silicon-based entities controlled by socially irresponsible broligarchs.

The purpose of much of this “content”is to catch the attention of algorithms that are also controlled by AI. Chuck Berry’s song about “playing with your own dingaling” comes to mind. But I digress.

The message this sends is clear, albeit arguably counterintuitive:

With so much of this nonsense occupying online venues, interaction with carbon-based entities, not online but in the real world, is more important than ever.

The first step in achieving that is to shut down your computer for a while and head for the door. The world beyond and outside of your computer or smartphone screen is huge and has lots to offer. Give it a shot. 

I have rethought the value and ethical aspects of writing for freelance translators.

Accordingly, I have stopped any activities involving writing for freelance translators, considering not only the stark realities that they are facing, but also the arguably disingenuous nature of writings that could be seen as cheering on a translator demographic that has very little chance of surviving.