5 ms·

I am Hungarian and "Telefon Hírmondó" translated to English is "Telephone News Teller" (or rather News-Teller, i.e. someone who is telling the news), not "Telep

I am Hungarian and "Telefon Hírmondó" translated to English is "Telephone News Teller" (or rather News-Teller, i.e. someone who is telling the news), not "Telephone Herald".

jhbadger 1y ago
That's what a herald is in the literal sense - someone who is telling the news. Of course these days it is generally used metaphorically.
- Sniffnoy 1y ago
  I might have gone with "crier" rather than "herald". That seems a little closer in terms of what the actual job consists of?
  - rbanffy 1y ago
    "Screamer" would work as well. My Hungarian tells me "announcer" would be closer. It's literally someone who says the news.
    - Sniffnoy 1y ago
      I've never heard of "screamer" in English for someone who tells the news?
      - rbanffy 1y ago
        This was before amplifiers were invented, so the announcer had to be very loud.
        Sniffnoy 1y ago
        I'm aware of that, but the term I'm familiar with is "crier". I've never heard "screamer" used in that sense. Wiktionary doesn't list such a usage; contrast with "crier" for which it is listed. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/screamer https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/screamer https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crier https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crier
        johnisgood 1y ago
        I do not intend to offend you as it is not really about you, just that people generally resort to dictionaries like no tomorrow, but read this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44845717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44845717.
        Sniffnoy 1y ago
        To be clear, I'm trying to appeal here to actual usage, not to the dictionary per se. The dictionary is just evidence of such, since trying to directly present evidence of actual usage is not so easy without some good tools.
    - antonvs 1y ago
      > “Screamer" would work as well. No it wouldn’t. A scream expresses extreme emotion or pain, it’s not just speaking loudly.
      - rbanffy 1y ago
        "Shouter"?
        antonvs 1y ago
        The English connotations of that are about a person who is overly loud, it wouldn't typically be used to describe someone "Crier" is the closest if you're looking for a word along those lines, since it has historically been used in that way, although it's not a modern term. There's a reason "herald" comes up here, though - it's actually a pretty close fit. Your earlier suggestion of "announcer" works, though. "Reporter" might be even better, since it tends to imply a news context. You might say "telephone reporter" alone, for example, but you'd probably need to say "telephone news announcer" if you wanted to avoid it sounding like you were talking about someone who reads e.g. the time over the telephone.
holycrapwhodat 1y ago
The verb "to herald" means to be a sign of something that is imminent. But the noun "herald" literally means "official who tells the news" So this still definitely checks out.
- johnisgood 1y ago
  I have to be honest I have never heard of the word "herald" and I have been in many settings since I was a kid. I bet many natives are in my shoes.
  - antonvs 1y ago
    If you're a native English speaker you've probably seen it, even if you didn't know what it meant. A common context in which it's used is in the idiom "herald a new era" - here's a search: https://www.google.com/search?q="heralds+a+new+era" https://www.google.com/search?q="heralds+a+new+era" which shows that it's pretty common. It's also used in the names of many newspapers around the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herald_(newspaper) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herald_(newspaper) There's also the Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark!_The_Herald_Angels_Sing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark!_The_Herald_Angels_Sing But I suppose if you don't already know the word "herald" you might just put that down to weird religious language.
    - johnisgood 1y ago
      I am getting down-voted (for saying I did not know of this word, which is wild), but I asked a couple of people from the US and UK and they could not tell what it means, not without a dictionary. It is a small sample, but you could ask your family and friends. Plus, I still prefer something that most if not all people know: news-teller over herald, so I would have translated it to that.
      - hcta 1y ago
        if you're going to claim that something is not a valid translation of a word, you should probably know what it means first--duh?
dragonwriter 1y ago
“News-Teller” are two English words that wouldn't be used together in that way, “Herald” is one English word and literally means what the naive combination of those two suggests, and is extremely commonly used in that sense in the name of news outlets (newspapers, etc.) “Crier” is another pissibility with overlapping denotation that is also somewhat commonly seen in that context, “announcer” would work today in speech, but largely is a product of TV & radio so would be somewhat odd choice given the other options available.
- johnisgood 1y ago
  I have replied to many other comments, if you are interested in my line of thinking, you may check them out[1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44845575 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44845575 > News-Teller” are two English words that wouldn't be used together in that way I'd respectfully disagree. You can't definitively say that two words "wouldn't be used together in that way". Language is constantly evolving organically, and compound words often emerge through natural usage before appearing in dictionaries. Dictionaries document language as it develops rather than dictating what's permissible. "News-teller" follows standard English compounding patterns and clearly conveys its meaning; that's how language naturally develops.
  - dragonwriter 1y ago
    > You can't definitively say that two words "wouldn't be used together in that way". Languages aren't just aggregates of individual words. There are several individual words in English that mean “person who tells the news”, and it is idiomatic to use them, not the combination “News-Teller". Word-by-word translation is not the gold standard of translation, because individual words that seem to have the right meaning can be meaningless, have different meaning, or just be non-idiomatic in combination. Good translation is more than word-by-word and takes into account idiom in both the source language and the destination language.
  - antonvs 1y ago
    Perhaps I should have said aren't used together in that way. You're welcome to try to invent your own language, but you shouldn't be surprised when people push back on it. Chances are people aren't going to use your invention. "News-teller" sounds archaic at best, or like a non-native trying to literally translate something, which is in fact exactly what's happening here. Invented words or word combinations are more likely to catch on when there's a need for them. There are various words that already exist for this, so no need to invent a new one. Announcer, reporter, and even e.g. herald and crier if one is looking for a more historical meaning, that appears in the title of many newspapers.

I am Hungarian and "Telefon Hírmondó" translated to English is "Telephone News Teller" (or rather News-Teller, i.e. someone who is telling the news), not "Telephone Herald".

jhbadger 1y ago

That's what a herald is in the literal sense - someone who is telling the news. Of course these days it is generally used metaphorically.

Sniffnoy 1y ago
I might have gone with "crier" rather than "herald". That seems a little closer in terms of what the actual job consists of?
- rbanffy 1y ago
  "Screamer" would work as well. My Hungarian tells me "announcer" would be closer. It's literally someone who says the news.
  - Sniffnoy 1y ago
    I've never heard of "screamer" in English for someone who tells the news?
    - rbanffy 1y ago
      This was before amplifiers were invented, so the announcer had to be very loud.
      - Sniffnoy 1y ago
        I'm aware of that, but the term I'm familiar with is "crier". I've never heard "screamer" used in that sense. Wiktionary doesn't list such a usage; contrast with "crier" for which it is listed. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/screamer https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/screamer https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crier https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crier
        johnisgood 1y ago
        I do not intend to offend you as it is not really about you, just that people generally resort to dictionaries like no tomorrow, but read this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44845717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44845717.
        Sniffnoy 1y ago
        To be clear, I'm trying to appeal here to actual usage, not to the dictionary per se. The dictionary is just evidence of such, since trying to directly present evidence of actual usage is not so easy without some good tools.
  - antonvs 1y ago
    > “Screamer" would work as well. No it wouldn’t. A scream expresses extreme emotion or pain, it’s not just speaking loudly.
    - rbanffy 1y ago
      "Shouter"?
      - antonvs 1y ago
        The English connotations of that are about a person who is overly loud, it wouldn't typically be used to describe someone "Crier" is the closest if you're looking for a word along those lines, since it has historically been used in that way, although it's not a modern term. There's a reason "herald" comes up here, though - it's actually a pretty close fit. Your earlier suggestion of "announcer" works, though. "Reporter" might be even better, since it tends to imply a news context. You might say "telephone reporter" alone, for example, but you'd probably need to say "telephone news announcer" if you wanted to avoid it sounding like you were talking about someone who reads e.g. the time over the telephone.

holycrapwhodat 1y ago

The verb "to herald" means to be a sign of something that is imminent. But the noun "herald" literally means "official who tells the news" So this still definitely checks out.

johnisgood 1y ago
I have to be honest I have never heard of the word "herald" and I have been in many settings since I was a kid. I bet many natives are in my shoes.
- antonvs 1y ago
  If you're a native English speaker you've probably seen it, even if you didn't know what it meant. A common context in which it's used is in the idiom "herald a new era" - here's a search: https://www.google.com/search?q="heralds+a+new+era" https://www.google.com/search?q="heralds+a+new+era" which shows that it's pretty common. It's also used in the names of many newspapers around the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herald_(newspaper) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herald_(newspaper) There's also the Christmas carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark!_The_Herald_Angels_Sing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hark!_The_Herald_Angels_Sing But I suppose if you don't already know the word "herald" you might just put that down to weird religious language.
  - johnisgood 1y ago
    I am getting down-voted (for saying I did not know of this word, which is wild), but I asked a couple of people from the US and UK and they could not tell what it means, not without a dictionary. It is a small sample, but you could ask your family and friends. Plus, I still prefer something that most if not all people know: news-teller over herald, so I would have translated it to that.
    - hcta 1y ago
      if you're going to claim that something is not a valid translation of a word, you should probably know what it means first--duh?

dragonwriter 1y ago

“News-Teller” are two English words that wouldn't be used together in that way, “Herald” is one English word and literally means what the naive combination of those two suggests, and is extremely commonly used in that sense in the name of news outlets (newspapers, etc.) “Crier” is another pissibility with overlapping denotation that is also somewhat commonly seen in that context, “announcer” would work today in speech, but largely is a product of TV & radio so would be somewhat odd choice given the other options available.

johnisgood 1y ago
I have replied to many other comments, if you are interested in my line of thinking, you may check them out[1]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44845575 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44845575 > News-Teller” are two English words that wouldn't be used together in that way I'd respectfully disagree. You can't definitively say that two words "wouldn't be used together in that way". Language is constantly evolving organically, and compound words often emerge through natural usage before appearing in dictionaries. Dictionaries document language as it develops rather than dictating what's permissible. "News-teller" follows standard English compounding patterns and clearly conveys its meaning; that's how language naturally develops.
- dragonwriter 1y ago
  > You can't definitively say that two words "wouldn't be used together in that way". Languages aren't just aggregates of individual words. There are several individual words in English that mean “person who tells the news”, and it is idiomatic to use them, not the combination “News-Teller". Word-by-word translation is not the gold standard of translation, because individual words that seem to have the right meaning can be meaningless, have different meaning, or just be non-idiomatic in combination. Good translation is more than word-by-word and takes into account idiom in both the source language and the destination language.
- antonvs 1y ago
  Perhaps I should have said aren't used together in that way. You're welcome to try to invent your own language, but you shouldn't be surprised when people push back on it. Chances are people aren't going to use your invention. "News-teller" sounds archaic at best, or like a non-native trying to literally translate something, which is in fact exactly what's happening here. Invented words or word combinations are more likely to catch on when there's a need for them. There are various words that already exist for this, so no need to invent a new one. Announcer, reporter, and even e.g. herald and crier if one is looking for a more historical meaning, that appears in the title of many newspapers.