More about the
translations
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Blog from the Back Row
Posted:
12:24 AM ET
I
learned something new tonight in the control room.
Two new things actually. I learned the meaning of the
Australian words galah and drongo.
These are words that our Baghdad correspondent
Michael Ware used on the air at the top of
the program while discussing the story of Prince
Harry fighting in Afghanistan. We found
the words and Michael’s delivery so interesting and
amusing (even though we had no idea what they meant)
that we decided to make that :09 soundbite our “Shot
of the Day” at the end of the program. And it was my
job to make that happen.
Isolating the soundbite and having the tape cut and
turned around in 30 minutes was the easy part.
Finding out what the words meant was a little
trickier.
To do this I called our international assignment desk
and had them transfer me to Michael’s field producer
in Baghdad, Tommy Evans. No, I wasn’t
calling for details on troop levels or the
progress of the government on deciding how to divide
oil revenue or how locals viewed the upcoming U.S.
presidential election. I was calling for
clarification on the definition and the correct usage
of the words galah and drongo.
Tommy found this all very amusing but dutifully got a
precise definition and an acceptable sentence usage
from Michael.
- galah
: a type of bird, slang for idiot, as in “you guys
are acting like a mob of galahs”
- drongo:
also a bird, also slang for idiot, as in “don’t be
such a bloody drongo”
It’s
healthy to have a good laugh every now and again,
even if you are working in a war zone. Thanks for
being a good sport Tommy.
-
Sean Yates, Sr. Producer, AC360