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9th ProZ.com Translation Contest: "Business" » English to Afrikaans

Competition in this pair is now closed.

Source text in English

I remember reading once that some fellows use language to conceal thought, but it's been my experience that a good many more use it instead of thought.

A businessman's conversation should be regulated by fewer and simpler rules than any other function of the human animal. They are:

Have something to say.

Say it.

Stop talking.

Beginning before you know what you want to say and keeping on after you have said it lands a merchant in a lawsuit or the poorhouse, and the first is a short cut to the second. I maintain a legal department here, and it costs a lot of money, but it's to keep me from going to law.

It's all right when you are calling on a girl or talking with friends after dinner to run a conversation like a Sunday-school excursion, with stops to pick flowers; but in the office your sentences should be the shortest distance possible between periods. Cut out the introduction and the peroration, and stop before you get to secondly. You've got to preach short sermons to catch sinners; and deacons won't believe they need long ones themselves. Give fools the first and women the last word. The meat's always in the middle of the sandwich. Of course, a light butter on either side of it doesn't do any harm if it's intended for a man who likes butter.

Remember, too, that it's easier to look wise than to talk wisdom. Say less than the other fellow and listen more than you talk; for when a man's listening he isn't telling on himself and he's flattering the fellow who is. Give most men a good listener and most women enough note-paper and they'll tell all they know. Money talks -- but not unless its owner has a loose tongue, and then its remarks are always offensive. Poverty talks, too, but nobody wants to hear what it has to say.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 5 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (5 total) Expand all entries

Entry #8822
Sandra Nortje
Sandra Nortje
South Africa
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
225 x41 x20
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 5 "like" tags
dié mensaap
Flows well
Mooi geste​l
Talitha Wilsnagh
mensaap
Good term selection
Cute solut​ion
Samuel Murray
tussen die hof en haweloosheid
Flows well
Nice allit​eration; g​ood altern​ative to c​umbersome ​source tex​t
Samuel Murray
skryfblok
Good term selection
Nice moder​n alternat​ive
Samuel Murray
om sy storie te hoor nie
Good term selection
I like thi​s alternat​ive "to he​ar its tal​e".
Samuel Murray
Entry #9332
Reinhold Wehrmann
Reinhold Wehrmann
South Africa
Voting points1st2nd3rd
142 x42 x22 x1
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
as jy 'n meisie bel
Good term selection
Clever mod​ern equiva​lent
Samuel Murray
Entry #8758
Anita du Plessis
Anita du Plessis
South Africa
Voting points1st2nd3rd
101 x42 x22 x1
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #10034
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Voting points1st2nd3rd
92 x401 x1
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #9634
Voting points1st2nd3rd
402 x20
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags