Downloads Varying stuff is in here, some links, too.

			Moot points Translators might find this useful.

			Handout distributed at a Copywriters Assn. Workshop Topic: Writing translatable copy.

			Colleagues who might be able to help if we're overbooked.

			Fun stuff Room Service is in here.

Anchored stuff: table of contents
(most of this went away and was not yet replaced by new entries).

SFr. vs. Sfr
Zürich vs. Zurich

WHY SFr.?

Q: Why is Switzerland's currency abbreviated SFr. and not Sfr.?
A: Because like DM (= Deutsche Mark), SFr. is the abbreviation of Schweizer Franken.
Q: OK, so why not just SFr - without the period?
A: That´s OK in England, where abbreviations like Mr and Dr etc. (!) have no periods, either.
Q: Well, if DM stands for Deutsche Mark, why doesn't SF stand for Schweizer Franken?
A: Hell knows.
Q: What is CHF?
A: It's the ISO Interbank code for SFr. — CH stands for Confœderatio Helvetica, Switzerland's alter ego. If you don't use USD or GBP or JPY, don't use CHF, either.
By the way, the Economist writes D-mark, the Financial Times D-Mark, and Business Week German mark. The Financial Times also writes SFr1.3bn — all bunched up, no matter what currency it is. At ITLA, it's always SFr. 1.3 billion, DM 10, etc. The Financial Times also capitalizes currency names here and there (Yen, Peseta), but funnily enough agrees with the Economist and Business Week as regards the spelling (and non-capitalization) of the euro. At ITLA, all currency names start with a lower case letter (yen, euro, franc) in English translations.

WHY Zürich and not Zurich?

Q: Why do we write Zürich, Bern and Basel this way in English translations?
A: Because Zurich and Berne are French. Basle is a hybrid. The city's French name is Bâle.
Q: Does ITLA have anything to back this up?
A: The entries in Collins and in the Encyclopedia Britannica are Zürich, Bern and Basel, not Zurich, Berne and Basle. Now that most people can find the umlauted u on their keyboards, they can write Düsseldorf correctly, too. And even Häagen-Dazs <g>. Hey! It's an American company.
Q: What about Geneva?
A: Yeah, what about it?