christmas

There’ll be much mistletoeing and hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near – it’s the most wonderful time of the year 🎅 

It’s always Christmas at our Finnish translation agency. Here in Santa’s home country, Christmas is a business for many, and Christmas preparations start months in advance. Christmas gifts, catalogues and greetings are usually designed well in advance in the summer and are also submitted for translation well before Christmas. Thus, we translate Christmas-themed content throughout the year.  

Translating Christmas-themed texts in the middle of a sweltering summer may be an amusing prospect, but there is always a certain shimmer and sparkle to these texts. Since Christmas is associated with many positive and warm thoughts, it is also pleasant to do such assignments in summer. 

Merry Christmas in different languages 

Now bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer… 🥣 

According to Finnish grammar rules, Christmas and New Year are not capitalised in holiday greetings. However, in many ready-made Christmas cards, capital letters are used for these. In English, the names of holidays are always capitalised. In German, all nouns are capitalised, which also applies to holidays. In French, Christmas greetings and New Year’s greetings rarely appear in the same sentence, with Happy New Year being the most common holiday greeting in France.  However, people will not mind if you do wish them a Merry Christmas. In Russia, New Year is the most important celebration of the year, and Christmas is celebrated twice, with the Catholic Christmas on 25 December and the Orthodox Christmas on 7 January. Subsequently, there are several different kinds of holiday greetings in Russian. As we can see, holiday greeting conventions vary a lot across different languages, and a direct translation from Finnish is not always the best choice for your international holiday greeting. 

Carol of the bells 

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas… ✨ 

Christmas carols are an important part of the holiday season and Christmas itself. Did you know that many Christmas carols we know and love are translations? In Finland, “Petteri Punakuono” (orig. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”), “Oi kuusipuu” (orig. “O Tannenbaum”) and “Heinillä härkien kaukalon” (orig. “Entre le bœuf et l ‘anne gris”) are examples of songs translated into Finnish from English, German and French, respectively. Song translation is not quite as straightforward as the translation of ordinary texts. The translated lyrics need to be just as singable as the original ones. The translations must also take into account the rhythm, harmonic qualities of the words as well as the original message. So, not as easy as you may think! Luckily, the translators of Christmas carols have done a wonderful job. 

Peaceful holiday season 

From now on, our troubles will be out of sight… ❤️ 

We think that mulled wine, gingerbread, candles and Christmas lights are essential to the holiday season. And, of course, the Christmas tree, which we already have on display in our office. Although we are always busy before Christmas, we are enjoying the wonderful Christmas atmosphere. We would like to wish everyone a peaceful holiday season!