I am Bulgarian and I feel offended. Not because a "Bulgarian" is chosen to be the victim-criminal whose dead body triggers the action, but because there is no such surname as "Slowejko" in Bulgarian. To us it sounds idiotic. As if I tried to sell for German Ciprill Bzols or Philirp Stertne. In Europe you can literally put your head out of the window and shout: "Is there any Bulgarian out there?", and the answer will be "yes". And you can get the info you need in 3 minutes.
I am a literary translator. I translate books. When I talk to younger colleagues about the basics of the profession, I start with: check everything. ONE sloppy mistake makes everything sound sloppy. You saved 3 minutes of work and you destroyed your credibility. It isn't the stereotype about what Bulgarians are and can be in this lovely European family of ours that makes you cheap, it is the fact that you don't even consider the Bulgarian line worth of researching. "Ah, some dark haired Eastern Europeans with funny names." Well, sloppy.
Right now I am translating a book about Auschwitz. From Italian. My German is basic, so I check and double check the right way to put in Cyrillic every little monster's name. Is it because I respect or like them? No. It is because I respect and like my profession and my readers.
And now, to something completely different. The series is boring.
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