When Is a Gondola Not a Gondola?

If you see the word ‘gondola’ in Italian you might assume you’re reading about the elegant flat-bottomed watercraft you’d expect to find on the Venetian lagoon, and in which case you would assume the correct translation in English is ‘gondola’.

But what if you’re a translator who specialises in renewable energy? For us at synergetichub, ‘gondola’ is the Italian translation of the English word ‘nacelle’. A nacelle is the part of a wind turbine that houses all its core components, supports the rotor and is attached to the yaw system.

So, if you fancy a trip on the Venetian lagoon, make sure you’ve got the right kind of gondola.

And when it comes to translation, make sure you work with a translator who knows the specialist terminology in your industry inside out.