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Commonplace Book

by Vespero_, June 22, 2013

Messages: 7

Language: English

Vespero_ (User's profile) June 22, 2013, 5:39:00 PM

I was wondering what a good translation for "commonplace book" would be.

In English, a "commonplace book" (or, "book of commonplaces" or simply "commonplace" ) is a book of notes, references, ideas, quotes, ktp, which one keeps on them. It is (or was) used by authors and the like to keep track of and remember things.

The English phrase comes from Latin, which comes from Greek and referred originally to something slightly different (they were books of sayings for general use, rather than records for information management).

So what would be the best method of approach? Komunejo or Libro de Komunejoj would be the literal approach, but I don't think it does a very good job of staying relevant to the idea.

Any suggestions?

JDnDorks (User's profile) June 22, 2013, 6:12:43 PM

That's tough. I don't even know what I'd call a commonplace book in English that would clarify the idea. I didn't even know what one was until you explained it. I'm visualizing the book that Indiana Jones's father (or, really any obsessive adventurer) keeps. A "personal reference book"? "Referencuma Libro"? "Referencumlibro"?

Just spit-balling here.

Vespero_ (User's profile) June 23, 2013, 12:57:00 AM

JDnDorks:That's tough. I don't even know what I'd call a commonplace book in English that would clarify the idea. I didn't even know what one was until you explained it. I'm visualizing the book that Indiana Jones's father (or, really any obsessive adventurer) keeps. A "personal reference book"? "Referencuma Libro"? "Referencumlibro"?

Just spit-balling here.
I didn't know the term until a professor of mine brought it up and I found out that I had been keeping one for years.

I've been reading through a transcript of HP Lovecraft's commonplace and it's really interesting.

noelekim (User's profile) June 23, 2013, 5:41:38 AM

Vespero_:I was wondering what a good translation for "commonplace book" would be.

In English, a "commonplace book" (or, "book of commonplaces" or simply "commonplace" ) is a book of notes, references, ideas, quotes, ktp, which one keeps on them. It is (or was) used by authors and the like to keep track of and remember things.
It sounds like a "referenca notlibro".

RiotNrrd (User's profile) June 23, 2013, 5:37:50 PM

Vespero_:In English, a "commonplace book" (or, "book of commonplaces" or simply "commonplace" ) is a book of notes, references, ideas, quotes, ktp, which one keeps on them.
I don't think that this is a widely known/used term. I'm a reasonably well-educated and well-read native speaker, and I've never heard of it. Both my parents were professional writers, who compiled information in the way you described; they referred to their compilations simply as their "notebooks", or, more broadly, as their "files".

So, personally, I'd go with "notlibro", myself.

sudanglo (User's profile) June 23, 2013, 6:03:54 PM

Memoranda notlibro?

erinja (User's profile) June 24, 2013, 2:34:14 AM

I have such a book. I don't normally write down thoughts but I have a small quad-ruled European-style A5-size staple-bound school notebook (like this) that I use to write down shopping lists, recipes, notes that I take when planning something or studying something, etc. I refer to it simply as my "kajero" (which is suitable because it is, indeed, intended for use as a school exercise book). Easy to carry with me, and it prevents my notes from getting lost on small scraps of paper I'm likely to use otherwise. Every couple of years I restock my supply on a trip to Europe - easier to do if I manage to visit Europe during 'back to school' season, when lots of different designs are available.

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