What is Pico de Oro?

Pico de Oro is an on-line guide for translation tools. It provides translators with up-to-date information and reference material in the field of translation. The information provided in this site is the result of several years of research and compilation by a freelance translator and founder of this page as part of her daily work.

Why Pico de Oro?

Pico de Oro is a Spanish expression literally translated into English as "Golden Beak." According to the Diccionario de la Lengua Española by La Real Academia Española, it means, "the person who speaks well."

Pico de Oro represents the parrot tattoo that translators in the Punic Carthage donned to distinguish themselves for their linguistic abilities:

"Later, in the Punic Carthage, which seemed to be a centrifugal conglomeration of villages rather than a single culture imperialistic power, a professional breed arose: the translators. As a distinctive mark, they had their heads shaved and a parrot tattooed to distinguish themselves for their linguistic abilities." *

* Extract from the book Textos Clásicos de Teoría de la Traducción by Miguel Angel Vega. Ediciones Cátedra S.A., 1994. Madrid. Translation from Spanish into English by Gina Covello.

Translated by Gina Covello, MA
gcovello@earthlink.net

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