Quick-Quotes Quill
| Simplified Chinese (China) | 速记羽毛笔 Sùjì yǔmáobǐ |
速记 sùjì =
'shorthand, stenography'. 羽毛笔 yǔmáobǐ = 'feather/quill pen/brush' |
Shorthand quill |
| Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) | 速記筆 |
速記 sùjì =
'shorthand, stenography'. 筆 bǐ = 'pen/brush'. |
Shorthand pen/pencil |
| Japanese | 自動速記羽根ペンQQQ Jidō sokki hane-pen QQQ |
自動 jidō =
'automatic'. 速記 sokki = 'shorthand, stenography'. 羽根ペン hane-pen = 'feather/quill pen'. QQQ = initials of 'quick-quotes quill'. |
Automatic shorthand quill QQQ |
| Vietnamese | Viết lông ngỗng
tốc ký |
viết = 'writing
implement'. lông ngỗng = 'goose quill'. tốc ký (速記) = 'shorthand, stenography'. |
Shorthand goose quill |
The name Quick Quotes Quill is something of a misnomer. This nefarious device does not actually quote at all: what it does is slant, embellish, and distort the words of Rita Skeeter's victims, manufacturing quite fraudulent stories as it does so. It writes up Rita's interviews while she does them, unwittingly providing an impromptu demonstration of the way that scurrilous journalists work. (In the Muggle world, the distortions are not apparent until the hapless victim sees the newspaper the next day. In Harry's world, it is all done on the spot.)
Quick Quotes
In all four translations, 'quick quotes' is rendered as 速記 (速记 or tốc ký) or 'quick writing'. In an earlier day and age it normally meant 'shorthand (stenography)'. It is interesting that all four translators should have felt this was appropriate for 'Quick Quotes'.
Quill
A 'quill' in English is the quill of a goose or other bird used as a writing instrument by dipping it in an inkwell. The word for 'quill' in the Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese versions means literally 'feather/quill pen'. The Taiwanese translator just uses 筆 bǐ, a broad term that covers writing brushes, pens, pencils, and other writing instruments.
See also Auto-Answer Quill.
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