"Maybe when you got your letter of admission you fit another meaning of the word 'translation'--you thought you had gone to heaven without dying," she said.

Dunn's dry wit drew laughs from the audience. She compared the process of translating between languages to that of interpreting the slang of current college students.

"In New England, 'wicked' has resurfaced as an intensifier or term of approval, which for someone my age is really weird," she said. "'Sketchy,' when applied to a new acquaintance, is definitely not a compliment--though what it is is not clear to me. My students tell me on the DL, or 'down low,' that I'm really random. Whatever."

Dunn warned the first-years that they would have to get used to an entirely new vocabulary at Harvard.

"We do not have a campus, but a Yard and a Quad," she said. "We don't have majors, we have concentrations... the Core, PBH and the FDO, the MAC, the QRAC, FUP, FAP and FOP."

Students who attended the speech said they were impressed, although they were not sure what to expect at first.

"I didn't realize what the topic of the discussion was going to be," said Grace E. Fu '03. "But it was very interesting to hear her relate so many different things. She's very well-read."