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from the mister-translation-wants-equal-time dept.
Mark Polizzotti, author of "Sympathy for the Traitor: A Translation Manifesto" writes an Opinion column in The New York Times entitled Why Mistranslation Matters:
Translation is the silent waiter of linguistic performance: It often gets noticed only when it knocks over the serving cart. Sometimes these are relatively minor errors — a ham-handed rendering of an author's prose, the sort of thing a book reviewer might skewer with an acid pen.
But history is littered with more consequential mistranslations — erroneous, intentional or simply misunderstood. For a job that often involves endless hours poring over books or laptop screens, translation can prove surprisingly hazardous.
Nikita Khrushchev's infamous statement in 1956 — "We will bury you" — ushered in one of the Cold War's most dangerous phases, one rife with paranoia and conviction that both sides were out to destroy the other. But it turns out that's not what he said, not in Russian, anyway. Khrushchev's actual declaration was "We will outlast you" — prematurely boastful, perhaps, but not quite the declaration of hostilities most Americans heard, thanks to his interpreter's mistake.
The response of Kantaro Suzuki, prime minister of Japan, to an Allied ultimatum in July 1945 — just days before Hiroshima — was conveyed to Harry Truman as "silent contempt" ("mokusatsu"), when it was actually intended as "No comment. We need more time." Japan was not given any.
[...] Lately, the perils of mistranslation have taken on renewed currency. How to convey Donald Trump's free-form declarations to a global audience? The president's capricious employ of his native idiom, his fractured syntax and streaming non sequiturs are challenging enough for Anglophones, so imagine the difficulties they pose to foreigners: How, exactly, do you translate "braggadocious"?
The speed and frequency of Mr. Trump's tweets have spawned an explosion of equally fast, equally viral amateur renditions, with little thought as to how they might be interpreted worldwide. The incendiary nature of many of his statements about other political leaders only exacerbates the problem.
When words collide?
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @11:06AM (7 children)
How do you translate 'deplorable' when used to describe entire regions of the country? Is it prudent to then ignore those whole parts of the country in an election campaign?
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @11:32AM (5 children)
"Deplorable" was not used describe regions of the country. It was used to describe people who do not care that their candidate at the time had (and still has) no moral compass, self control, or even a relationship with the truth. It was used to describe people who thought "he lied to and cheated on his three wives, his business partners and vendors, banks that loaned him money, people who donated to his "charity", and just about everyone else, but he won't do it to us." It seemed pretty apt.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @03:29PM
So - you're saying that 90% or more of eligible voters are deplorable? But - what about those couple percent who voted third party? And, how 'bout those who just didn't vote? Do we have 100% deplorable yet? If not, why not?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @05:26PM
Fly over people.
(Score: 2) by Pav on Sunday August 05 2018, @03:34AM (2 children)
Pfft... Are "deplorables" so insane for wanting their lies baldfaced and out there? Hillary "I have a public position and a private position" Clinton was to the RIGHT of Trump on some issues such as war, and on jobs Trump at least seemed concerned in his rhetoric. The REAL subversion of the democratic process was committed by Hillary and her campaign, ie. the multiple strategies used in collaboration with the DNC to sideline Bernie and elevate Trump. This was exposed in her s/hacked/leaked emails for the world to see. Two heads of the DNC even admitted as much before backpedaling (ie. interim chair Donna Brazille and Tom Perez). The Trump/Russia nonsense is a distraction from this huge elephant in the room, and the lie has only been able to hold some shape for so long because both the media and the Democrats are owned by the same people.
(Score: 2) by dry on Sunday August 05 2018, @04:01AM (1 child)
Would have been nice to see a leak of Trumps emails along with the other Republicans, just for balance.
(Score: 2) by Pav on Monday August 06 2018, @04:48AM
There are certain advantages to be "out there" with your corruption - there are few actual secrets to leak.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Saturday August 04 2018, @07:50PM
"Deplorable" is an actual word in English that can be used to describe large numbers of people; the fact that a comment is offensive doesn't mean that it can't be translated normally. Whether somebody should say something has nothing to do with how to translate it afterward, aside from the reality that the translator can choose words in the target language that makes the comment sound more or less offensive than it actually was.