TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Translation Humor - An Explanation From:David Dubin <David_Dubin -at- BESTSOFTWARE -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 4 Nov 1998 08:40:47 -0500
In response to Trevor Holdsworth's interesting email, one of the greatest
problems in translation comes when one language (French, for example)
adopts a word or phrase that was coined by a culture that speaks another
language to meet a specific linguistic requirement. Traffic jam is a good
example. It is an American phrase that the French have adopted, but cannot
be literally translated back into American correctly.
A great example in the technology industry is the simple verb (or
adjective) log on (logon). In American, we understand that it has nothing
to do with either wood or a ship's diary, but another linguistic culture,
if they do not want to use the American phrase, often creates something
close to the literal translation, as the French did with traffic *jam*.
David Dubin
This has been one man's opinion, yours may vary with mileage or linguistic
fluency.
