Categories: translation
Date: 05 March 2008 23:06:18
Often, when engaged in a translation, the same tired old phrases crop up. This can of course be a little boring although the pay-off is that one can rattle through a text without having to consult a dictionary too often and not die of apathy before it's finished.
I sometimes think that I could write the "pep talk from the chairman" texts without seeing the original... "Difficult year... rising prices blah, blah.. decrease in sales...yadder, yadder...enormous efforts by all members of the team which have been much appreciated by everyone..... company experienced growth...(subtext: your jobs are safe for a bit longer - shareholders are happy)... onwards and upwards to another exciting year."
Sometimes, though, it's not completely prescriptive and I find I have space for a bit of fun - as in an article I am currently translating about ecological efforts in China. It's not often that I feel able to use the phrase "stink to high heaven" on a professional basis - but judge for yourself: "Untreated effluent runs from there into the rivers, die zum Himmel stinken." I could have written "which smell badly" or something along those lines... but why not use the idea of the sky/heavens and emphasise the point?
The other day, I was doing some publicity material for a product aimed at children. The use of colour on this item was said to make it feel "fun". Somehow, "fun" just felt a bit flat - so I used a bit of artistic licence and used the word "quirky".
I have a colleague who specialises in business texts. He makes a point of getting one of his favourite words which is "consolidate" into his translations. The things we have to do to liven up the day!