Lost in Translation – Idioms in different languages

This Week, I had to opportunity to read an entertaining and interesting book called “Lost in Translation” written by Ella Frances Sanders. This book has an interesting collection of untranslatable words in more than 30 languages. I learned that there is a word in Inuktitut, one of the aboriginal languages spoken in Canada, which describes when we go more than once to check if someone is coming. The word is “Iktsuarpok” (ᐃᒃᑦᓱᐊᕐᐳᒃ). More information about the author and other books written by her can be found in her web page http://ellafrancessanders.com .

This particular leads me to write today about those words and idioms in different languages that represent a real challenge for translators and interpreters. Some of them are funny; there are some that express particular situations that in other cultures may not be considered, and those that are used to insult or talk with irony. In the web page http://omniglot.com/language/idioms/index.php idioms are defined as “expressions that don’t mean what they appear to mean”.  In this page, they give examples of idioms like this one from French: “pédaler dans la choucroute” that literally means “To pedal in the Saurkreaut” but this expression is used to talk about going to nowhere.

In English, there are some interesting idioms that I learned during my stay in the UK or reading about them in the web page of the BBC. Some of my favourites are:

-It’s not my cup of tea: An elegant way to say “I don’t like it”.

-To go Bananas: A verb that describes a situation when somebody behaves crazily  or over excited.

-Scrooge: A cheap or miserly person. This expression comes from the famous book of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. By the way, the own name of Dickens, also generated an idiomatic word that is “Dickensian”, to describe situations of poverty and hard work that are found in the books of this author. Thanks to the Teacher, from BBC learning English.     

-Think outside the box: To be creative creating new ideas.

I gave an example in French already. I cannot write all the cases I know or I have read about, but one of my favourites is “Avoir un poil dans la main” that literally means: “To have a hair in the hand” and is a very funny way to describe someone who is lazy.

Canada is also considered a French speaking country, although most of its population use English every day.  Quebec is the only province where they use French for all occasions. Quebec has also been able to contribute with some slang expressions to French that are not easy to get for speakers of this language from other countries. Two Quebec expressions to denote that everything is OK are: C’est tiguidou! - L’affaire est ketchup! The word “Tiguidou” seems not to have a known meaning in other languages, including French! More can be read in http://generationvoyage.fr/10-expressions-quebecoises-francais-comprendre/

Spanish language, my mother tongue, is a language which deserves a special attention when we talk about slang and idioms. Being the main language spoken in more than 20 countries, it has developed a unique set of words with double or more meanings that change throughout the different regions that use it. 

I will start with a word we used in our university studies: “Puñalear”. This word comes from “Puñal” that means “dagger”. In Spanish, the real way to convert this word in a verb is “Apuñalar” so technically the word “puñalear” is not correct. But my classmates, and later on my students, use this word to mean “Learn by Heart”, “study assiduously for an exam”. Some people translate this verb as “To Swot”.  

Spanish language has many words with so different meanings from one country to another. I had the opportunity to talk here in Toronto with non native speakers of Spanish who traveled to many countries in Latin America, and the way they have fun with the different words an idioms they find in different countries, and that sometimes, a word you learn in a country may not be very useful in another. I will point out this word: “Concha”. This word means “Shell” and is used mainly with fruits. It is a very innocent word that can be used in any formal written document, cooking book, or use it in any book dedicated to children. But in other countries, especially in the south, it is considered a word very rude or nasty.    

Many people in the word has heard the word “Ché”, that is very common in Argentina, where this word means “Comrade”.

The phrase “Tomar Once” that literally means “To have eleven” may sound weird, unless you have been in Chile. In this country, “Once” (eleven) is a special evening snack. Usually it has tea or coffee and some bakery. I was told that “eleven” is the number of letters that compose the phrase “Vamos a beber” (Let’s go to drink). This expression appeared in order to conceal the real intentions of drink in time that it was not socially accepted.

But this curious terminology in Spanish is not limited to street slang or daily conversations among students or workers. In Colombia, during my time working there, I had the situation where I had to process a document called “Paz y Salvo”. Literally this name means “Peace and Safe”. This official document is basically a provisional permit that applies for different occasions. However, if I ask one of my students of English, who are now Lawyers, to help me process such document, I am not sure they will know what am I asking for.

In Italian, there are also some nice Idioms. Here are some that I found in my research:

-Avere le mani in pasta:  (literally: To have hands in Dough) - when somebody is well connected.

-Prendere Fischi per Fiaschi: (Taking whistles for Chianti bottles) – To understand one thing instead of another. Misunderstand.

Reference: https://www.smartling.com/blog/40-italian-slang-words-phrases-you-need-to-know/

In Portuguese, I found this interesting idiom: “É o cão chupando manga”: (It’s the dog sucking mango) – means basically something “very ugly”.  Reference: http://blogs.transparent.com/portuguese/10-brazilian-slang-words/

Persian language, with a very old tradition in literature, has also developed a very interesting set of idioms and slang language. But I am going to concentrate on a few very original idioms about Love.

Moosh Bokhoradet : Basically means “You are cute”. But what people may not imagine is the literal meaning of this expression, and is something like: “The mice will eat you”.   

Jeegare man-ee: literally is “You are my liver”. But this idiom is used for endearment. A very original way to say “I Love You”.  Read more expressions visiting:

http://www.chaiandconversation.com/2014/11-persian-sayings-make-no-sense-english

Ukrainian language has some curious expressions. Today, many people use the word “класно” (klasno) meaning that something is cool.  It is interesting to note that this word comes from “клас” that is basically used to describe a lecture or classroom activities. I read that this word slang also exist in Russian.

For those who want to have a safe initiation in the infinite world of cursing language in Ukrainian, and in many other Slavic languages as well, the first word they may spot is “холера” (Kholera) that means basically “Cholera”. It is used as an expression of anger.

In this article, I tried not to introduce words that may be used to insult. However, during my research I found an interesting article about insulting words in different languages, published by the BBC. I will recommend it because I consider is very professional. It is in http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150306-how-to-swear-around-the-world?

Recently I read a book called: Zubi! The real Hebrew you were never taught in School, by Danny Ben Israel. This book is a description of today´s slang I Israel. The slang in Hebrew is based mostly in expressions that immigrants brought from different countries and languages, but there are strong influences of languages such Russian, Arabic, Yiddish and English. Two words I found funny are:

-פקצית (Fakatsit): is the name that describes the slang used by young Israelis in the Internet. It also has its own code based on Latin letters, in a way imitating the Hebrew ones.

-מתכלב (Mitkalev): Literally it means “Dogging”, from כלב (kelev) that means “Dog”. Basically means: To live as cheap as possible. It is mainly applied by Israeli backpackers.   

Esperanto may be considered a slang free language by its speakers. But there are some terms that only an Esperantist knows. One of the most common in Esperanto Meetings is “Krokodili”. This word comes from “Krokodilo” (Crocodile). When in an Esperanto meeting, the phrase “Ne Krokodilu!” is said, something like “Do not Crocodile!”, this is a command not to speak a different language in an Esperanto environment. Refer to https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krokodili 

I hope you all enjoy this article. You are always welcome if you want to share with me more idioms and slang words in any language