Word-for-word translation

It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood.
Karl Popper, Unended Quest

And when it comes to translation or interpretation, the above quote is applicable tenfold. If I had 1 dollar for each time I was asked to provide a translation or interpretation service verbatim, as in a word-for-word method, I could comfortably retire to Hawaii right about now.

Unfortunately, for any language professional, translating or interpreting word-for-word is a sure way to create some translation bloopers similar to the ones featured in the December article “No smoothen the lion” or the art of communication”. Language development is reflective of the values and beliefs of a country it’s spoken in. For instance, the English language reflects a well developed judicial system, advanced approach to business and a constant time crunch. Therefore, it developed as a precise and compact language with very high number of widely used abbreviations. On the other hand, there are a multitude of languages spoken in countries where judicial and business infrastructures take a different route in development. Thus many concepts familiar to every American will mean nothing to people of those countries. To interpret the term “plea bargain”, commonly used in legal proceedings, into Russian will take at least a sentence, since the idea of plea bargaining between the prosecutor and a defense attorney doesn’t exist in Russia and, subsequently, in the Russian language. Similarly translation of the term “angioplasty” into Hmong will require creating word pictures, as the term of the western medicine will be a foreign concept to a Hmong speaker.

In fact, theory behind interpretation and translation requires conveying the meaning, and not mere words. I mean, could you imagine a word-for-word interpretation of “John Doe” or “Hung Jury”? Moreover, it’s not only legal, medical and business terminology are not translated verbatim, but any attempt at translating or interpreting a sport or pop culture jargon such as, “Monday Morning Quarterback” or “Pulling an Omarosa” word for word would result in a complete lack of understanding in any other language. Same goes for humor, poetry, slang and any idiomatic expression. Of course, there are plenty of terms that have a direct translation into another language, such as many basic nouns, verbs and adjectives. However, the context in which these words are used also plays a great role in the degree of conceptuality required on the part of an interpreter. Of course, any qualified language professional knows which words have direct correlation in his/her language and what requires conceptual translation of the intended meaning. However, if you have any questions, feel free to ask us.