Online Language Review

by Lingo24

Most of us do not associate languages with mirth or merriment. There are, however, times when mistranslations and bad English can have just such an effect.

When we think of foreign languages, a variety of images may come to mind; some of us may remember endless hours spent in classrooms, repetitively practicing verb conjugations, or perhaps some of us will recall sitting in class attempting to be as unobtrusive as possible in order to avoid being asked to translate a particularly difficult text. One thing is certain; most of us do not associate languages with mirth or merriment. There are, however, times when mistranslations and bad English can have just such an effect.

One such instance involved the visit of the US President Jimmy Carter to Poland in 1977. He wanted to say that he wished to understand the Poles desires for the future and that he liked the Poles, however, this was miss-rendered by his translator as “I desire the Poles (carnally)”…his translator was later fired!

Staying with US Presidents, a perhaps more famous incumbent, John. F. Kennedy made a famous speech in Berlin in June 1963. It was in this speech, during the height of the cold war, that he vocalised his solidarity with the people of Berlin, by utterering the immortal phrase “Ich bin ein Berliner”…”I am a citizen of Berlin”. Although at the time the phrase was taken in the spirit that it was meant, it has caused some amusement retrospectively, as Berliner is also a term for a jelly doughnut.

It is not only US presidents that fall foul of mistranslations though; the Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev was famously mistranslated during the Suez crisis in 1956. The French and British, aided by the U.S. were just about to occupy the Suez Canal area when Khrushchev made a speech berating the western powers.

Afterwards, in a back room, he made an off-hand remark to a diplomat which was quoted by an English translator as “we’ll bury you”. This caused an international furore at the time, as it was construed as a warning that the Soviets would, if able, seek the destruction of the western powers.

In actual fact, this was an oblique reference to the core Communist philosophy that Capitalism would eventually destroy itself without any need for active confrontation. The correct interpretation of the phrase, taken in the context of this belief should have been; “We will be there at your burial” i.e. we will outlast you.

Analogous to mistranslation is bad English. Bad English is often hilarious and hugely entertaining…all the more so, if originating from a native English speaker. Here are a few examples from the current US President George. W. Bush.

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I believe is right."

"Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a — you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities."

"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."

Whilst all the examples cited above are undoubtedly humorous, there is another side to them as well. They are illustrative of the type of mistakes that would be unforgivable in the business arena. The image that you project to your clients is intimately linked to what you present to them and how you present it. Part and parcel of that is the quality of the translation.

Your chosen translation agency will have one, and only one chance to get a translation right for you so it is vital to ensure that your agency, their translators and the service that they provide are the best that you can get. The consequences of doing otherwise would certainly not be humorous at all.