The (Un)Artful Dodger

The (Un)Artful Dodger

“The poverty of the vocabulary is striking.”

Maybe we should chip in and buy him a subscription to Reader's Digest:

http://www.rd.com/culture/word-power-art/

Originally shared by Ralf Haring

"Ms Viennot – who isn’t a fan of the newly inaugurated leader – says that as a translator Mr Drumpf’s speech puts her in an ethical dilemma. If she translates him directly French listeners may struggle to understand, but if she translates him into smoother, intelligible speech she risks making him sound like “an ordinary politician who speaks properly.”"
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/01/24/translators-are-struggling-interpret-donald-trump

Comments

  1. Andrea MonticueJanuary 24, 2017 at 12:04 PM

    There are two different problems here. One is Trump's use of "disjointed syntax, run-on sentences and limited vocabulary."

    The other is his use of slang and words that have vague meanings. The second problem is common among translators in any situation. Idiomatic translations are problematic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Drew McCarthyJanuary 24, 2017 at 12:58 PM

    Well, there's the third problem of lack of clarity and coherence in expression, regardless of idiom.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Andrea MonticueJanuary 24, 2017 at 1:16 PM

    Hey, diddle diddle!
    Distribute the middle!
    The premise controls the conclusion.
    And the subjunctive confirms
    That a Diet of Worms
    is just idiomatic confusion.

    (From A Space Child's Mother Goose by Frederick Winsor)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bruce SharkJanuary 24, 2017 at 11:14 PM

    I guess signers could just mime face palming the entire time.

    ReplyDelete

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