Impossible to translate ...
A while ago on a business trip to Spain I was asked this question:
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Cómo llamar a un ascensor en Inglés
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The answer expected is, of course, "a lift".
No. The actual answer is "Con su dedo." - "With your finger."
How can this be translated into English? The original
question, when translated literally, is "How do you call
a lift in English?" The answer now is obvious and
unsurprising. The colloquial translation of the original
is "What do you call a lift in English?", and now the
joke doesn't work at all.
It simply doesn't translate.
Sometimes when I'm talking to people, trying to explain
something, I can see that it's just not working. They
aren't hearing what I'm saying - the thoughts from my
head are just not getting there. They simply don't get
it. This doesn't mean they're stupid, it doesn't mean
they're incapable, it simply means that they don't have
the same basis from which to work, and the "explanation",
doesn't.
Language is an amazing thing, and the more you study it,
the more you realise it simply can't work. The fact
that we can communicate at all is quite stunning.
I finish with two quotations from Terry Pratchett.
The first points out the different in attitude that
perhaps is driven by the recognition that there are
different languages, and lack of understanding is
often down to the listener.
A significant difference between Europeans and Americans:
- A European says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with me?
- An American says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with you?
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The second, as Terry often does, says it all better
than I ever could.
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I think perhaps the most important problem is that we
are trying to understand the fundamental workings of
the universe via a language devised for telling one
another where the best fruit is. |
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