{"id":10797,"date":"2023-11-03T11:42:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T09:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sinonim.hr\/?p=10797"},"modified":"2024-01-08T15:38:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T13:38:20","slug":"translating-idioms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinonim.hr\/de\/translating-idioms\/","title":{"rendered":"Why translating idioms is not a piece of cake?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although the translation of idioms may seem like a Sisyphean task<\/em>, it is actually a task that can be performed with a lot of creativity, patience and knowledge. As the Cambridge Dictionary defines it, an idiom is \u201ca group of words in a fixed order that has a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own.\u201d Due to their inconspicuous meaning, they often represent an obstacle for non-native speakers as they cannot be understood literally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of idioms <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Manojlovi\u0107, Dajak and Brki\u0107 Bakari\u0107 (2017) <\/a>points out that idioms can be distinguished according to 3 different criteria. Firstly, they can be categorized on the basis of their structure. Idioms consisting of minimally two independent lexical units, phonetic words and those assuming a syntactic form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Idioms can further be distinguished regarding their origin. The most common ones being the Bible (doubting Thomas), literature (to be or not to be), professions (too many cooks spoil the broth) and history. An example of an idiom originating from Hellenic history is the phrase \u201cresting on laurels\u201d. Expressing someone\u2019s excessive contempt for past achievements. They can also be differentiated between national and international idioms, universally used all over the world.  Therefore, the form and meaning of idioms can sometimes fully overlap in the source and target language. One such example between English and Croatian is the idiom \u201cto judge a book by its covers\u201d or \u201csuditi knjigu po koricama\u201d. Also, idioms can be found in many different forms \u2013 from metaphors and metonymies to proverbs and similes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Translating<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Importance of professional translation <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Idioms are a domain where translators show their true colors<\/em>. Some idioms are often overlooked by lay people and machine translation tools as well. That leads to an incorrect literal translation. The study conducted by Manojlovi\u0107, Dajak and Brki\u0107 Bakari\u0107 (2017) showed that the majority of translations done by machine translation (Google Translate and Assistant) result in literal translations. Apart from that, some even contained anomalies in form and untranslated parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does a translator approach the process of translating idioms?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So how does a translator approach this challenging process of translating idioms? Firstly, one has to identify the idiomatic expression in the source text. Following that, the translator has to grasp the meaning of the idiom. If the translator is not immediately familiar with the expression, it is then necessary to consult phraseological dictionaries or search engines. The final step is finding the equivalent in the target language. However, it is not always possible to do so. In some instances, the idiom only exists within the frameworks of the source culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The translator has to choose between different ways of conveying the same meaning<\/a>. In the first case, it is possible to translate such an idiom with another idiom of similar form and meaning. In example, \u201cgo through the eye<\/em> of a needle\u201d and \u201cprovu\u0107i se kroz u\u0161icu<\/em> igle\u201d. If that is not possible, the next step is translation by means of an expression of similar meaning, but a different form. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phrases \u201crob Peter to pay Paul\u201d and \u201cprelijevati iz \u0161upljeg u prazno\u201d are an example of such a strategy. The third option is to paraphrase the source idiom in order to transfer the meaning to the target audience. Even though \u201cto be on cloud nine\u201d could be translated as \u201cbiti na sedmom nebu\u201d, it is also possible to simply paraphrase it \u2013 \u201cbiti vrlo sretan\u201d. The final option is to completely erase the idiom in cases where there are no plausible translations<\/a> in the target language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To sum up...<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although translating idioms is not the easiest task, it is a fun process requiring creativity and resourcefulness. The usage of an appropriate idiom in a translation can elevate the quality of a text, giving it a natural and authentic character. Since machine translation does not guarantee a satisfying execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more blogs about translating on our website<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although the translation of idioms may seem like a Sisyphean task, it is actually a task that can be performed with a lot of creativity, patience and knowledge. As the Cambridge Dictionary defines it, an idiom is \u201ca group of words in a fixed order that has a particular meaning that is different from the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":10794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1010],"tags":[154,463,32,68,74,108],"yoast_head":"\nWhy translating idioms is not a piece of cake? |<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Although the translation of idioms may seem like a Sisyphean task, it is actually a task that can be performed with a lot of creativity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sinonim.hr\/de\/translating-idioms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why translating idioms is not a piece of cake? 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