Clichés and Idioms as an Interpretation Problem

Clichés and idioms are structurally, lexically and semantically fixed phrases or sentences having the meaning, which is not made up by the sum of meanings of their component parts. An important feature of these units is their figurative meaning (connotation). The difference between the two is, perhaps, that stereotype set phrases “of today” are often used in oral discourse adding positive or negative assessment to it or even in quite neutral contexts (e.g. cold–blooded killing; financial levers; the rule of law; double standards; interagency rivalry; run for the presidency; to put a great price on something; гальмуючий фактор; марні зусилля; плідне співробітництво; подати на розгляд; передвиборчий марафон; розсипання у вдячності; бути в ефірі, etc), while idioms are used in cases, when there is a strong need to reinforce argumentation by reference to “the popular wisdom”, or “wisdom of our ancestors or famous people”, or just to add emotional coloring to what is being said (e.g. the sword of Damocles; Pyrrhic victory; to cast pearls before swine; to fish in troubled waters; to climb on the band wagon; to look a gift horse in the mouth; to sing for someone's supper; одним ударом двох зайців убити; вставляти палиці в колеса; оберігати таємницю родинного вогнища; ходити по краю безодні; на ладан дихати; підкласти свиню, etc).

Methods of translating/interpreting clichés and idioms are described by many authors, however successful application of these methods depends upon the capacity of the “operational memory” of the interpreter. Clichés due to their frequent occurrence are easier to keep in memory comparing to idioms, some of which are quite rare, outdated or extremely culturally specific. Therefore, as far as idioms are concerned, recommendations for interpreters are as follows:

1) The best way of interpreting clichés and idioms is to choose an absolute equivalent, near equivalent or an analogy, e.g. cold–blooded killing – холоднокровне вбивство; financial levers – фінансові важелі; the rule of law – верховенство права; „гальмуючий“ фактор – impediment; марні зусилля – futile effort(s); плідне співробітництво – fruitful co–operation; the sword of Damocles – дамоклів меч; to cast pearls before swine – розкидати перли перед свинями; убити двох зайців – to kill two birds with one stone; що з воза впало, те пропало = there is по use crying over spilt milk; the spectres at the feast = ложка дьогтю у бочці з медом.

2) If no equivalents or analogies can be found in the “operational memory” of the interpreter, then there always exists an option of a descriptive translation (i.e. translating by lexical items without connotation), e.g. to climb on the band wagon – приєднатися до руху (групи людей, політичної партії), що має шанс на успіх;

3) Special care should be taken of the cases, when speakers distort the meaning of an idiom or misuse it. If the interpreter feels that such distortion is unintentional and there is no “hidden connotation” behind it (which is, in fact, sometimes difficult to feel), then interpreter has the right to “correct” the speaker and find the proper variant of translating, which may be prompted by the context, e.g.: ми змушені будемо *запобігти до використання сили – we will have to use force; не слід намагатися * підставити під цього слона всі його чотири ноги – it is not worth trying to settle all problems artificially; ми *приносимо вам таку велику вдячність – we are very grateful to you; тут ми можемо * поставити фіфті на фіфті – we can count fifty–fifty here, etc.

9.4. “Troublemaking” Lexical Units: Numerals, Proper Names, Specific Items of the National Lexicon, Abbreviations, Acronyms and “Misleading Words”

"Troublemaking" lexical units require taking instant interpreter's decision to render them and the success of interpreting depends upon the ability of the interpreter to react quickly to fragments of information, which are either meaningless, or culturally (professionally) specific:

1. Numerals

Successful rendering of numerals depends upon personal ability of the interpreter to keep digits in the short–term memory or to take quick notes of them either in a traditional way or by using interpreter's note–taking (УПС) techniques.

2. Proper names make up one of the most "troublemaking" groups of lexical items, which require both extensive "operational memory" and ability to "decode" proper names, which are often pronounced quickly, indistinctly or even wrongly by the speaker. There is also a growing tendency in the English–speaking world to write (especially on maps and on road signs) and sometimes to pronounce foreign geographical names in the "source language way", e.g. Beijing for Peking; Lisboa for Lisbon (e.g. Lisboa is at the same time the capital and the major city of Portugal located on the river Tejo); Moskva for Moscow; Warszawa for Warsaw; Cymru (in the Welsh language) for Wales; Caerdydd for Cardiff (the capital of Wales); Abertawe for Swansea (city and county in Wales), etc. The best safeguard for the interpreter is to have at hand a list of names of people and organizations, which have to be interpreted. If such list is not available then the usual practice is to make quick notes in whatever language (SL or TL) is convenient for the interpreter because in interpreting it is the sounding and not the spelling of proper names that matters first of all. The next step is to use one of the accepted ways of translating/interpreting proper names:

practical transcription (from English into Ukrainian): Anthony Blair – Ентоні Блер; Lord Judd – лорд Джадд; Mr Goodenough – пан Гуденаф; Sunningdale Road – Саннінгдейл роуд; Bournemouth – Борнмут;

transliteration (from English into Ukrainian and from Ukrainian into English): President Clinton – президент Клінтон; Donald–Дональд; Robin – Робін; Alvaro Robles – Альваро Роблес; Hastings–Ґастінгс; Ірина Білик –Iryna Bilyk; Сергій – Sergii; Рівне – Rivne; Ходосівка – Khodosivka;

"traditional" (historical) rendering (of certain geographical names, names of kings, queens, popes, saints, etc): Texas –Texac; Vienna – Відень; Pope John Paul the Second – nana Іоанн (Іван) Павло другий; King George – король Георг; Queen Elizabeth – королева Єлизавета (however, Prince Charles – принц Чарльз but not Карл); St. Andrew – святий Андрій; Ярослав Мудрий – Yaroslav the Wise;

"ordinary" translation (for the names of organizations): Amnesty International – Міжнародна амністія; World Bank – Світовий банк; Civil Service College – Коледж державної служби; The House of Commons – палата громад; Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe – Парламентська Асамблея Ради Європи; Фонд державного майна – State Property Fund.

However, there is a tendency to use practical transcription or transliteration if the name of the organization contains certain connotation or "national coloring": Greenpeace – Грінпіс; Human Rights Watch – міжнародна правозахисна організація Хьюмен райтc вотч (уотч); University College, London University – Юніверсіті Коледж Лондонського університету;Верховна Рада – Verkhovna Rada; Державна Дума Російської Федерації – the State Duma of the Russian Federation, etc.

For translating/interpreting names of newspapers, magazines, journals, hotels, shops, private homes, ships, trademarks and so on mainly practical transcription and transliteration are used: Financial Times – Файненшіал Таймз (газета, Великобританія); EuroNews– Євроньюз (європейський телеканал, Франція); Moat House hotel – готель Моут Хауз; Wet–Stone Close – Вет(Ует) Стоун клоуз (назва будинку); HMS "Invincible" – корабель ВМФ Великобританії "Інвінсібл"; "Malvern Hills" mineral water – мінеральна вода "Малверн Хілз"; Microsoft Corp. – корпорація "Майкрософт"; Seiko – Сейко (японська компанія по виробництву годинників); Selfridges – Селфріджес (відомий лондонський універмаг); газета "День "– the Den' newspaper; готель "Національний" – the Natsionalny hotel, etc.

3. Specific items of the national lexicon (realia words – реалії) and ways of their translating are well described in the corresponding literature. Their successful interpreting, however, depends upon the level of the cultural competence of the interpreter and proper application of one of the following methods (or their combinations) which are similar to the ways of translating/interpreting subject field terms (in fact, many of such words may be indeed treated as terms) and proper names: practical transcription or transliteration: ombudsman – омбудсмен; lager – лагер (сорт світлого пива); область (як адміністративна одиниця України) – oblast; прокуратура –prokuratura; (державний) апарат – the apparat; translation by means of an analogy: roundabout – транспортна "розв'язка", "клумба"; loan and word–for–word translation: sky–scraper – хмарочос; a system of checks and balances – система перевірок та противаг; місто–герой – hero city; descriptive or explanatory translation: Brummy – мешканець м. Бірмінгему, бірмінгемський діалект (Великобританія).

4. Abbreviations and acronyms of a "general nature" make up a part of interpreter's active stock of lexical items, e.g. CD – compact disc; EU– European Union; GDP – gross domestic product; IMF – International Monetary Fund; UNDP – United Nations Development Program; ОHP – overhead projector; VCR – videocassette recorder; CAT– computer–assisted translation; ВПК – військово–промисловий комплекс; ЗМІ – засоби масової інформації. Lists of abbreviations of a "specific nature" have to be requested or collected from the background sources before the interpretation session, e.g. PIU– Project Implementation Unit; NAV– net asset value; PAL – programmatic adjustment loan (World Bank); SACEUR – Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO); SWOT – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (спосіб економічного аналізу); TOR – terms of reference (технічне завдання); ОВДП – облігації внутрішньої державної позики; УДКР – Українська державна корпорація по реструктуризації; ДДІВ України –Державний департамент України з інтелектуальної власності, etc.

Selection of the way of translating/interpreting abbreviations largely depends upon the established tradition and may range from transliteration (e.g. BBC – БіБіСі, БІБІСІ; UNESCO – ЮНЕСК0; TACIS – TACIC) and "ordinary" translation (e.g.: PACE for Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe – ПАРЄ for Парламентська Асамблея Ради Європи; PFP for Partnership for Peace – ПЗМ for програма "Партнерство заради миру"; ДПА for Державна податкова адміністрація – STA for State Tax Administration) to descriptive and loan translation (e.g. EFF for Extended Fund Facility – програма розширеного кредитування; NGO for non–governmental organization – неурядова організація; FATF f or Financial Action Task Force – група ФАТФ, Група з розробки фінансових заходів боротьби з відмиванням грошей; FIU for Financial Intelligence Unit – департамент фінансового контролю; СІЗО for слідчий ізолятор – pre–trial detention centre or SIZO).

5. The so–called "misleading words" (they include paronyms, "false friends", etc) and other lexical items which may be confusing because of certain semantic or phonetic similarity which requires special attention of interpreters. Here belong such words as: centrifugal (відцентровий); centripetal (доцентровий); concave (опуклий); convex (увігнутий); fission (розщеплення ядра атома); fusion (ядерний синтез); Swiss (швейцарський); Swedish (шведський); Dutch (голландський; нідерландська мова); Danish (датський; датська мова); accounts receivable (дебіторська заборгованість); accounts payable (кредиторська заборгованість), etc. Here belong compound verbs: to hold - триматись, to take hold - взятись, to get hold – зв’язатись (по телефону). Some interpreters even prefer to carry a list of their personal "misleading words", which may be helpful in the "extreme" conditions of oral interpreting.