The Italian expression
traduttore traditore may be
translated as “the translator is a traitor”—meaning that any translation is
always a betrayal of the true meaning of the original. This may be true, but
it’s also a troublesome fact that some words pose particular challenges when
you try to express them in other than their original languages.
Today Translations, a British
company, has conducted a survey of translators worldwide, asking them the most
difficult words they have encountered. Jurga Zilinskiene, head of the company,
points out that while it may be easy enough to find a definition in a
dictionary, true translation requires conveying the cultural experience and
social context into a different language.
On that basis, the
translators who were surveyed chose these as the ten words with the most elusive
meanings:
ilunga -
Tshiluba for a person who will forgive any abuse for the first time and
tolerate it a second time--but never a third time. Tshiluba is a Bantu language
spoken in southeastern Congo and Zaire.
shlimaz - Yiddish for a chronically unlucky person.
radioukacz - Polish for a person who worked as a telegraphist
for the resistance movements on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain.
naa - Japanese word only used in the Kansai area of Japan, to
express agreement or emphasis.
altahmam - Arabic
for a kind of deep sadness.
gezellig - Dutch for cosy.
saudade - Portuguese for a certain type of longing.
selathirupavar - Tamil for a certain type of truancy.
pochemuchka - Russian for a person who asks a lot of
questions.
klloshar -Albanian for loser.
What’s that? Oh, you don’t speak Tshiluba or Tamil and you want to know
the most untranslatable words in English. Okay, here’s what the experts
said—but you have to provide the definitions yourself:
plenipotentiary
gobbledegook
serendipity
poppycock
googly (British)
Spam
whimsy
bumf (British)
chuffed (British)
kitsch
The Bard of Buffalo Bayou’s works have never been translated into any
language, including English.
Some
say it’s debatable
If
words are translatable
When they're untransmittable,
Or
just not admittable
Because
they’re inscrutable,
Or
maybe unsuitable.
So
since they’re not quotable
And
won’t ever be notable,
Because
they’re not writable
Or
not even citable,
It
may be regrettable,
But
they’re just forgettable.
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