Clichés and Pet Peeves Lost in Translation

My grandmother always said that the biggest problem with a pet peeve is that we pet it. We love it and caress it and nurture it so that it grows and takes up more of our lives than it should. Well, I'm going to pet one of these pet peeves today by hypocritically using the same translation cliché that peeves me.

Many translation professionals like me cringe in pain and disgust every time they see the cliché "lost in translation." It is overused by media, and I'm not the first to gripe about this. Whenever it appears in an industry article, that article is considered to be pandering and downgraded to perceived amateur status. As a matter of fact, many translation professionals who read the title of this article will skip it because they can´t stand to read yet another article with that cliché in the title. However, this article will probably be picked up by search engines and receive many hits from fans looking to see photos and news of Scarlett Johansson.

So what is it that irks us about this cliché? Is it the excessive repetition? Is it the fact that we can't find translation stories in the mainstream press that do not include the phrase? Or is it the negative tone of the phrase?

Maybe we need to come up with a more positive cliché to take its place. Some have suggested "found in translation." A former professor of mine suggested the more positive "gained in translation," and others have suggested "won in translation," but none of these have stuck.

So for now, here is a list of the most repeated negative translation clichés that emphasize problems in communication:

• The language barrier
• Lost in translation
• Greek to me
• Traduttore, traditore!
• The language gap

If I left out a phrase you think should be included, then please add it as a comment. Better yet, please add any suggested positive translation clichés that we could promote to replace these. Maybe you can think of something better than "won in translation" or "bridging the language gap."

On a more positive note, here is a peculiar satirical ad that looks at ways to "break the language barrier" MythBusters style:



No, 'Marketing Myths' is not a real show. It was an advertisement for SBS Radio created by Three Drunk Monkeys. Maybe you noticed the reference to a debunked translation myth...