Tanit

Deciphering language involves understanding so much more than words or strings of words. There’s a question of context. And in translation, there are two large frames to work with, one for each language.

Original texts need to be understood in terms of their cultural reality. There’s a world of difference between “Yeah right” and “Yeah! Right!” And that difference isn’t just punctuation.

Who is saying these?

• A sarcastic corporate?
• A cartoon superhero?
• An angry teenager?

And who is on the receiving end?

• A cashier?
• A religious figure?
• A postal worker?

Determining this much about the original text is only the beginning. When translating, the words have to be right… but so does the sociocultural understanding of those words. The easiest example is considering the translation of a play on words.

Let’s look at Pino Tile& Carpet. Their tagline reads “The Best Floor Show in Town.”

Catchy, huh? Getting it into a second language is tricky, though. What makes the play on words work is the word floor; and the floor part of floor show is precisely the one lost in translation for Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian… and many more languages.

The translation is a transcreation at this point; one that has to capture the sparkle of the term “floor show” and the connection to flooring products and services.

And it’s at this point that our creative professional team roles it’s sleeves up. There’s nothing we love more as language professionals than playing with words!

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