Idioms and Difficulties

of Translating Idioms
In Other Words, Chapter 3, pp. 69-77
A Comparison among Collocations, Fixed
Expressions, Proverbs and Idioms
 Collocations are fairly flexible patterns of language which allow several
variations in form.
 Deliver a letter, delivery of a letter, a letter has been delivered and having
delivered a letter

 Although the meaning of a word often depends on what other words it occurs
with, we can still say that the word in question has an individual meaning in a
given collocation.
 Dry cow
 Fixed expressions and proverbs are frozen patterns of language which allow
little or no variation in form and often have fairly transparent meanings. The
meaning of a fixed expression or proverb, however, is somewhat more than
the sum meanings of its words; the expression has to be taken as one unit to
establish meaning.
 Having said that, as a matter of fact, ladies and gentlemen and all the best
 Practice what you preach (to do the things that you advise other people to do),
waste not want not (said to advise someone not to waste anything, because they
might need it in the future)

 Idioms are frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in

form and often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual
components.
 Pull a fast one (to successfully deceive someone), fill the bill (to serve or perform
adequately)
 The main problems that idiomatic and fixed expressions pose in translation
relate to two main areas:

 The ability to recognize and interpret an idiom correctly

 The difficulties involved in rendering the various aspects of meaning that an idiom
or a fixed expression conveys into the target language
The Interpretation of Idioms
 There are two cases in which an idiom can be easily misinterpreted if one is
not already familiar with it:
 Some idioms are ‘misleading’.
Go out with (‘have a romantic or sexual relationship with someone’), take someone
for a ride (‘deceive or cheat someone in some way’)
 An idiom in the source language may have a very close counterpart in the target
language which looks similar on the surface but has a totally or partially different
meaning.
Has the cat had/got your tongue? (to urge someone to answer a question or
contribute to a conversation, particularly when their failure to do so becomes
annoying) has a similar counterpart in French, donner sa langue au chat (‘to give
one’s tongue to the cat’), meaning to give up, for example, when asked a riddle.

Bite your lip (to prevent yourself from showing your reaction to something by
speaking or laughing) has a similar counterpart in Persian, ‫ﻟﺐ ﮔﺰﯾﺪن‬, meaning to bite
your lip because of regret, anger, shame or surprise.
Difficulties of Translating Idioms

(a) An idiom or fixed expression may have no equivalent in the target language.
 Merry Christmas, say when (said when you are pouring a drink for someone and
you want them to tell you when to stop pouring)

 Culture-specific idioms are not necessarily untranslatable. It is not the

specific items an expression contains but rather the meaning it conveys and
its association with culture-specific contexts which can make it untranslatable
or difficult to translate.
 To carry coals to Newcastle
Eulen nach Athen tragen (‘to carry owls to Athens’)
porter de l’eau à la rivière (‘to carry water to the river’)
‫زﯾﺮه ﺑﻪ ﮐﺮﻣﺎن ﺑﺮدن‬
(b) An idiom or fixed expression may have a similar counterpart in the target
language, but its context of use may be different.

 To sing a different tune is an English idiom which means to say or do

something that signals a change in opinion because it contradicts what one
has said or done before. chang-dui-tai-xi (‘to sing different tunes / to sing a
duet’) refers to contradictory points of view but has quite a different usage.
It has strong political connotations and, in certain contexts, can be
interpreted as expressing complementary rather than contradictory points of
view.
(c) An idiom may be used in the source text in both its literal and idiomatic
senses at the same time.

 He had sufficient influence to be able to poke his nose into the private
affairs of others where less aristocratic noses might have been speedily
bloodied.
(d) The very convention of using idioms in written discourse, the contexts in
which they can be used, and their frequency of use may be different in the
source and target languages.

METRO
Your own sense of style is all your own. Brilliant. Colourful. Original. With loads
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There’s a car after your own heart. The new 1989 Metro. Sporty new models
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Or show what you’re made of at the wheel of the new Metro Sport. It’s got
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Fancy something really special in the sports luxury department? With a sunroof,
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(Today’s Cars, Austin Rover brochure, 1989)