Like-Blog
Presenting you the most interesting translation solutions
Why Like-Blog? Now, first of all, this blog is a blog that you should like (and read regularly) – at least, if you are interested in translation. Then, the topic discussed here is one in which the meaningful likeness between a text and its translation in the language pair English-German plays a key role. On this page, I will take a close look at some interesting translation solutions that I have come across in the course of my work as a translator and translation scholar.
A translation solution is only as good as the arguments that support it. This means that any translation criticism, whether positive or negative, needs to be justified. The quality of a translation solution shows only when we compare it to other possible translation solutions in a given translation situation. Therefore, a translation critic should not only say why a translation solution is bad, but also demonstrate what a better solution might look like. I will try to stick to these principles of translation criticism. So if you have any questions regarding my line of argument or if you disagree, please, let me know your opinion by phone at +49 4171 6086525 or by e-mail to bittner@businessenglish-hamburg.de. So much for the introduction. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this blog!
Percentage-wise (January 2021)
There are two problems in the German translation of the following passage taken from “The Meaning of Michelle Obama”, written by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Scherer and published in Time Magazine in May 2009: “In any case, by the time she held the Bible for her husband on Inauguration Day, her approval rating had jumped nearly 40 points. And she was just getting started.”
The translation ran: “Fakt ist jedenfalls, dass ihre Beliebtheitswerte um fast 40% gestiegen waren, als sie am Tag der Amtseinführung die Bibel für ihren Mann hielt. Und sie kam doch gerade erst so richtig in Schwung.” Can you find the two errors?
The first error is a mathematical one: the clause “her approval rating had jumped nearly 40 points” does not refer to percent but to percentage points. To illustrate the difference between percentage points and percent, let us assume that Michelle Obama’s popularity rating was 20 per cent. An increase of 40 per cent would mean that it was subsequently 28 per cent. However, an increase of 40 percentage points would bring this figure up to 60.
The second error is somewhat subtler. In the rendering of the last sentence “And she was just getting started” as “Und sie kam doch gerade erst so richtig in Schwung”, one word is wrong. Yet, whoever thinks that I find fault with the noun “Schwung” is mistaken. The problem is rather the adverb “doch”, because it makes the sentence express regret about the impossibility of continuing a certain momentum. However, there is no question of regret here, as this would require mention of a previous negative trend – which is not the case.
If I correct the two errors in the target text, the translation might go: Fakt ist jedenfalls, dass ihre Beliebtheitswerte um fast 40 Prozentpunkte gestiegen waren, als sie am Tag der Amtseinführung die Bibel für ihren Mann hielt. Und das war erst der Anfang.