lost in translation
Sense didn't transfer
Lost in translation describes meaning, nuance, or feeling that fails to survive the transfer from one language to another—or more broadly, from one context to another.
A joke that works in Japanese may fall flat in English; a parent's values may be lost in translation to the next generation.
The phrase suggests something essential has been sacrificed in conversion: The subtlety of her argument was lost in translation.
- lost onNot understood by
- tongue-tiedUnable to express oneself
- uncomprehendingLacking grasp of meaning
- untranslatableLacking cross-lingual equivalent
- word for wordExactly as spoken
Bill Murray · Sofia Coppola · Scarlett Johansson · idiomatic expression · language barrier · false friend · miscommunication · cultural nuance · culture shock · intimacy · cross-cultural · native speaker · mother tongue · regional dialect · dubbing · subtitling · pragmatics · idiom
- language barrierslanguage barrier, miscommunication, misunderstanding, untranslatable, confusion
- miscommunicationmix-up, mixed signals, confusion, mixed messages, crossed wires
- misunderstandingmisunderstand, misinterpret, miscommunication, misconception, misconstrue
- misunderstandingsmisunderstanding, misinterpretation, misconception, misreading, miscommunication
- comic mishapsmistaken identity, misunderstanding, mix-up, miscommunication, blunder
- communication failsmisunderstanding, autocorrect fail, typo, wrong number, reply all
lost in translationcrystal clear
Entirely unambiguous, perfectly understood
unmistakable · plain as day · self-explanatory · unambiguous · lucid
lost in translationspeaks for itself
losing, translate, translation, translated, translator, translating, translates, translators, translatable