mistranslations
Lost in language
Mistranslations are errors in converting text or speech from one language to another.
The term covers everything from minor inaccuracies to meaning-reversing blunders: The treaty's mistranslations nearly caused a diplomatic incident.
Famously mangled signs and menus provide internet humor, while serious mistranslations in legal or medical contexts can have real consequences.
Mental disorientation or bewilderment
- diplomatic incidentOfficial conflict between nations
- offenseViolation or umbrage
- embarrassmentSelf-conscious unease
- miscommunicationFailed exchange of meaning
legal dispute · medical error · propaganda · censorship · controversy · recall · apology · correction
Corrupting transmitted information
- misrenderingIncorrect representation or portrayal
- false friendsDeceptive cross-language word pairs
- calqueBorrowed phrase translated literally
- loan wordTerm adopted from abroad
word-for-word · untranslatable · translationese · source text · transcription error
Fixed phrase, opaque meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- cultural referenceShared societal knowledge marker
- allusionIndirect reference to something
- implicationIndirect suggestion or consequence
figurative meaning · sarcasm · irony · double meaning · wordplay · pun · proverb · colloquialism
Cold War Soviet premier
- Jimmy CarterGeorgia governor turned president
- JFK35th president's monogram
- PepsiAmerican cola brand
- come aliveBecome vibrant suddenly
Chevy Nova · HSBC · Coors · KFC · Electrolux · embarrass
confusion
Mental disorientation or bewilderment
- diplomatic incidentOfficial conflict between nations
- offenseViolation or umbrage
- embarrassmentSelf-conscious unease
miscommunication · legal dispute · medical error · propaganda · censorship · controversy · recall · apology · correction · retraction
garbling
Corrupting transmitted information
- misrenderingIncorrect representation or portrayal
- false friendsDeceptive cross-language word pairs
- calqueBorrowed phrase translated literally
loan word · word-for-word · untranslatable · translationese · source text · transcription error
idiom
Fixed phrase, opaque meaning
- connotationImplied sense, not dictionary
- cultural referenceShared societal knowledge marker
- allusionIndirect reference to something
implication · figurative meaning · sarcasm · irony · double meaning · wordplay · pun · proverb · colloquialism · register
Khrushchev
Cold War Soviet premier
- Jimmy CarterGeorgia governor turned president
- JFK35th president's monogram
- PepsiAmerican cola brand
come alive · Chevy Nova · HSBC · Coors · KFC · Electrolux · embarrass
- place namesplace names, Peking, Beijing, place name, city names
- Mistakes & Liesmistakes, lies, errors, error, mistake