Pleonasm (Not a Nasal Disorder)

Lately I have been noticing a lot of repetition in both written and spoken English. It strikes me as interesting that a language that favors conciseness has such a strong tendency to repeat itself. There is even a name for this useless wordy verbiage: pleonasm. As usually happens with things, the more I take note of pleonasm, the more it seems to spread. Well, actually, repetitiveness is not becoming more common, it's just that my awareness of it has expanded. For example, just a few days ago someone reminded me not to write "please RSVP" on some invitations, and that very day I received an invitation in the mail requesting that I "please RSVP" for a different event. Not long after that I saw some tuna fish in the store and I couldn't help but wonder: Is anyone not aware that tuna is fish? Then I heard someone preface a comment with: "for all intents and purposes." Therefore, with this barrage of pleonasms on my mind, I have started to wonder which ones are acceptable because of their idiomatic usage and which ones are errors? I mean, trial and tribulation, assault and battery, and cease and desist all seem like well established phrases in our language, and it is interesting to note that those I just thought of all have some sort of legal implication and/or usage. However, phrases like black darkness, repeat again, meet together, and reply back, just seem to me to be erroneous. And another thing: iterate already means to say something repeatedly, so why does everyone say reiterate? It drives me crazy, but reiterate is a valid word. 

So...I'd love to hear from all of you word junkies and language professionals out there regarding this post. When is pleonasm acceptable (in your opinion, or enlighten us with facts)? When do you frown upon repetition or actively seek to use it? Have you heard any other redundantly repetitive expressions lately?

When Subtitling Goes Wrong

Subtitling is another area of the translation profession that is very publicly humiliated when done badly. I know that subtitles are sometimes machine translated, but, really? Can't someone proofread them? On the other hand, there is a lot of enjoyment to be gleaned from fabulous screen shots with poorly translated captions, so read them and (try not to) weep.

I don't know if I could have phrased it any more descriptively...

In the form of APARTMENTS?! No! What an entrepreneurial bastard!

Hmmm...wonder why the translator didn't just translate that word, then?

No comment...

Tatwos

Even Tattoo Clients Need Translators...

...And Proofreaders

Touch Woody

I have heard this story in countless language classes and professional lectures, and I am sure you have, too: Chevrolet made a major marketing and translation misstep when they released the Nova in Latin America because of the irony of naming a vehicle "no va" or "doesn't run/go." The veracity of this popular and humorous story has been often called in to question, and Gerald Erichsen's argument on About.com that it is just a tall tale is very convincing. Aside from the nitty gritty of fact verification, though, the point behind the story is painfully important. So, I like to think of the Nova story as more of a fable for language translators, except instead of a tortoise and a hare and the moral of "slow and steady wins the race," we have a car and a corporation and the moral "you can't freaking be careful enough with language that is translated or used in different cultural and linguistic settings!" On that note, for your reading pleasure, please enjoy the collection of translation fables that follow and message me if you have one to add!

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•  You know about IKEA'S popular and inexpensive furniture with very Swedish names that are often a challenge for English speakers, right? How do you feel about buying the FARTFULL work bench (it even has space under the seat!)
• (Copied from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/10/06/60minutes/main239219.shtml) 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace, known for his tough interviewing style, drew a sharp rebut from Boris Yeltsin - thanks to a translator's error. The confusion arose when Wallace asked Yeltsin if he had a "thin skin" when it came to public criticism, but the translation had Wallace describing Yeltsin as a "thick-skinned hippopotamus." Yeltsin was not amused."An experienced journalist like yourself," Yeltsin said, "should express himself in a more civilized fashion. But this may be the translator's fault, and if so, he is the hippopotamus!" (Note from Alayne: Actually, it sounds like this was an interpreter's mistake, not a translator's mistake.)
•  A Swedish company named Locum sent out some cards a number of years back. To be cute, they replaced the "o" in their name with a heart.Think about it.Yeah, oooops!
• Are you in the market for a body bag? Hopefully not in the USA. But if you were in Germany you might look for one since that is what some Germans refer to a one-strapped backpack as!
• Also in Germany, the word "mist" means manure. How do you think the products "Mist Stick" (a hair product) and "Irish Mist" (a beverage) went over in that market?!
• I saved the best for last. Have you heard the one about Panasonic's touchscreen product launches? They secured the star Woody Woodpecker for their campaign and their slogan was: "Touch Woody - The Internet Pecker." WOW!
  

ZOMBIE NOUNS!

Helen Sword wrote about zombie nouns as an op ed in the New York Times last summer, and I have been thinking about them more and more often as I notice examples cropping up all over the place. The problem with living dead verbiage, or nominalizations, is the pomposity of the presumption to ply readers with an excessiveness of wordiness. Did you get that? Probably not. It's a lot easier and more direct to just say that zombie nouns make sentences unnecessarily wordy and pompous. If you haven't already caught on from my example above, a nominalization is the creation of a noun by fusing a noun ending (like -ism, -ity, or -ness) onto a verb or an adjective. The irony is that the name nominalization is in itself a zombie noun, isn't it?! Here is Ms. Sword's definition: "Nouns formed from other parts of speech are called nominalizations. Academics love them; so do lawyers, bureaucrats and business writers. I call them “zombie nouns” because they cannibalize active verbs, suck the lifeblood from adjectives and substitute abstract entities for human beings." Wonderful!

This is your warning to steer clear of the zombies and viva active verbs! Or, if you like the living dead, join the comment conversation below to make a few new blood-sucking zombies...

Ebonics and ESL?

     I just read an article called "Watch Your Language" in the most recent edition of Sarah Lawrence College's magazine entitled The Will to Live. Because the college emphasizes and practices teaching through small group lectures, the magazine often features an article based on a partial transcript of the roundtable discussion that takes place between students and professor. This one particularly interested me because it takes on the issue of the Oakland, CA school board's decision to recognize Ebonics, or in linguistic terms African American Vernacular English, as a language, making speakers of Ebonics ESL students in that district.
     Since many of you out there who read my blog are fellow Sarah Lawrence graduates for whom this type of dialogue is natural and/or linguists, translators, and language instructors who thrive on matters of the tongue, I thought that it would be brain candy to get a discussion going. I have posted the short two-page article here for you to read, as well as links to the Sarah Lawrence magazine website. Read up if you're interested. Then, post your ideas here. Are Ebonics and English distinct languages? Is it appropriate to educate Ebonics speakers as ESL students?

Mosey On Home

You always say walk. Why not use stroll, amble, wander, meander, mosey, march, trudge, saunter, or stride? English is pretty wonderful in its richness and nuance. Do you appreciate the fact that we can differentiate between walking confidently and walking with a purpose without using a single adjective?! I do. Spanish offers us several options as well; for example, you can caminar, patear, recorrer, pasear, or marchar. Today I challenge you refresh and broaden the range of words you employ. Let's ditch our habitual words and phrases and challenge our brains and tongues. Add some synonyms to my list in either English or Spanish...or get a new one going!