Regret the Error » translation errors

Lost in translation

Craig Silverman — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:30:27 +0000

The Barrow Journal article on Oct. 17, about the fall subsistence whale hunt in Barrow, Alaska, misstated a greeting exchanged between the captain of a crew that killed a whale and a crowd onshore. They shouted ”aarigaa” at each other — an Inupiaq word meaning ”very good.” The captain did not shout, and the crowd did not respond, ”Ah ah ha!” Link

Title issues

Craig Silverman — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:00:53 +0000

Tom Wolfe: A July 10 article about an exhibition of author Tom Wolfe’s illustrations referred to one of his books as “The Painted Bird.” The correct title is “The Painted Word.” Link

And:

Mexican actors: A July 10 article about Mexican actors working in Hollywood translated the film title “No Eres Tu, Soy Yo” as “I’m Not You, I’m Me.” The correct translation is “It’s Not You, It’s Me.” Link

Lost in translation

Craig Silverman — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:00:52 +0000

Because of an editing error, we seemed to translate the following phrase – "On me prete la reputation d'etre un auteur d'apparance legere" – as, "I'm reputed to be a lightly apparelled author". French speakers will be relieved to hear that the phrase in the translator's copy was, "I'm said to be an apparently 'light' (lightweight) author" (The cry of my conscience, 12 January, page 30). Link

Language lesson

Craig Silverman — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:00:19 +0000

Our attempt to expose the decline of opportunities to learn a foreign language in Britain was marred by errors in a foreign language, as well as one in English. Willy Brandt, the former West German chancellor, was quoted as having once said: “If I’m selling I’m happy to speak to you in English. But if I’m buying dann mussen sie deutsche sprechen.” This should have been expressed as: “If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann mussen Sie Deutsch sprechen.” A little further on the piece notes that languages are rarely defended as worth studying for their own sake, for example, to help “understand the words to a Schubert lieder”. The singular of Lieder is Lied. We are truly sorry, or Es tut uns sehr Leid (Wer will heute noch Sprachen lernen – who still wants to learn languages?, 25 August, page 10, G2). Link

Lost in translation

Craig Silverman — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:00:47 +0000

Sublime With Rome: An article in Thursday’s Calendar about ska-punk band Sublime With Rome identified Eric Wilson as the group’s drummer and Bud Gaugh as the bassist. Wilson is the bassist and Gaugh is the drummer. In addition, a Spanish lyric in the song “Caress Me Down,” “Mucho gusto me llamo Bradley,” was translated as “I’m very pleased to call myself Bradley.” It should have been translated as “Pleased to meet you, my name is Bradley.” Link

Indeed, no place for a gentleman

Craig Silverman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:39 +0000

On November 5 we translated the name of Ed and Nancy Kienholz’s artwork at the National Gallery, The Hoerengracht, as ‘Gentlemen’s Canal’. This should have read ‘Whore’s Canal’. We apologise for the error.

Fail Wales

Craig Silverman — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:00:36 +0000

Welcome to Wales, a headline attempted to say in yesterday’s piece about the Ashes series opening in Cardiff (Croeso y Cymru: a top catch for Cardiff, page 9). That should have been Croeso i Gymru. What our version meant was Welcome the Wales. Link

The famous wolves of the Galapagos

Craig Silverman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:00:48 +0000

A news agency item (Volcano begins to erupt on Galapagos island, 13 April, page 20) reported that flowing lava could affect “iguanas, wolves and other fauna” on Fernandina island. The surprising reference to wolves probably stemmed from a mistranslation of one of the South American terms for sea lion, lobo marino (sea wolf). Link

Case in point

Craig Silverman — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:00:56 +0000

A letter to the editor, which touched lightly on English ignorance of Welsh matters, was attributed in an early edition to Hwyl Fawry. It should have been attributed to Gill Caldwell. She signed off her letter with hwyl fawr, which translates roughly as “all the best” (March frogs, 6 March, page 35). Link

Lost in translation

Craig Silverman — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:00:51 +0000

In our account of an interview, conducted in English and in Japanese through a translator, with members of the Yellow Magic Orchestra (Back to the future, Film and Music, page 13, July 4), keyboardist Ryuichi Sakamoto was quoted in a way which may have implied that he found the presence of black people at a filming of the Soul Train TV show in Hollywood in 1980 “intimidating”. Sakamoto denies having said this, and our interviewer confirms there was nothing in their conversation that could have suggested that Sakamoto held racist views. Link

Lost in translation

Craig Silverman — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:00:43 +0000

A Russian Revolution-era banner pictured in a photo gallery and timeline published on WSJ.com read “Freedom! Equality! Brotherhood!” An earlier version of the gallery incorrectly translated the text as “Freedom and Industry 1st!” The gallery has been corrected. Link

Lost in translation

Craig Silverman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:00:44 +0000

Mexican wrestling: An article in Sunday’s California section about a Mexican-style wrestling match held to raise money for recently arrested immigrants referred to Spanish epithets hurled by the crowd as groceros. The correct word is groserias. Link

Lost in translation

Craig Silverman — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:00:03 +0000

Translations: An illustration accompanying the article on learning languages overseas in the Jan. 6 Travel section included the German phrase “Ich bin verloren” as a translation of “I’m lost.” That is a more metaphorical translation of the phrase, indicating a state of distress. “Ich weiss nicht wo ich bin” is the correct phrase for not knowing one’s whereabouts. Link

Lost in translation

Craig Silverman — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 12:00:17 +0000

A PAGE-ONE ARTICLE Tuesday about the Basque language, Euskera, in some editions contained several translation errors. The word for donkey herder is astazain, not ahuntzain; the word for pig herder is urdain, not artzain; and a cowboy is a behizain, not an urdain. Link