Teacher Olena Mormul

National Technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”

Idioms and fixed expressions. Ways of translating them

Collocations are fairly flexible patterns of language which allow several variations in form. Idioms and fixed expressions are at the extreme end of the scale from collocations in one or both of these areas: flexibility of patterning and transparency of meaning. They are frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variation in form and, in the case of idioms, often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components. E.g., an idiom such as bury the hatchet (“to become friendly again after a disagreement or a quarrel”) or the long and the short of it (“the basic facts of the situation”) allows no variation in form under normal circumstances. As their name suggests, fixed expressions such as having said that, as the matter of fact, all the best allow little or no variation in form. In this respect, they behave very much like idioms.

Unlike idioms, fixed expressions often have fairly transparent meaning. But in spite of its transparency, the meaning of a fixed expressions is somewhat more than the sum meaning of its words; the expression has to be taken as one unit to establish meaning. Fixed and semi-fixed expressions encapsulate all the stereotyped aspects of experience and therefore perform a stabilizing function in communication.

The main problems that idiomatic and fixed expressions pose in translation relate to two main areas: the ability to recognize and interpret an idiom correctly; and the difficulties involved in rendering the various aspects of meaning that an idiom or a FE conveys into the TL.

There are two cases in which an idiom can be easily misinterpreted if one is not already familiar with it:

1. Some idioms are “misleading”; they seem transparent because they offer a reasonable literal interpretation and their idiomatic meanings are not necessarily signaled in the surrounding text. A large number of idioms in English have both literal and an idiomatic meaning – go out with (“have a romantic or sexual relationship with someone”) and take someone for a ride (“deceive or cheat someone in some way”)

2. An idiom in the SL may have a very close counterpart in the TL which looks similar on the surface but has a totally or partially different meaning. E.g., Has the cat had/got your tongue? Is used in English to urge someone to answer a question or contribute to a conversation, particularly when their failure to do so becomes annoying.

The main difficulties involved in translating idioms and FE:

1. An idiom or FE may have no equivalent in the TL. Idioms and FE which contain culture-specific items are not necessarily untranslatable. E.g., the English expression to carry coals to Newcastle, the culture-specific in the sense that it contains a reference to Newcastle coal and uses it as a measure of abundance, is closely paralleled in German by Eulen nach Athen Tragen (“to carry owls to Athens”).

2. An idiom or FE may have a similar counterpart in the TL, but its context of use may be different; the two expressions may have different connotations, or they may not be pragmatically transferable.

3. An idiom may be used in the ST in both literal and idiomatic senses at the same time. Unless the TL idiom corresponds to the SL idiom both in form and in meaning, the play on idiom cannot be successfully reproduced in the TL.

4. The very convention of using idioms in written discourse, the contexts in which they can be used, and their frequency of use may be different in the SL and TL. English uses idioms in many types of text, though not in all. Their use in quality-press news reports is limited, but it is quite common to see idioms in English ads, promotional materials, and in the tabloid press.

Strategies of the translation of idioms

1) Using an idiom of similar meaning and form;

2) Using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form;

3) Translation by paraphrase;

4) Translation by omission

Literature:

1. http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1739.php