Correct and accurate translation is a complex and responsible thing. And the more responsible the translation, the more catastrophic consequences the translator's mistake can lead to.
Sometimes one such mistake is worth a human life, but among them there are those that cost tens of thousands of lives. Today, together with you, we will analyze the mistakes of translators that cost history too much. In view of the specifics of our work, we considered errors that are somehow related to the English language. Go.
Translator's false friend left 18-year-old disabled
Perhaps the most famous case of medical error due to a single word occurred in South Florida in 1980.
18-year-old Cuban Willy Ramirez suddenly felt a severe headache and severe dizziness. The disorientation was so severe that he could not see or think normally. After that, he lost consciousness and remained in this state for two days.
Willy's mother thought that he had poisoned himself - a few hours before the attack, he dined in a new cafe. But Mrs. Rodriguez spoke very little English. She tried to explain to the ambulance doctor that the reason for this condition could be bad food and used the Spanish word "intoxicado", which means "poisoned" in translation.
But in English there is the word "intoxicated", which has a completely different meaning - "an overdose of alcohol or drugs", which caused a critical state of the body. The ambulance doctor thought that the guy was just "drunk", about which he reported to the hospital.
In reality, the guy had a hemorrhagic stroke - a rupture of a vessel and bleeding into the brain. A rare case in such young people, but not exceptional.
As a result, Willy was βtreatedβ for an overdose, he was dripped, but he did not come to his senses, and the stroke developed into such a phase that it led to complete paralysis of the body.
The family was eventually awarded a record $71 million in compensation, but we don't even want to imagine what it's like to be left with a disability because of one mistranslated word.
The situation itself has led to serious reforms in US medicine, during which the procedure for providing care to patients has changed quite a lot. Partly because of them, treatment without insurance in the United States is now terribly expensive.
You can read more about the history of Ramirez .
"We will bury you!" - how a mistranslation almost led to a war between the USSR and the USA
1956, the height of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA. In the speeches of the leaders of both countries, threats are increasingly flickering, but not everyone knows that due to an interpreter's mistake, a real war almost started.
Nikita Khrushchev, Secretary General of the USSR, spoke at a reception at the Polish embassy. The problem is that he was often unrestrained in public speeches and used idiomatic expressions that were difficult to translate without a deep knowledge of the context.
The phrase was:
Like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you."
Obviously, Khrushchev here interpreted Marx and his thesis that "the proletariat is the gravedigger of capitalism." But the translator translated the last phrase directly, which caused an international scandal.
"We will bury you!" - the phrase instantly appeared in all American newspapers. Even in the popular Time magazine there was a whole article about it (). If anyone wants to read the original .
The US diplomatic mission instantly sent a note to the USSR and Soviet diplomats had to hastily apologize and explain that Khrushchevβs phrase did not mean a direct threat of military action, but a reinterpreted postulate of Marx, which should have been translated as βWe shall be present at your funeralβ (βWe will be present at your funeral") or "We shall outlive you" ("We will outlive you").
Later, Khrushchev himself publicly apologized for the figure of speech and explained that he did not mean literally digging the grave, but that capitalism would destroy his own working class.
True, Khrushchev's manner of speech did not change, and already in 1959 he sought to "show Kuz'kin's mother to the United States." Then, too, the translator failed to correctly convey the expression and translated directly - "we shall show you Kuzka's mother". And in American society, they considered that Kuzka's mother is a new nuclear bomb that the Soviet Union developed.
In general, simultaneous translation at the highest state meetings is a complicated matter. Here you can derail the whole country because of one wrong phrase.
A mistake in one word that caused the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The worst mistake of a translator that has ever happened in world history occurred after the Potsdam Conference on July 26, 1945. In the declaration, in an ultimatum form, demands were put forward for the Japanese Empire to capitulate in World War II. In case of refusal, "complete destruction" awaited them.
Three days later, Japanese Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki stated at a press conference (translated into English):
My thinking is that the joint declaration is virtually the same as the earlier declaration. The government of Japan does not consider it having any crucial value. We simply mokusatsu suru. The only alternative for us is to be determined to continue our fight to the end.
I believe that the [Potsdam] joint declaration is essentially the same as the earlier declarations. The Japanese Parliament does not consider it to be of any particular importance. We are just mokusatsu suru. The only alternative is for us to continue our fight to the end.
Mokusatsu means "to ignore", "to remain silent". That is, the Prime Minister said that they would simply remain silent. A cautious response that involves complex diplomatic work.
But in English, the word "mokusatsu" was translated as "we ignore that" ("We ignore it").
Such an "unequivocal" response of the Japanese government became the reason for a kind of act of intimidation of the Japanese by atomic bombing. On August 6, an atomic bomb equivalent to 15 kilotons was dropped on Hiroshima, and on August 9, a 21 kiloton bomb fell on Nagasaki.
, direct civilian casualties amounted to 150 Hiroshima residents and 000 Nagasaki residents. But the actual number of victims is much higher. According to various sources, the number of victims of radiation contamination was 75.
Yes, there is no subjunctive mood in history. But just imagine, if only one word was translated correctly, then perhaps there would be no bombing at all. from the US National Security Agency.
How Jimmy Carter Turned on the Poshlyak in Poland
Let's end on a more cheerful note. Democrat Jimmy Carter won the 1977 US election. In the first year of his presidency, he actively carried out a program of visits to other countries. In December he visited Poland and gave a speech.
True, there was one small problem - there were 17 translators in the White House, but no one spoke Polish. Then one of the freelancers was connected for the mission.
In general, Carter's speech to the Poles was quite friendly. He assessed the Polish Constitution of 1791, talked about US plans and said he would like to hear about the dreams of the Poles themselves.
But in the end, a small speech turned into a disaster. The translator made just a bunch of serious mistakes.
The innocuous phrase "when I left the United States" ("when I left the United States") became "when I left the United States forever." Naturally, in the context, it was understood as "I left the USA and came to live with you." A reckless statement from the president of another country.
Instead of a phrase about the great value of the Polish Constitution of 1791 for human rights, the Poles heard that their constitution was ridiculous. But the apogee of absurdity was the phrase about the dreams of the Poles. "Desires" was translated as "a man's desire for a woman", so the phrase began to mean "I want to have sex with the Poles."
The diplomatic mission of Poland sent a claim to the US Embassy. They realized that the problem was with the translator and not with the president, but this did not in any way reduce the degree of scandal. As a result, the diplomats had to apologize for a long time for the mistakes of the translator.
Partly because of this situation, Poland's relations with the United States were rather lukewarm until the end of Carter's term as president.
in the New York Times, December 31, 1977.
That is why translation and work with foreign languages ββis a much more responsible matter than students usually imagine. A mistake in communicating with a friend can lead to a quarrel, and a mistake at the highest level can cause war or a good shame.
Learn English well. And let's hope that presidents will always have top-class translators. Then we will sleep more peacefully. And you can sleep even more peacefully if you learn English yourself π
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Source: habr.com