Why can’t a translation be a fully accurate representation of the original text? This can be a tricky question to answer, especially when speaking to people without translation experience, but I’m going to answer it in the simplest way I can. Let’s take a look at just one word – ‘fuck’. After taking a quick look at this commonly used four-letter word I trust you’ll understand why it’s impossible to create a 100% accurate translation.
An Introduction to ‘Fuck’
Why choose this word? ‘Fuck’ is a widely used word that can be used in many different ways and can be interpreted differently by different people. A Google search for ‘fuck’ returns 575 million results and the word was used on Twitter approximately 25 million times over the past 30 days. (Data from Cursebird.com owner Richard Henry.)
It’s important to note that ‘fuck’ is a very versatile word from a grammatical standpoint. It can be a noun, verb, adjective or adverb: “Let’s fucking fuck that fucking fucker.” It can be used as an interjection: “Fuck!” It can even be used in other words: “My takedown defence is un-fucking-real.”
Many Meanings
‘Fuck’ can mean the act of sexual intercourse, but it has many more meanings as well.
- ‘Fuck’ can be used purely to be offensive. It adds intensity to an insult. “Get the fuck away from me” is more intense and offensive than “get away from me.”
- It can be used to describe harm or damage: “He’s still fucked up.”
- It is sometimes used as a placeholder word just like ‘um’: “I went over to fucking…Tim’s friend’s place yesterday.”
- It can be used as a derogatory noun for a person: “That dumb fuck ate all the cheese again.”
- It can be used in a wide variety of phrases like “fuck off”, “fuck around”, “fuck up”, “fuck buddy” and “fuck it”.
- It can also be used in plenty of acronyms like “WTF”, “STFU” and “FUBAR”.
Cultural Sensitivities
While I can drop F-bombs at ease with my friends, I wouldn’t do so when speaking to my grandma, a client or Santa Claus. When and where it’s OK to curse differs from one culture to the next. The interpretation of the word even differs between different people in the same culture. In the documentary ‘Fuck’, Pat Boone, an elderly American pop star says that when someone said ‘fuck’ it said “I’m a low-class guy, I’m verbally challenged, I’m not too bright, and I have no moral sense.” In the same documentary, Ice-T says “That word is like `explanation point`, I mean this!”
The choice of words must depend on your audience. If you’ve ever encountered a situation in your own culture in which you weren’t sure whether or not to curse…or a situation in which you cursed and then regretted it…you should be able to understand why the question of ‘to curse or not to curse’ can become even more confusing in another culture.
Just Take the Fucking Test Already
If you still aren’t sure how these complexities would prevent a fully accurate translation, how about trying a simple test? This article is for people who likely don’t speak another language, so let’s keep it simple. Can you translate any of these phrases into another English phrase while maintaining 100% of the original meaning?
Can you choose another English phrase that is exactly the same? I can’t. I can think of similar phrases, but not a complete match. For example, instead of saying “fuck off” you could say “screw off”, but that wouldn’t sound as serious and it wouldn’t be a curse. “Fuck Hugh” is a cultural reference that would only be known by people that saw the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode. “Let’s fuck” is certainly not the same as “let’s have sex” or “let’s make love”. As for “fuck off”, Billy Connolly explains:
So, now you know. If you are ever in the market for translation services and a translator tells you that they can translate text 100% accurately, it means one of two things. Either they’re totally fucking oblivious to the intricacies of translation or they’re trying to fuck you over.
