Idioms

translation

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be lost in translation

Of a word or words, to lose the full subtlety of meaning or significance when translated from one language to another, especially when done literally. My friend tried explaining a few French idioms to me, but I'm afraid they were lost in translation. It's amazing how much is lost in translation in the subtitles of foreign films. Even though online translation tools are pretty amazing, nuance is still liable to be lost in translation.
See also: lost, translation

free translation

A restatement of something that lacks accuracy or nuance. Well, that's a rather free translation of what I said—I was not the slightest bit accusatory. Yes, but in Heather's free translation of the text, she missed some very salient points. Hey, I wasn't suggesting anything like that! Keep your free translations of my words to yourself.
See also: free, translation

get lost in translation

Of a word or words, to lose the full subtlety of meaning or significance when translated from one language to another, especially when done literally. My friend tried explaining a few French idioms to me, but I'm afraid they got lost in translation. It's amazing how much gets lost in translation in the subtitles of foreign films. Online translation tools are pretty amazing, but a lot gets lost in translation this way.
See also: get, lost, translation

loose translation

A restatement of something that lacks accuracy or nuance. Well, that's a rather loose translation of what I said—I was not the slightest bit accusatory. Yes, but in Heather's loose translation of the text, she missed some very salient points
See also: loose, translation

lost in translation

Of a word or words, having lost or lacking the full subtlety of meaning or significance when translated from the original language to another, especially when done literally. (Usually formulated as "be/get lost in translation.") My friend tried explaining a few French idioms to me, but I'm afraid they were lost in translation. Online translation tools are pretty amazing, but a lot gets lost in translation this way.
See also: lost, translation
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

free translation

 and loose translation
a translation or restatement that is not completely accurate and not well thought out; a translation or restatement done casually. John gave a free translation of what our Japanese client asked for, and we missed the main issue. Anne gave a very free translation of the ancient Chinese poem.
See also: free, translation
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive
He also said translators' fees must be in accordance with standard rates for the target translation profession.
Manila meeting to tackle translation professionalization
The outcome of machine translation needs to be corrected with well-trained human translators and this new type of translation work process is called MTPE (Machine Translation Post Editing).
Can machine translation stand alone?
Discussing the role and importance of translation in our lives, he said that translation has proved itself an effective source of cultural and psychological empowerment.
Translators urged to shed 'secondary status' stigma
M2 EQUITYBITES-October 23, 2018-Trustpoint.One Acquires Confluent Translations to Expand Legal Translations Services
Trustpoint.One Acquires Confluent Translations to Expand Legal Translations Services
Although still widely used, it is becoming apparent that back translation has been losing its validity as a translation quality assessment tool, both theoretically and practically.
Back translation as a documentation tool
The high importance attached to translation in Comparative Literature was not limited to the sphere of France at this time.
Rebirth of Comparative Literature in China from the Perspective of Medio-translatology
Neural translation, which was introduced by the search giant in May last year, translates full sentences at a time instead of the old phrase-based system that translated pieces of a sentence.
GOOGLE WILL TRANSLATE STREET SIGNS FOR YOU
The role of translation as intercultural mediator lies in promoting mutual communication and understanding across cultural lines.
Crowdsourcing and Online Collaborative Translations: Expanding the Limits of Translation Studies
He made these disclosures at the launch of the Philippine hosting of a three-day global conference on translation and translation studies in September dubbed '2017 Salinan International Conference: Translation and Translation Studies in Local and Global Contexts.'
'Department of Culture' to play role in economic development - Almario
ISLAMABAD -- Chairman, Department of Translation and Interpretation (T and I) Dr.
Dr. Ghazi urges translators to be careful during translation
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