On Translating and the Word "Precious"

Disclaimer: If you are truly multi-lingual, this post will, most likely be boring. If you are even moderately mono-lingual, you may find it interesting.

I’ve been interested in translation for quite some time. I took a class in grad school about translation theory that gave me a framework for thinking about translations that I had been seeking since I first attempted to learn another language in 7th grade. In that class I came to realize that no translation is actually an identical meaning that completely “translates” or transfers meaning on a 1:1 basic. Every translation is actually an interpretation or an approximation of meaning. For simpler translations where there is almost universal agreement on what the words used mean in both languages, it may be assumed that the translation is equivalent to a 1:1 meaning transfer, but the more difficult the idea and the more ambiguity there is about a concept in one language, the more possibility there is for differing meanings, and thus the more possibility for multiple possible translations. This is even more true when the original is open to multiple possible translations (as some poetic stanzas and artistically worded fiction might be).

Thus it can be said that unless one knows the original language, one is only reading an approximation of the possible meanings of a translated work. A translation, in other words, is derivative and cannot be completely trusted as “being” the work in question. So when I read a translation in English of Dostoevsky or of Victor Hugo, I am not reading Dostoevsky or Hugo, I am instead reading another work that attempts to capture the sense of the original. If I read a translation in English, German, Czech, French, etc. of the Bible, I am not truly reading the Bible, I am reading a translation. It can truly be said that most Christians in the United States do NOT read the Bible. If they are doing study, they are studying a translation. Now in the example of the Bible in English, we need not be too disturbed, because one of the ways that a person who does not know an original language can get to a deeper and more accurate idea of the original meaning and nuance of a text is to compare multiple translations. In such a comparison, if you find that all of the translators agree upon the meaning of the text, you can assume fairly safely that there are no other possibilities for the meaning. But, if you find that the translators disagree you could be seeing one of two things, both of which you need to consider as you try to discover the meaning of a passage: 1) One of the translations is incorrect – an error. This phenomenon is usually marked by a single translation having one very different translation of the passage while all of the other translations agree on a different meaning. 2) A basically equal number translate the passage in two or more different ways. If translators A and C translate a word as “virgin” and translators B and D translated the word as “raison” then you might safely understand that the word in question is either contested among scholars in the original language or is one of those words like “lead” in English that can mean different things depending upon the context.

One that has struck me recently is the use of the word "precious" on various products back here in the United States. In our general American English vocabulary, we use "precious" to apply to people or things that are important to us (“my precious daughter”) or are valuable (“precious metals”). But recently I’ve seen translations which I think are back translations from Chinese or some other language that slightly alter the meaning and that don’t really make a lot of sense to me – that, in fact – are a little funny. (There is a similar issue with the word “do” and “dry” as in “dry goods” being translated in Chinese grocery stores improperly with an English curse word, that are quite jarring, and somewhat funny to read. If you aren’t easily offended, take a look at this site: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005195.html -- If you are easily offended by language, you may want to forgo it.)

At any rate my first “precious” moment began when I ran across a group of Star Trek videos in a stall at a flea market. I was excited because the price was very good, and the front covers looked legit, they had pictures and holographic seals and everything. When I flipped it over all of the copyright stuff was there and it looked perfectly legit until I saw the copy that described the content. It began “Precious Captain Wei….” and degenerated from there into complete gobbledygook. Here I’m thinking that “precious” in Chinese must translate to something like “bold” or “courageous.”

I ran across it again in an advertisement on ABC.com for shampoo. In the advertisement, the announcer – apparently a native speaker of English was extolling the “precious hydrating formula” of the shampoo while the online animations showed the drops of shampooey goodness penetrating and restoring ragged hair follicles. I thought to myself, “That is an odd usage of the word “precious.” Do any of you use precious in that way in English to mean something like “effective” or “rejuvenating”? I could stretch to think that they mean that this shampoo formation is valuable in some sense, but it still doesn’t seem like the best word choice. Perhaps someone on Madison Avenue should hire me to do their word crafting.

The last was that my employer has recently switched toilet paper. We’ve gone from a brand that had some ecological claim on the toilet paper like “Earthwise Recycled Toilet Paper” to one that simply says “Precious.” Now, to me that seems like a very very strange use of the word. Toilet paper is not something that I look at and get a gushy feeling in my stomach like our "precious" children. Usually one looks for it after another sort of stomach related gushiness. Neither is it something that can be counted upon as an important trade good in times of trouble like gold or diamonds. (Although if there were a scarcity of it, it might increase in functional value). It isn’t the kind of thing that I can see Frodo and Gollum wrestling over on Mount Doom. (“I must use the Preciousssss!” -- “No, the great armies of elves and men need to destroy the Precious.” As Sauron’s eye rotates and his evil gravelly voice rumbles down “Does anyone have more Precious? I seem to be out.” ) It is just a really odd usage of the word.



OK, upon reflection, this entry was probably a waste of mine and your precious time, but perhaps if it gets translated, it will be a lot more profound and interesting.