13 ms·

I don't speak Spanish so can't judge your translation, but I know that "you're great" and "you're the shit" feel different. The simplification drops a lot of im

by Swizec 3y ago

I don't speak Spanish so can't judge your translation, but I know that "you're great" and "you're the shit" feel different. The simplification drops a lot of implicit information and social signaling. It's that emotional and cultural baggage layered on top of words that's hard to translate. So for example in USA you can call someone "a benedict arnold". As an immigrant this means nothing to me. People tell me it means "bad". I understand the words, but there's no impact behind them because I lack the cultural background.

vunderba 3y ago
That's not a lack of cultural background, that's merely a lack of knowledge around who Benedict Arnold was, and apparently somebody doing you a disservice by explaining that it's a synonym for bad. If somebody had first explained to you that Benedict Arnold was a well known traitor during the revolutionary war you'd have nearly the same context as your average American. It's hardly what I would call untranslatable. I'm sure you could find some poor sod who the public education system failed so terribly that Benedict Arnold is as equally opaque in America.