Is it possible to combine transcreation with a Christmas theme and create an entertaining pastime?

Well I hope so, because that is exactly what we have tried to do this year.  I am a great believer in using real transcreation examples when discussing the finer points of international marketing communications and culture. So that is why we have incorporated some common idioms into our Christmas 2011 challenge.

We all use clichés and idiom everyday, peppering our normal conversation with metaphors and sayings. This is a common human trait and indeed an inherent aspect of the evolution of language. How often do you hear phrases like “let’s suck it and see” or “let’s throw mud at the wall and see what sticks“. Never? Then what about “finding a needle in a haystack” or ” a snowball in hell“?

Over a glass of mulled wine, of a winter’s evening, get a group of family or friends together and see how many clichés, proverbs and sayings you can squeeze into a conversation. It’s fun and you will no doubt be amazed at how many you can come up with. But then try explaining to your friends exactly what you mean by things such as letting sleeping dogs lie. What do dogs have to do with the price of butter anyway?

We trawled the deepest, darkest depths of our staff’s linguistic expertise and asked them to come up with as many sayings in their own language as possible. Then we translated them literally into English. Can you work out what the equivalent saying should be in English by solving the puzzle? There will be a prize for the top scorer.

Culture and environment

Culture and environment can directly influence idiom. Take the following euphemisms to imply someone is stupid:

“He’s dumber than a box of rocks” and “He’s as thick as two short planks“. No prizes for guessing which one is British English and which one is American. Whereas, if you are from Oz, you are more likely just to say “He’s thick as a brick“.

Many creative treatments do mine clichés and euphemisms for ideas and often use puns and a play on words to create an impact. And why not? The role of translation and transcreation is not to strangle creativity at birth. However,  it does require a good brief, attention to detail and imagination to ensure a suitable and appropriate local version is found. For example, look at the following US English alternatives for “all talk, no action“:

• all booster, no payload
• all hat, no cattle
• all foam, no beer
• all hammer, no nail
• all icing, no cake
• all lime and salt, no tequila.
• all missile, no warhead
• all shot, no powder
• all sizzle, no steak
• all wax and no wick

Some of these alternatives would clearly not resonate with vegetarians, teetotallers, pacifists and non-rednecks.

On that note I sign off in anticipation of tasty mince pies, rich and moist Christmas pudding, a turkey with four breasts and six legs, a  solution to the euro crisis and other such miracles in 2012!

Short link – http://transcreationblog.net/?p=866