When a person seeks out translation services to help with interpretation, converting a particular set of documents or transcripts from one language to another, one question that lingers in the mind of the translator themselves is the purpose of said translation.
Whilst this can sound like a somewhat fanciful philosophical question more suited to discussion in the works of writers such as Walter Benjamin, it becomes a more tangible concern when exploring more expressive, illustrative and indeed casual uses of language.
The biggest place where this is a problem is when it comes to the matter of idioms or expressive figures of speech, where a phrase or a group of words means something more than their literal definition.
For example, a Polish expression that is often used in everyday speech is “myśleć o niebieskich migdałach”, which literally translates to “thinking of blue almonds”.
Translating the term exactly into English lacks the cultural context to provide it with any additional connotations besides literally thinking of a certain type of nut that was in a colour different to how it is typically perceived.
However, in Polish, the term is an expression of daydreaming, similar to the term “head in the clouds” and means someone who is not entirely present in reality.
This leads to a dilemma for translators as to whether the blue almonds should be literally translated or if its meaning should be translated instead, and the answer can rely on the purpose of the quote.
If it is a translation of a legal transcript such as a police statement or an interview with another person where both are speaking Polish, it can be prudent to translate the term literally, albeit with a translation note that explains the expression.
In another form of translation such as marketing copy, changing the term to a more understood expression in another language (and even other dialectal forms of the same language) is very important.
This is particularly important for brands and trademarks that are neologisms in the original language, with by far the most famous example in Polish being “Wiedźmin”, which is a made-up male version of the word witch and has in recent years been translated to The Witcher.