LogoLogo
  • Startseite
  • Über flexword
    • Qualitätsstandard
    • Referenzen
    • FAQ
  • Services
    • Fachübersetzungen
      • Fachübersetzungen TECHNIK & IT
      • Fachübersetzungen LIFE SCIENCES
      • Fachübersetzungen JURA & WIRTSCHAFT
    • Dolmetscherdienst
    • Consulting
    • Internationales Marketing
  • Stellenangebote
    • Freelancer
  • News
    • Pressemitteilungen
    • Blog
  • Kontakt
  • Video
    • flexword Global
    • flexword Serbia
  • Datenschutz
  • Impressum
  • Deutsch
    • English
    • Español
    • Français
    • Italiano
    • Português
    • Русский
    • Srpski
    • 简体中文
    • العربية

3 INTERPRETING MISTAKES THAT INFLUENCED HISTORY

von flexword / September 06, 2016 / in Blog

Author: Ivana Šljivar

Photo Source:  all-free-download.com

 

Interpreting is definitely not an easy job, requiring from a person to be multilingual or bilingual communication expert in wide variety of fields. Making mistakes is hard to avoid but often they are quickly recognized by a good interpreter. Sometimes, this is not the case which unfortunately results in catastrophic interpreting mistakes that can influence the course of history. The following 3 made the strongest impact:

1. ONE WORD MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE

In July 1945, Potsdam Declaration was issued requesting the surrender of Japan. After translation of terms into Japanese allied countries waited for response from then Japanese Prime Minister, Kantaro Suzuki.  Finally, on news conference he issued statement and used the key word “mokusatsu”, a word that has different interpretation and it is derived from the Japanese term for “silence”.

In this particular context, true meaning was “No comment” or “withholding comment”, unfortunately for Japan this is not what got translated.  Media agencies and translators interpreted the word “treat with silent contempt” or “take into account” (to ignore), as the categorical rejection by the Prime Minister.  As a result, the Americans were even more angered by the arrogant tone, understanding that there was no possibility for negotiations or settlement with Japan. 10 days later atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima and the translation error killed more than 70,000 people. If this mistake never happened, who knows if interpreter could have saved their lives.

 

2. COLD WORDS CAUSE COLDER RELATIONS

During the Cold War, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev in his speech to Western ambassadors at a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow, used a phrase than interpreted from Russian as “We will bury you”. Of course, in the height of the war this was seen as direct threat to the West and resulted in escalated tension. What he really meant to say was “We will outlast you” but this misinterpretation was plastered in every media causing fear and paranoia among Americans from nuclear attack.

 

3. WIPING OFF MISTAKES IN THE MIDDLE-EAST

Ten years ago, President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his speech stated that Israel “must be wiped off the map.” Those words caused uproar and damage was done despite the fact that later it was acknowledged that he actually never said that and the correct translation should actually been “It will not survive”.  What Ahmadinejad wanted to say is that Israel has no legitimacy as a state and not that they were planning any sort of military action. In the Middle-East this type of mistake is taken very seriously and has huge implications on region relations. Interpreters have later discussed that this mistake happened due to difficulty for English speakers to fully interpreter Persian rhetoric.

 

interpretingmisinterpretationhistory
Search
  • Über flexword
    • Qualitätsstandard
  • Services
    • Fachübersetzungen
    • Dolmetscherdienst
    • Consulting Prozessmanagement, Qualitätsmanagement, ITC-Infrastruktur
    • Internationales Marketing
  • Stellenangebote
  • Freie Mitarbeit
  • Pressemitteilungen
  • Blog
  • Kontakt
  • La traduction de textes techniques
  • Innovativer Service für Übersetzeranfragen – flexword führt intelligentes Customer-Portal flexSavvy ein
  • Rekordjahr 2017: flexword verzeichnet Rekordumsatz in 2017 und plant dank US-Steuerreform Mehrinvestitionen in 2018
  • Are the French taking over?
  • 6 of the world’s least – spoken
  • Palmarès des 7 langues les plus rapides
  • Höchste Kundenzufriedenheit bei flexword: Auftraggeber erteilen internationalem Sprachendienstleister Bestnoten für Qualität und Service
  • Monolingual vs Bilingual
  • Which is English?
  • Mitarbeiterverständigung über alle Grenzen hinweg: In 5 Schritten zu erfolgreichen internationalen Teams
Qualitäts-Übersetzungen

  • DIN EN ISO 9001-zertifiziertes Qualitätsmanagement
  • Übersetzungen nach DIN EN ISO 17100 für Übersetzungsdienstleistungen
  • belegte, stark ausgeprägte Kundenorientierung in allen Language-Services
Unsere Standardsprachen

Englisch · Französisch · Italienisch · Spanisch · Deutsch · Niederländisch · Flämisch · Russisch · Ukrainisch · Weißrussisch · Portugiesisch · Norwegisch · Schwedisch · Dänisch · Finnisch · Lettisch · Litauisch · Estnisch · Gälisch · Ungarisch · Rumänisch · Slowenisch · Griechisch · Maltesisch · Türkisch · Katalanisch · Japanisch · Koreanisch · Malaiisch · Vietnamesisch · Chinesisch · Isländisch · Hebräisch · Arabisch · Polnisch · Tschechisch · Slowakisch · Bulgarisch · Kroatisch · Serbisch · Bosnisch · Albanisch Mazedonisch u.a.

  
  • Startseite
  • Kontakt
  • Glossar
  • Sitemap
  • Impressum
  • Datenschutz
Social icons
Copyright © 2019 flexword Germany GmbH
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsAkzeptieren
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Unsere cookie-richtlinien
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Unsere cookie-richtlinien

Notwendig Immer aktiviert

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Nicht notwendig

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.