Translating Swear and Slang Words

If you’ve been translating for any amount of time, it’s almost certain that you’ve come across a few odd words or phrases that don’t seem to translate well. In these cases you have to use your knowledge and better judgment to properly assess their meaning. Now, this can be tricky at times, especially when you’re dealing with words or phrases that are culturally significant. Dealing with these types of translations becomes easier over the course of years, but there are a few ways that you can make the process a bit easier. Let’s talk about translating swearwords and slang words, and how you can make the best translation for them.

A bit More about Translating Slang/Swearwords

A big challenge that many translators have to face is whether or not to translate certain phrases literally or by using another similar synonym. This is an often occurrence when you’re dealing with idioms as well as slang or swearwords. Swearwords typically hold a lot of vibrant meanings and they are used to express a lot of emotion.

In a lot of more formal cases, the use of swearwords isn’t acceptable, but there are many times where it’s completely necessary. Translation of books, movie scripts as well as conversations will require you to translate over swearwords and other slang words. These types of translations are arguably the most difficult as it requires a good bit of judgment because these words can hold several meanings.

How to Properly Translate Swearwords and Slang Words

There are 3 typical ways to translate swearwords and slang words. The most common way to translate is by using a synonym within the translated language. This is usually the best way to handle these situations, but because swearwords often have meaning just in their native language, it may not always work. Another way to handle swearword translations is by rephrasing them.

You will basically have to avoid the words in question by changing around the outer words. This is an easy fix, but it can result in an inaccurate translation. Literal translation of the swearwords is another way to handle them.

This is probably the least favorable method of translation as it almost never comes out comprehendible. For instance, if you were to translate the term “bitch” into the literal meaning of “female dog”, it wouldn’t hold the same meaning. Always use your better judgment when dealing with such phrases.

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TextpoweR is an English Arabic translation services company in Dubai, UAE, which has a highly experienced professional team of English Arabic translators providing high quality Arabic copies and translations of legal, technical, financial, medical, marketing and other documents and materials.