mistranslation

«mistranslation» in Mova's school dictionary: A wrong translation from one language into another, where… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a mistranslation, mistranslations)

meaning for a pupil

A wrong translation from one language into another, where the meaning has been changed by mistake. tree →

sense in the lessons

In language lessons, mistranslations show why translating is hard: words can have more than one meaning, and idioms do not translate word for word. Funny mistranslations appear on menus and signs. Some famous claims are real mistranslations, others are myths. Phrases: «a funny mistranslation», «lost in translation».

examples

• The sign said «Slip carefully», a mistranslation of «Watch out, slippery». tree →
• The menu had a funny mistranslation: «fried ice». tree →
• A mistranslation can cause big misunderstandings between countries. tree →
• Idioms like «it's raining cats and dogs» often lead to mistranslations. tree →
• The teacher showed us mistranslations made by computer programs. tree →
• One word with two meanings can cause a mistranslation. tree →
• Mistranslations in instructions made building the bookshelf hard. tree →
• Translators check their work carefully to avoid mistranslation. tree →

note

Countable: one mistranslation, two mistranslations. Verb: mistranslate. Related: translation, translator. «Mis-» means wrongly. Not a maths word.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «mistranslation» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.