Vocab Voyage

How to translate words that don’t exist?

An interesting twist to Vocab Journalism is the unusual challenges it presents for translation – when new vocab has to go on a new voyage. It’s not just that the nordsnord

Definition: A word that didn’t exist before it was created by a Vocab Journalist.

Example: “If Vocab Journalism takes off, there’ll be more nords than words.” need to be invented again in another language, but that each needs to keep its humour.

Translating a word that doesn’t exist is one thing. But translating a pun or jeu de mots is much more difficult. For example, the word “pun” can easily be translated into the French "jeu de mots”, but just try translating the underlined words in this sentence: “His visit to the baker had produced so many jokes and pastries that he had puns and buns falling out of his pockets”. Puns and buns have to rhyme in the other language too, or at least do something fun with it – otherwise the literature becomes literatortureliteratorture

Definition: Painfully dull writing.

Example: “He cleared his throat as if to herald something of consequence but all that came forth was one drip after another of literatorture." and who wants that?

That’s why the science of translation isn’t enough for Vocab Journalists. Instead, we have to conjure up a mysterious art form that combines word creation with humour in a single stroke of genius. This is when a bilingual genie appears in a puff of smoke and Vocab Journalism is given its wings or its broomstick and is free to go on that voyage to haunt the minds of people in other places.