Problems of Translating Idioms

It is difficult to understand and give correct translations of the following idioms (fixed word combinations, phrasal units) without having a context:

He bugs me = He drives me nuts = He gets under my skin;

We are on different pages = We are in different books;

Our chemistry does not mix;

I want to hit a bull’s eye;

I am off my nut;

Kick the tire, light the fire.

American English is highly idiomatic which complicates comprehension. Therefore learning idioms is extremely urgent and helpful to become a good interpreter.

We already know that in a fixed word-combination meanings of its components are not equal to the meaning of the entire phrase, therefore a word-for-word translation of such word-combinations in most cases is impossible, and the whole word-combination turns to be the unit of translation:

to catch fire– загорітись

first night – прем’єра

to come to the wrong shop – звертатись не за адресою

to spill the beans – видати секрет, проговоритись

to be at bay – бути в розпачливому, безвихідному становищі, бути припертим до стіни

Word-for-word translation of such word-combinations is possible only in cases, when their “inner form” for some reasons coincides in both languages:

to play with fire = skate on thin ice – ходити по краю провалля, грати з вогнем, ходити по лезу бритви,

feel like a fish out of water – бути не в своїй тарілці, a new broom – нова мітла, нове начальство,

cannot see the wood for the trees – за деревами не бачити лісу,

to swallow a bitter pill – проковтнути гірку пігулку.

The following phraseologisms and the contexts they are used in, will help to understand their meaning and remember them:

Second to none – ніким не перевершений:

He was second to none – if he said so himself, as I heard him once (J. Conrad).

Good sport –славний хлопець, гарна людина:

Bertie, surely you’re not going to be difficult about this? You’re much to good a sport (P. Wodehouse).

A broken reed – (очерет, комиш) – ненадійна людина, неміцна річ:

Theo! He’s a broken reed if ever there was one. He’s just can talk directly to people and tell them what to do... (J. Murdock)

Cock of the walk – (a big boy, big noise – пава, важна персона, хазяїн положення):

If you wanted to be thought cock of the walk and do the honours of the field, when any distinguished stranger, or wealthy investor arrived, nobody minded (K. Prichard).

One’s cup of tea – той, хто подобається; той, кого кохають:

“She’s not my cup of tea”; And I’m not hers.

A wet blanket – людина, яка діє розхолоджуюче на інших; людина, що отруює іншим радість, задоволення; людина, що постійно ниє:

“You’ll think me an awful wet blanket, but, do you know, we never discuss our past lives here” (I. Murdock).

A bull in a china shop – незграбна, ніякова людина, слон в посудній лавці:

George pushed her aside and grabbed the steps, knocking over a blue glass bowl, a Dresden figure, a vase of flowers and a decanter of sherry; like a bull in a china shop, as Miss Pinkerton exclaimed (M. Spark).

Lame duck – невдаха, безпомічна людина:

June, indeed, was occupied with lame ducks, whom, as a rule, Jolly could not stand, especially that Eric Cobbley and his family (J. Galsworthy).

A round peg in a square hole (a square peg in a round hole) – peg – кілочок – людина не на своєму місці:

In England and France he was the square peg in the round hole, but here the holes were any sort of shape, and no sort of peg was quite amiss (S. Maugham).

Rolling stone – про людину, якій не сидиться на одному місці, перекотиполе;

Cool customer – нахаба;

A chip of the old block – він весь в батька, він весь пішов в нашу породу:

Why I laughed I don’t know, but there you are, he’s my son, and a chip of the old block, and I’m proud of him (H. Bates).

Have one’s eye-teeth cut – здобути життєвий досвід, стати розсудливим;

Have a bee in one’s bonnet – бути схибленим на чомусь; сильно захопленим чимось, носитися з чимось як з писаною торбою:

But, like all specialists, Baurstein’s got a bee in his bonnet. Poisons are his hobby, so, of course, he sees them everywhere (A. Christie).

Not only phrasal units may become the units of translation. Not seldom the loose, arbitrary word-combinations, with their meanings being derived from the sum of meanings of the constituting words, become the units of such kind:

to come late – запізнитись

to get dressed – вдягтись

book parcel – бандероль

In these examples, every English word of the word-combination preserves its basic vocabulary meaning, but in Russian the whole word-combination becomes the unit of translation. Here are a few analogous examples:

I improved her game immensely, though.	Але я її здоровонатренував.
The one with the glasses made me give back to her.	Та, що в окулярах,відняла в мене чека.
He always showed himself twice, to look gorgeous.	Він завжди голиться двічі,марафет наводить.
“He’s got this superior attitude all the time”, Ackley said.	„Він завждидере носа“,– зауважив Еклі.

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