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Poll: When translating morally offensive content, are you more likely to soften or tone it down in L1 /L2?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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08:10

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "When translating morally offensive content, are you more likely to soften or tone it down in L1 /L2?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 09:16
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other 08:30

I haven’t translated this sort of text for a long time. Nowadays, I will decline such content entirely, but when I was working in Brussels as a sworn translator, I once had to translate a contentious divorce case in which both spouses were using some very ‘colourful’ language. In that instance, I translated it as strictly as I could…
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 10:16
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Meaning and intent 08:45

As a translator you are supposed to convey the meaning and intent of the author. Softening or toning it down is not our job and I would even say bad practice.

Imagine toning down your translation of "Mein Kampf".

We obviously have the right to turn down any translation of content we're not comfortable with, but that's a different matter.
 


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Poll: When translating morally offensive content, are you more likely to soften or tone it down in L1 /L2?






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