Аspects of euphemisms translation in business (with refference to english and ukrainian languages)

Abstract

The subject of discussion is euphemisms in business English and the aspects of translation into Ukrainian. Sometimes, it is difficult for nonnative speaker to understand and translate euphemisms in business, especially in finance, accounting, economics and marketing. It is more comfortable for people not to talk about unpleasant or embarrassing topics directly. The effort to be polite makes them replace offensive words by more acceptable. What is the appropriate topic for discussion in one country is taboo for another. Ukrainian business does not share the taboo of discussing politics, but some avoiding this topic. Nowadays, in Ukrainian business journals and media avoid information that may be historically embarrassing such as immigration or the war in Donetsk region. The purpose of the use of euphemisms is to avoid unsuitable words in order not to offend hearer. Primarily, the term was used as a substitution for taboo expressions only. Later, the use of euphemisms was enlarged for any vulgar, offensive, harsh, embarrassing, blunt or other indelicate term. There are many areas in today´s English, where euphemisms are used frequently. These areas deal with socially unaccepted or feared issues, which people are ashamed to talk  about directly.

Ukrainian language does not have the euphemisms for some English. This is the case when the difference between two cultures, the traditions of the two nations are very important. If someone gives you “money for tea” in Ukrainian language you may understand that someone just wants to buy, drink tea or in some cases leaves tips but the real meaning of it is “give a bribe”. It is frequently impossible to translate some ideas from one language into another without a loss of some meaning. Therefore, translating the expressions which have no cultural equivalents in the target language we allow the principle of so called “foreignization” or “alienation” and calquing the expression. Sometimes, the translator takes the liberty to offer vulgar expressions or slang as equivalents to some neutral expressions. This is a very sensitive issue since every language has its own unique verbal norms and means of expression; therefore, what does not hurt our ears in one language, may seem extremely vulgar in the other. Therefore, it is necessary neither to soften the expressions too much, nor to translate them literally. A translator ought to find a word or an expression, which will provoke the emotions and associations of the speaker or reader in the target language that produce the closest associations to the word’s original meaning.

Thus, relying on all the above mentioned we may conclude that in the process of euphemisms translation one needs to distinguish whether we are dealing with the lingual entities bearing imprints of national identity or universal expressions, the stylistic layer of which belongs to that euphemisms. Therefore, that strategy of translation has to be selected, which will have the same emotional impact on the recipient, as did the original on its reader and speaker.