"Hello of his pendrive" - how we cannot translate idioms? (part one)

The translation of idioms is very difficult. We can remember that idioms have rich cultural connotations so we cannot translate it word for word. Idioms are well-established and what you need to do is to find equivalent. Use a good dictionary, ask a native speaker or try to search in the Internet.

The Italian idioms menare il can per l’aia is a good example of the kind of shift that takes place in the translation process. Translated literally, the sentence:

Matteo sta menando il can pe l’aia becomes Matthew is leanding his dog around the threshing floor. The English sentences is senseless. We can find the English idiom that most closely corresponds to the Italian, example: to beat about the bush. The sentence correctly translated becomes: Matthew is beating about the bush.


When we study English or Italian language we can remeber that both languages are very rich in the use of idioms. However, both Englis and Italian have corresponding idiomatic expressions that render the idea of prevarication, and so in the process of interlingual translation one idiom is substituted for another.

                                                                                                           Source: Google Image