The euro fell to a fresh four-year low versus the dollar on Friday after the French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said he only saw good news in parity between the two currencies.
He used the French word “parite,” which can mean either “parity” or “exchange rate.”
Prime Minister Francois Fillon was referring to the general evolution of the exchange rate between the euro and the dollar when he referred to the “parity” between the two currencies, a source close to the prime minister said on Friday.
Speaking at a news conference earlier, Fillon said: “I only see good news in the parity between the euro and dollar.
He later used the word “parity” in a different context to mean the general rate.
See: cnbc
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Panama
Local time: 23:32
Member (2010)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Since the Ems Dispatch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ems_Dispatch) translators should know that ambiguities are usually interpreted by journalists in the sense of making things worse rather than attenuating tensions. Nothing new under the sun
English to Spanish
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Interesting.... I am wondering what actually happened.
Apparently, the statement was made in French during a press conference but who did the translation? Was it translated by the journalists themselves on the fly into English? Was it an error of the interpreters? Was the translation done by a professional translator?
Daniel
Poland
Local time: 06:32
English to Polish
+ ...
I don't think we should be flattering ourselves. Currencies don't hit 4-year lows "on mistranslations". They do, at times, on bankrupting countries.
United States
Local time: 00:32
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Personally, I would love to hear ViktoriaG's expert opinion about the translation of this word in this situation and in general!
France
Local time: 06:32
French to German
+ ...
"Parity" = one-to-one exchange rate
Mr. Fillon basically said "I only see good news in the (current) EUR/USD exchange rate", which was allegedly mistranslated on the fly by Anglophone press agencies as meaning "I only see good news in the EUR/USD parity"<... See more
"Parity" = one-to-one exchange rate
Mr. Fillon basically said "I only see good news in the (current) EUR/USD exchange rate", which was allegedly mistranslated on the fly by Anglophone press agencies as meaning "I only see good news in the EUR/USD parity".
See http://www.latribune.fr/actualites/economie/international/20100604trib000516453/l-euro-degringole-victime-d-un-faux-ami.html for further reference.
[Edited at 2010-06-09 06:39 GMT] ▲ Collapse
Spain
Local time: 06:32
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
This was clearly not the fault of a translator, but of a journalist who speaks some French.
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:32
French to English
+ ...
"Parité" = general exchange rate
"Parity" = one-to-one exchange rate
Although in fairness, "parité" does also man "parity" (just not on this occasion -- why the "translators" thought that parity is something M Fillon would rejoice in only they can explain...).
I think there's a lesson for news agencies here (which isn't really to do with language ability, but more along the lines of "use your loaf").
But just possibly there's a lesson for the French Prime Minister about designing a speech for an international audience...
France
Local time: 06:32
French to German
+ ...
"Parité" = general exchange rate
"Parity" = one-to-one exchange rate
Although in fairness, "parité" does also man "parity" (just not on this occasion -- why the "translators" thought that parity is something M Fillon would rejoice in only they can explain...).
I think there's a lesson for news agencies here (which isn't really to do with language ability, but more along the lines of "use your loaf").
But just possibly there's a lesson for the French Prime Minister about designing a speech for an international audience...
Yes, that's right.
There would have been no problem for Mr. Fillon saying "Je ne vois que de bonnes nouvelles dans le taux de change actuel entre l'euro et le dollar américain", which would have been unambiguous.
The sentence, in itself, seems as awkward as it can seem spontaneous. I think some training in answering questions from the press could not do any harm.
United States
Local time: 00:32
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
As an aside, I put the sentence into Google translate and Google fell into the same trap.
A relat... See more
As an aside, I put the sentence into Google translate and Google fell into the same trap.
A related French article:
http://www.tradonline.fr/blog/2010/06/quand-une-erreur-de-traduction-a-des-consequences-facheuses/
"Une simple erreur de traduction a précipité ce vendredi l’euro sous la barre de 1,20 dollar, pour la première fois depuis mars 2006. Il est près de 14h30 quand François Fillon, en déplacement au Canada, répond dans une conférence de presse à une question sur la dégringolade de la devise européenne. Il indique qu’il ne voit “que des bonnes nouvelles dans la parité entre l’euro et le dollar”.
Les agences de presse anglophones reprennent immédiatement ses déclarations. Trop rapidement peut-être : dans la précipitation elles traduisent “parité” par “parity”, un faux-ami. En français, le terme “parité” signifie en effet “taux de change d’une monnaie par rapport à une autre” alors que “parity” s’entend dans le sens étroit d’une égalité parfaite entre les devises
Et voila donc, le gouvernement français qui milite pour qu’un euro s’échange contre un dollar. Un quiproquo qui a obligé Matignon à préciser les propos de François Fillon. Mais le mal était fait : en quelques minutes, les cambistes, déjà inquiets de la situation financière de la Hongrie, vendent de l’euro, qui chute à son plus bas niveau depuis quatre ans.
Les traducteurs professionnels ont encore des beaux jours devant eux!" ▲ Collapse
India
Local time: 10:02
Japanese to English
+ ...
It looks like the translator 1) fell in the trap of a false friend and 2) did not have enough time to review and think about the translation and realize that it did not make sense.
As an aside, I put the sentence into Google translate and Google fell into the same trap.
A related French article:
http://www.tradonline.fr/blog/2010/06/quand-une-erreur-de-traduction-a-des-consequences-facheuses/
"Une simple erreur de traduction a précipité ce vendredi l’euro sous la barre de 1,20 dollar, pour la première fois depuis mars 2006. Il est près de 14h30 quand François Fillon, en déplacement au Canada, répond dans une conférence de presse à une question sur la dégringolade de la devise européenne. Il indique qu’il ne voit “que des bonnes nouvelles dans la parité entre l’euro et le dollar”.
Les agences de presse anglophones reprennent immédiatement ses déclarations. Trop rapidement peut-être : dans la précipitation elles traduisent “parité” par “parity”, un faux-ami. En français, le terme “parité” signifie en effet “taux de change d’une monnaie par rapport à une autre” alors que “parity” s’entend dans le sens étroit d’une égalité parfaite entre les devises
Et voila donc, le gouvernement français qui milite pour qu’un euro s’échange contre un dollar. Un quiproquo qui a obligé Matignon à préciser les propos de François Fillon. Mais le mal était fait : en quelques minutes, les cambistes, déjà inquiets de la situation financière de la Hongrie, vendent de l’euro, qui chute à son plus bas niveau depuis quatre ans.
Les traducteurs professionnels ont encore des beaux jours devant eux!"
[Edited at 2011-10-19 22:50 GMT]
[Edited at 2011-10-19 22:51 GMT]
[Subject edited by staff or moderator 2011-10-20 16:52 GMT]
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