Thursday 11 October 2012

Translating English into English


Some assorted euphemisms and their translation:

‘winemaker’s vintage’ = rotten grapes or no grapes, how do you make wine with that ?

‘challenging (market) conditions’ = no one is buying our products, or the company is about to go bust

‘we face significant headwinds’ = the company can’t make any money, is about to go bust

‘complete confidence’ - when the Prime Minister declares “I have complete confidence in X “ = he or she will ‘resign’ over the weekend

'he or she reflected on his or her situation and chose to resign' = they were sacked

‘we will work with all stakeholders going forward’ = we will ignore what you say and carry on regardless

The English language is rich with such expressions. If you have your own favourites please let us know.

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