Language matters. Words have power and meaning. As an undergraduate majoring in French, I had to understand the subtleties and nuances of words having multiple meanings, both of which could be correct at the same time. When translating a foreign language, translators have the daunting task of picking only one of the meanings. For example in French, the word flamme literally translated to English means a flame from a fire, but it can also figuratively mean flames of passion. A particular scene in the novel Madame Bovary illustrates this point. When read in the original French, both meanings work. However, in the translated English version, they had to use the literal translation, losing the subtlety and nuance of the scene. As a law student, I became even more practiced at the use of words. The distinction between using “and” versus “or” can have a huge effect in a legal document.
April 21, 2014
