Word of the Day

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Pronto in Czech

I'm reading a book by John Katzenbach in Czech, Vražedné alibi, English original title Just Cause. I don't think the translator's choice of words was very felicitous in this sentence: No, tak v tom případě doufám, že umíš psát stejně rychle jako řídit. Místní zprávy už se dožadují průklepu a do prvního vydání sotva pár hodin. Pohni zadkem a doval se sem, pronto. Translation: Well, in this case then I hope you can write as fast as you drive. The local news requires a carbon copy and it is only a couple of hours until the first release. Move your ass and get here, pronto.

What happens is that pronto, Spanish for soon, has become a part of American speech, but it hasn't in Czech. I doubt most Czech speakers know what that pronto means (the few who do normally associate it with Italian - and Portuguese - pronto, meaning ready. The translator should have used something that is easily identify by all (or most) readers.

1 comment:

Comentador said...

Qual seria uma boa opção em tcheco?