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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   897 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 15, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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How is it a strawman to say that the existence of foreign language translations is considered fine by people?

I didn't say merely "translations into other languages". I specifically said "'streamlined' translations into other languages".

As for streamlining, the very act of translating English text to Finnish inherently changes the sentence structure because English and Finnish are in different language families and have completely different grammar. It's impossible to translate many forms of archaic English to Finnish without streamlining the sentence structure because proper Finnish doesn't have the same forms of very long tacked on sentences (there are some long sentences but they are different form and thus wouldn't be any more authentic than the streamlined ones).

Streamlining should be kept to an absolute minimum. I know approximately nothing about Finnish, so I can't say anything more there. But see the Nabokov quote that I now have been able to add to my previous comment for his thoughts on Russian–English translation.

Obviously, poor-quality translations are considered bad

"Quality" is a meaningless buzzword.

Obviously, inaccurate translations are considered bad, but that's the very reason why I wish someone would make slightly streamlined versions of English language classics.

Streamlining and accuracy are inherently opposed to each other. The more streamlining a person does, the more he becomes a paraphraser (or a localizer) rather than a translator. Again, see the Nabokov quote.

Also: To clarify, I am not opposed to the creation of streamlined/inaccurate translations/paraphrases/localizations, as long as they are clearly labeled as such rather than being passed off by their publishers as truly accurate.

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