Why Translators are inevitably traitors ?

It is never possible to convey everything of the original correctly into the translation, never. This is why translators are undoubtedly traitors.  Today I will be sharing a list of most commonly used English idioms and see why we can never get the translation quite correctly.  But, first, wait and see whether you get it first.



  They are like CHEESE AND CHALK, who would have thought that they will hook up?
  God, he is a  FRIUTCAKE!    Don't irritate my boyfriend, he is a a GREEN EYE-D MONSTER    I sent him the DEAR JOHN LETTER yesterday.     EVERY JACK HAS HIS JILL.      What are you waiting? it is a DEAD GIVEAWAY that he likes you!

     I am quite sure most of you know what do the expressions mean in English, but how can we  translate them into Chinese?

   他們毫不相像,誰會想到竟談起戀愛上來呢

    天呀!他是個瘋子!

   別惹怒我的男友,他很善妒

   我寄了分手信給他了

   每個男人都有適合他的女人

   你在等什麼,他很明顯就喜歡你

 These are correct translations, but getting rid of the idioms also gets rid of the original playful, colloquial  tone. Something is missing. But what if a translator tries to push hard and translate the first sentence into :

他倆像水溝油一般,怎麼會撘上的呢

It can sound too colloquial and that it verges the boundaries of vulgarity.

Of course, it depends on the context, if it appears in the chat section of a tabloid magazine, it might be okay. But if it appears in the New York Times... not so okay.

Translation is the translation of culture, not mere words. So if I were translating for the first sentence, I will write:

他倆個性南轅北徹,真沒想到會相互看對眼

This translation  retains the use of idioms and still looks refined

    But there is one other factor we have to take into consideration, the tastes of the audiences . Not many readers would like to see the name of a heroine of an English novel, ROSE  WHITE, translate into 白玫瑰, it looks old-fashioned and not " befitting" in a foreign novel. The foreignness is gone. So, while domesticating for our readers or audience, we also have to know what they really look for. Would they be really happy, if we translate a sentence like, that babe is hot, into 那個妹真正呀,或那條女真索呀, or simply, 那女孩真漂亮呀

Besides, somethings are not " translatable". I have recently come across some new terms on the internet  about love and dating, I sincerely ask all of you to help me to get them translated into Chinese.

FLEXTING, meaning flirting and texting at the same time

AO STATUS, this one I suppose everyone knows.

HIT IT OFF, this one can get easily done in cantonese, but in written Chinese

A DOORMAT GIRL, this one is almost the same with WALLFLOWER

Has any of you encountered problems on translation in life, don't hesitate and share.