The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax—or, the myth that translation is no substitute for the original
It is a well-known fact that a translation is no substitute for the original. It is also perfectly obvious that this is wrong.
This is how David Bellos begins chapter four of Is That a Fish in Your Ear? a sprightly, yet insightful book that covers everything from debunking the Great Eskimo vocabulary hoax to the myth of literal translation, all while intermingling jokes about Stalin’s bodyguard and the hollow applause of a century of critics who “praise a translation to the skies” when it sounds like it has been written in English.
