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Thursday, April 20, 2006

Promises, a call to arms, or predictions? 

By TigerHawk at 4/20/2006 07:17:00 AM
John Hawkins has compiled the threatening declarations and fulminations of Iran's leaders, including President Ahmadinejad. The question is, are they promises, a call to arms for a war that Iran will nevertheless not pursue on its own, or merely predictions? This is not a question of ostrich-like refusal to recognize a threat, but the interpretation of the threat. These guys are not Americans, and they don't speak in English. It was hard enough to understand Nikita Krushchev when he declared "we will bury you." Can the Iranians out there shed light on whether the translation of language has converted advocacy or prediction into a promise? Or are my concerns just so much absurdly open-minded Occidental stupidity?

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4 Comments:

By Blogger Steve Burri, at Thu Apr 20, 10:06:00 AM:

I know the difficulties in accurate translation can cause misinformation. An Iranian friend of mine claims that 'Ahmadinejad' is actually pronounced 'a-mad-DEAN-jihad'. What can I say?  

By Blogger Steve Burri, at Thu Apr 20, 10:13:00 AM:

Also... Krushchev's translator pronounced 'bury' as 'burry', not 'berry'. That's the same pronunciation as my last name. I grew up thinking that I was an integral part of the communist plot.  

By Anonymous Anonymous, at Thu Apr 20, 10:30:00 AM:

From wikipedia, ""Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you" - a meaning more akin to "we will attend your funeral" than "we shall cause your funeral"."

Seems to me that one wouldn't "attend" your funeral with a shovel unless they meant to actually bury you, or at least dig the grave.

I'm thinking that Khrushchev himself confirms the original ("bury you") translation with this statement, "I once said, 'We will bury you,' and I got into trouble with it. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you"

Kalroy  

By Blogger Christopher R Taylor, at Thu Apr 20, 07:09:00 PM:

I dont think it's that difficult to work out what he's saying. I mean, these guys aren't exactly mincing words and their culture is not one of subtle deception and cleverness in rhetoric. They are pretty direct, if colorful. Jackals shall eat your bones, all that kind of thing.  

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