Frozen Sailors
During my various trips and foreign meetings, I recall a particular episode that took place in a country I no longer remember clearly. However, what stands out vividly is the struggle we faced in finding a translator proficient enough to bridge the gap between English and Portuguese. The only solution available was to choose someone who spoke at least Spanish—more accessible to the members of our delegation who weren't fluent in English.
The subject of our discussion was a complex one: sanitary issues between the two countries, market access, and agricultural matters, all riddled with technical and sanitary challenges. This was already a difficult topic to tackle in translation, and I must admit that I had little faith in the abilities of our translator as the hours passed. He seemed to be growing weary.
The turning point came when the translator, on the brink of exhaustion, was tasked with translating a critical phrase from English to Spanish: “... and we will need frozen semen from Brazil to continue the cooperation in this area.” Now, anyone familiar with agricultural discussions would know the topic of semen is quite common, especially when discussing animal breeding, but in this case, the translation became an unexpected source of confusion.
With a tired sigh, the translator raised his microphone and, without much thought, translated the phrase into Spanish as: “... y nosotros necesitaremos de marineros congelados de Brasil para continuar la cooperación en esta área.” In other words, “... and we will need frozen sailors from Brazil to continue the cooperation in this area.”
A stunned silence filled the room. And then, suddenly, the entire Brazilian delegation burst into uncontrollable laughter. The negotiations ground to a halt, not because of the sensitive topics at hand, but due to the sheer absurdity of the translation. At first, the officials at the table didn’t understand the cause of the laughter, but once we explained the difference between semen (the biological material) and see man (the sailor), the awkwardness evaporated. The laughter spread to the other side of the table, and the mood lightened.
This incident serves as a perfect reminder of the subtle yet inevitable pitfalls of translation, particularly when technical terms are involved. I often joke about it by saying, “We may not make much, but we sure have a lot of fun.”