How Do Foreign Journalists Translate ‘Rocket Man’?
By Julian Hayda, Jerome McDonnellHow Do Foreign Journalists Translate ‘Rocket Man’?
By Julian Hayda, Jerome McDonnellPresident Donald Trump made a splash last week in his first U.N. General Assembly speech. He talked about revisiting the Iran nuclear deal, socialism in Venezuela, and the role of the U.N. during his campaign. While his U.N. speech was very much scripted, Trump’s threat against North Korea still managed to include one Trump-ism when he referred to the country’s leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man.”
For the nearly 200 foreign dignitaries in the room, their translators, and scores of foreign reporters, chances are that the term needed a translation. So we’ve teamed up with our old colleague Dave McGuire at the BBC to ask how their reporters translate Trump. The BBC broadcasts in 33 languages, so if there’s anybody who knows how to translate from English, it’s them.