News

June 10 2010

BP's Swedish Exec. Replaces Meatball, with Foot - Global View June 2010

BP Chair Carl-Henric Svanberg surely didn't intend to insult the Gulf Coast community during his June 16 remarks to reporters after meeting with President Obama at the White House.

The Swedish national did however, illustrate just how important translation can be, and how one little, tiny, harmless phrase taken out of context can open a floodgate Stockholm's biggest meatball can't plug up.

Everyday around the world, companies must choose their words with extreme care and caution to avoid catastrophe in the boardroom, on a conference call, and in marketing campaigns. Commonly overlooked, expert translation services and professional interpreters can be the difference in landing a big contract, breaking into a foreign market, or avoiding a publicity nightmare.

In Svanberg's case, literal translation was probably the last thing on his mind. I'd venture to guess he was a little more concerned with the millions of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. He's probably thinking about it now. Small idiomatic changes to a language during translation or interpretation can have a big impact on what the recipients of the translation understand.

If a car salesman in the U.S. promises you the "whole ball of wax" the price you're getting (probably) has "everything included." On the contrary if you use that expression in Sweden through an interpreter that only translates the literal meaning of words... well, the Swedish recipient of the translation will probably be wondering why you'd be giving them wax.

It's easy to overlook the importance of professional translation services, and in certain cases you probably don't need to worry about it.

But then again, sometimes it's better to be safe, than sorry.