Idioms reflect the way a group of people think and express themselves. It is a great way to learn about others’ cultures through idioms. For example, Germans are known to be sausage and beer lovers, thus many German idioms seem to be about sausages and beer; on the other hand, the Malay’s Simpulan Bahasa often tells stories of crocodiles, cows and goats.

Idioms can be considered as a part of everyday language. They are linguistic expressions or lexical items representing objects, concepts or phenomena of material life particular to a given culture. They are necessary to any language in order to keep the local and cultural color of that language.

Also, they are the essence of any language and the most problematic part to handle with for translators. Not all idioms have direct equivalents in another language, because they are linguistic expressions which are specific to a single culture. Thus, the pragmatic meaning must be much more prized than the literal meaning. If they are to be translated literally or word for word, they lead to extreme confusion.

Baker (1992) has proposed four strategies for translating idioms and proverbs which are described briefly as follows:

1. Using an idiom of similar meaning and form. First category of strategies consists of those idioms and proverbs that convey the same meaning in both source and target language, as well as the same lexical items which are used in their surface structures. Using a single pattern of lexical items in these idioms shows that there is a cultural and social relation between two languages. However, this similarity may be as the result of borrowing an idiom or a proverb from one language.
2. Using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form. In this strategy, meaning concepts are expressed by dissimilar lexical items in target language which can be a reflection of different points of view in both societies. A language is a concept which is dependent on experience. In other words, language talks about what people experience, the way they live and about what they care; it actually transfer the experience of a nation.
3. Translation by omission. As with single words, an idiom may sometimes be omitted altogether in the target text. This may be because it has no close match in the target language, its meaning cannot be easily paraphrased, or there are stylistic reasons.
4. Translation by paraphrase. When there is no equivalent in target language or when idiomatic language seems inappropriate in target text, idioms and proverbs may be translated by paraphrase. In this strategy, only the meaning of idiom or proverb without paying attention to what form it has or what is its surface structure is expressed by a non-idiomatic language to target readers.

The translation of idioms involves an in-depth understanding of a particular culture, and a slight metaphorical broadening. That’s why, here at TranslatorPub, we emphasize on having native speakers to translate and proofread our clients’ documents, as we understand that a good translator is more than being proficient in two languages.