This Süddeutsche Zeitung article (entitled “The Germans are bad, very bad”) with a collection of Trump’s statements about Merkel – translated into German, of course – made me want to try another back-translation exercise. I picked just one of the many quotes, a longer one that demonstrates the editing/cleanup process his statements often undergo on their way into another language. German translation in bold, my back-translation in italics, Trump’s original statement in regular letters.
Ich mag keine Migration. Mir gefällt nicht, dass diese Menschen kommen. Europa wird damit fertig werden müssen, aber in Deutschland wird es Aufstände geben. Ich dachte immer, Merkel sei eine großartige Führungspersönlichkeit, aber was sie in Deutschland getan hat, ist geisteskrank. Die erleben schon alle möglichen Anschläge. Es war irrsinnig, so viele Menschen reinzulassen.
I do not like migration. I do not like these people coming. Europe will have to deal with that, but in Germany there will be riots. I always thought Merkel was a great leader, but what she did in Germany is mentally ill. They are already experiencing all kinds of attacks. It was insane to let so many people in.
I do not like the migration. I do not like the people coming. Frankly, look, Europe is going to have to handle — but they’re going to have riots in Germany. What’s happening in Germany, I always thought Merkel was like this great leader. What she’s done in Germany is insane. It is insane. They’re having all sorts of attacks. [Interviewer: You mean letting in the refugees?] Letting in that many people.
***
My previous and more thorough coverage of this topic can be found here.
A great example of this kind of reverse translation cleanup is the transcript of GW Bush talking to the Spanish PM around 2003 or so. The English-Spanish-English back-translation made the notoriously inarticulate W sound like an orator and rhetorician of rare distinction.