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Q&A: Translation

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Translation

Question

Is it permissible to translate a book that contains vulgar language? And to translate those expressions as they are? (For the plot it doesn’t really matter whether I write *** or #%% instead of the original.)
There’s also a more general question here: is vulgar speech forbidden (halakhically / morally / otherwise)?

Answer

I’m not aware of any halakhic prohibition against it, but it is certainly not proper. I don’t think there is an actual prohibition here, and if it contributes significantly to the poetic value, then it seems to me that it isn’t objectionable.

Discussion on Answer

Oren (2020-05-28)

There’s a nice source in the Talmud that discusses the issue of clean language:

Havruta, Pesachim 3a
And we asked about it: as for our tanna, why did he use the expression in the Mishnah “light of the fourteenth” and not simply teach “the night of the fourteenth,” as was taught in the school of Shmuel?

And we answer: the tanna of our Mishnah chose refined language. “Light” is a clean expression, and it is a commandment to speak in clean language, and this is also the way of people of refined understanding. And this follows Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.

For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: A person should never let an indecent expression leave his mouth. For Scripture twisted itself [lengthened the wording] by eight letters rather than letting an indecent expression leave its mouth, as it says: “from the pure animals and from the animals that are not pure” (Genesis 7:8), and it did not say “the impure animals,” as it usually does elsewhere in the Torah. Rather, in this one place Scripture changed the wording and added eight extra letters—since “impure” has five letters, while “that are not pure” has thirteen—in order to teach you always to seek clean language.

[Now in truth, “night” is not an indecent thing, and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi’s statement is not referring directly to the Mishnah. Rather, from it we learn that the way of the sages is to seek clear and clean language.]

Rav Pappa said: We even find that Scripture added nine letters in order not to utter an indecent expression, as it says: “if there be among you any man who is not pure by reason of a nocturnal occurrence” (Deuteronomy 23:11), and it did not write “impure,” which has only three letters, but instead wrote “who is not pure,” which has twelve letters at least, even if read with defective spelling. So it added nine letters.

Ravina said: Scripture twisted itself by ten letters here, because we should also count the vav in “pure,” since in practice it is written in full spelling.

Rav Acha bar Yaakov said: We find that Scripture added sixteen letters in order not to utter an indecent expression, as it says: “for he said, it is an occurrence; he is not pure; surely he is not pure” (I Samuel 20:26), and it did not say “it is an impure occurrence.” Here there is an addition of sixteen letters in order not to write “impure.”

It was taught in the school of Rabbi Yishmael: A person should always speak in clean language. For in the case of a man with a discharge, Scripture calls it a “saddle,” as it says: “every saddle on which the zav rides shall be impure” (Leviticus 15:9). But in the case of a menstruant woman or a woman with a discharge, Scripture calls it a “seat”; that is, in the woman’s case the law of a saddle is not mentioned, only the law of a seat, as it says: “or on any vessel on which she sits” (ibid., verse 23). Even though there is no difference between man and woman, and a woman too, when impure, also conveys impurity to a saddle, nevertheless it is improper to mention riding and the spreading of the legs in connection with a woman. Therefore the law of a saddle was not stated regarding her.

And Scripture further says: “and you choose the language of the crafty” (Job 15:5), meaning that Scripture commands one to choose the language of the sages, which is clean language.

And it also says: “and the knowledge of my lips they shall utter clearly” (Job 33:3)—language that is clear and clean.

השאר תגובה

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