When people say that professional translators essentially should recognise a role of “unifying” (in society) in their work, they’re not wrong.
For the significance that cultural aspects play in translation (or at least should), I have written about a link between language and the broad subject of accepted social behaviour / “good manners” before. That said, how many of us have had moments when we’re on a long-distance journey and we just accept, without complaint, that we will be sitting next to Stranger X for hours (it will most likely be a flight; in my experience, at least)? Our attitude is one of indifference, and we fully expect the same from them as well – they don’t need to know who we are any more than we need to know who they are. Yet we mean to be tolerant; if they want to talk for a bit, that’s fine, but we typically ask for no more than a respect for the assumed right to be left alone in our own world as we do the same for them. I actually remember BBC Radio 4 doing a Thought For The Day article about this once (When? Years before the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s all I can say.). Anyway, in light of the title of this article, I find it imperative to highlight that no-one should ascribe to this the misnomer of “co-existence”. If anything, it’s “by-existence”, as I put it. If you’re confused, feel free to read the first sentence of this paragraph again.
That said: when I was a boy, I was expected to regard the expression “piss someone off” as a sweary expression. It essentially means “to annoy someone” (usually out of intent and typically against one’s better judgement). True, telling someone to “piss off” is clearly less than polite, but that’s something else. I can only speak from personal experience but I’ve just started feeling that the expression “piss someone off” just “isn’t really sweary any more” (and yes, in case you’re in any doubt, I am aware of more polite expressions for the same concept, thank you very much). I could be wrong, but I find that this expression is chiefly associated with “actions of intent” i.e. direct verbal insults or “humorous” pranks guaranteed to annoy. But let us turn our attention more to behaviours which to some may seem totally innocuous but they cause shock to others all the same; an example of this being someone sitting on a gravestone while otherwise ready to insist that they would never slander the person in question (out of respect, obviously). Such behaviours are also (evidently) prone to pissing people off.
Funny, isn’t it? Sometimes the greatest moments of anger and offence are brought on by people with only good intentions – how many politicians have had to learn that the hard way?
What I’m trying to say is: with modern-day “woke” culture and the ever-increasing influence of online interaction, society is changing massively. We all claim that we try to be so understanding and yet so often someone will claim to be offended at the drop of a hat – which is surely the mark of a society in which everyone wants respect but nobody wants to give any. And that’s unhealthy. Let’s be honest: “piss someone off” isn’t a truly sweary expression any more, is it?
All in the spirit of co-existence. You’re welcome.