Cargo cult translation
Richard Feynmann popularized the term "cargo cult" outside of anthropology. The concept was later picked up in the field of programming:
A piece of code works. I don’t really understand how it works or what it’s doing. But if I copy it over here, tweak the edges and poke it a few times, I’m pretty sure I can get it doing what I want it to do well enough that I don’t have to know how it works.
This happens quite a bit in the field of translation as well. Most of my clients are Japanese companies (either agencies or end clients), usually without a native speaker on staff who is really capable of telling good from poor English writing.
As a result, they tend to codify translations and turns of phrase they have accepted in the past, which are often of very poor quality or even plain wrong. Dealing with such clients can be a real pain — getting back a perfectly good translations marked up with corrections based on ignorance.
For example, one former client often had me translate letters announcing conferences and such, but forbade me from using any form of the word "invite." Instead, I had to use something along the lines of "your attendance is cordially requested" (ugh!). Their reasoning: using something like "You are cordially invited…" would cause readers to mistakenly believe that there would be no fee. The translation coordinator I dealt with seemed to understand that this was incorrect, but could only say "this is how we always have done it."
Sometimes, the client will accept your translation without comment and rewrite it with their own cargo-cult trappings. There have been times when I only found out about such incorrections after seeing my translation in print.
I'm always of two minds about pointing out such issues to clients. On the one hand, there's the issue of taking pride in my work, and providing my clients with extra service by pointing these things out. On the other hand, in my experience clients are usually not very happy to have their cargo-cult translations pointed out. Generally, the longer they've been using the translation in question, and the more erai the person who approved it, they less happy they're going to be.
I usually try once or twice to point out problems with glossaries or reference translations I'm given. If they're receptive, great. If they brush me off or get defensive, I drop the matter and reevaluate their importance to me as clients.
