Oh-oh, standards are falling further
God, that hurts! Some bastard is trying to clean me from my bottom.
Literal translations from Maltese to English have been pretty much standard fare in our newspapers over the last few years. But you have to admit, they’re becoming more – how shall I put it? – interesting.
My Maltese is fairly good (no bottles thrown from the back, please – it is), and I get the distinct feeling that even in Maltese this would be incorrect usage, though I have heard it often. The way I see it, ‘cleaned from’ (in Maltese) should be used only in the same way that you would use ‘cleaned of’ in English. Hence, the verb has to be followed by another noun: the substance that was removed.
And this brings me to one of my favourite hobby-horses: the fact that working-class Maltese is the designated official version of the language, which means that mistakes caused by ignorance and poor education are being classed as official usage. But I won’t go there again….for now.
timesofmalta.com Tuesday, 18th August 2009 – 10:32CET
Clamp-down on illegal fishing welcomed
Nature Trust has praised the authorities for having investigated the landing of two sharks at the fish market this week, even though it later resulted that the species was not yet protected.
The NGO said the authorities acted quickly when two sharks that were cleaned from their heads, tails and fins, were landed at the fish market in Valletta.
The authorities removed the carcasses for further analysis. It was determined that the sharks were Isurus oxyrhincus, a shortfin mako shark. The shortfin mako is not yet a protected species and it is therefore not illegal to catch them.
Nature Trust (Malta) said the through investigation by the Fisheries Department showed commitment and determination to protect sharks.
Furthermore, both fishermen had been made aware of which species were protected and illegal to catch.
Nature Trust (Malta) is presently involved in a project with Italian partners and Fisheries on Shark protection between the two countries.
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Here’s another one from today’s The Times: he cut him in the face….
“A prisoner at Mount Carmel Hospital who mutilated himself with a blade was accused of cutting a police officer in the face as the latter tried to stop him from hurting himself.”
It sure puts a negative spin to the old “do unto others….”.
The first online version of this report actually had the prisoner “self-mutilating himself”. At least it was later “cleaned from” irritating tautology.
The report was ‘cleaned from’ its errors in today’s print version of the newspaper. It turns out that what they meant wasn’t that the head, tail and fins were cleaned ‘from’ something (I thought that was fishy – a bed-bath for a shark) but that those pieces of the shark’s anatomy were removed. Here it is.
“Although regulations stipulate that all fish taken to the market must be intact on the outside, the sharks were missing their head, tail and fins and inspectors could not immediately verify the species, a government spokesman said.”
Oh now I get it! The sharks were cleaned OF, not from, their heads, tails and fins. I suppose the person who wrote this isn’t aware of the link between the verb ‘to clean’ and matters of hygiene, contamination, or risk to health. And even then, you wouldn’t say that a person who has just undergone an amputation because of gangrene has been ‘cleaned of’ his limb.
“nadfuh minn” is used in the same way as “nehhewlu”
Corinne,
I’d like to point out that “naddfuh” is the correct Maltese spelling of this word. Having said that, congratulations for getting 67% of the Maltese words you used in your comment correct. There is hope, after all. By the way, I’m not deducting any points for not using the Maltese ħ in one of the other two Maltese words you used. I’m sure your intentions weren’t bad, dear.
Daphne,
“And this brings me to one of my favourite hobby-horses: the fact that working-class Maltese is the designated official version of the language, which means that mistakes caused by ignorance and poor education are being classed as official usage. But I won’t go there again….for now.”
We’re all waiting with bated breath for your contribution on the subject. I still cherish the photocopy of your article on the Maltese language the Independent published some years back. You made Professor Albert Borg’s hair stand on end with that one.
[Daphne – And a good thing, too. I am really quite tired of being told that my accent, pronunciation and choice of words in Maltese are ‘wrong’. They are about as ‘wrong’ as the accent, pronunciation and choice of words of newsreaders on the BBC’s World Service, while the official Maltese accent, pronunciation and choice of words are more like what the BCC now has to choose for its national service, in the interests of political correctness and ‘democracy’….and because people with regional accents now mock people who don’t have regional accents. Albert Borg and his cohorts may have designated working-class Maltese as the official version, but there are some of us who will not oblige him. If you wish to ask for bottles of ‘pirmli’ and say ‘abbli’ rather than ‘probabli’ (and to spell it with two bs when it should have one), go right ahead. It’s a free country. But know that you will be identified as working-class by those who aren’t. And if that sounds snobbish, you asked for it.]
JoeM: I don’t know you. Why do you presume to know me? I’m aware of the pedantry surrounding the Maltese alphabet. Are you?
I still wouldn’t say ‘cleaned of’ with reference to heads, tails and fins, which are body parts not associated with dirt or something harmful or unhygenic. I’d say they’d had their … removed. More accurate (unless there’s some kind of idiomatic meaning intended, which I don’t think there was).
Tim Ripard: That was just an observation. I didn’t mean that it’s correct.
When a fishmonger asks you if you want your fish “cleaned” they are referring to gutting and removal of scales which are actually body parts but, because they are inedible, are considered waste.
I think The Times need to clean up their act.
I couldn’t agree with you more. They should start with this one, whose English is not only horrendous, but whose blog-posts are banal, to say the least:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/blogs/view/20090818/ira-losco/how-old-did-you-say-you-were
“Nature Trust (Malta) said the through investigation by the Fisheries Department showed commitment and determination to protect sharks”
Typo..?
Not to be a bore, but another recurring unpleasantness committed by this article is the use of “presently” when meaning “currently”.
In any case, the adverb is quite redundant here, since the present tense construction quite clearly conveys the time frame.
As for the “heads, tails and fins” question, it is hard to know where one would start. It seems a journalistically superfluous observation for the second paragraph. First, because it should be obvious to anybody with common sense that a fish of that size would be cut up for retail.
And second, so what? It would really only be a point worth mentioning if the fishmongers were trying to pass it off as something else. Or if they were attempting to disguise the nature of their wares from prying passersby, but that information is not revealed in the article.
On an additional linguistic point, the lede is an unmitigated disaster. Why “having investigating” instead of just “investigating”. The verb to “land” in fishing means to catch, and not what it is meant to convey here, i.e. selling.
The dangling clause at the end is unsightly and contains three poor linguistic choices. I propose a blanket ban on the verb “to result” as an equivalent for the Italian “risultare”; they are not identical. Just use “to turn out,” which is what is meant in this case. Also, the sentence should read “the species is not protected,” and not “was not yet protected.” On this point, I may be missing some ongoing development in fisheries legislation, but if that is the case, the writer of the article has done little to enlighten me.
Finally, saying “the” fish market implies there is only one such market. Only in the second paragraph, do we learn that the swift official action was effected in Valletta fish market. In the second paragraph, the word “fish” is no longer needed, since that has been established in the lede.
On a journalistic point, the sentence should have led with the words “an environmental watchdog,” “conservation group,” or some such formulation. It may seem obvious to note that, but it is good practice to spell things out as early as possible. Nowhere in the article is it ever spelled out what it is that Nature Trust actually is, other than that it is nongovernmental. These organizations usually make it easy for reporters by prominently including that kind of information on their site.
And this is just the first sentence, for heaven’s sake.
Overall, the article could have done with a nice quote to break up the text, and perhaps a comment on whether Nature Trust thinks this breed of shark should be protected.
I could go on and on (and on), but I have bored even myself. But you get the point.
Those neat sharks probably crashed into very dominant shark ladies, before they lost their heads and tails.
Andrea, congratulations to Germany for winning the world championship in women’s javelin. I see your spears are just as sharp.
Harry, are there actually real sharks in Canada? Or are they as chimerical as those lurking tigers in African villages?
Andrea, congratulations again to Germany for winning the world championship in men’s discus last night. Circular reasoning comes to the fore again. The only sharks in Canada have two legs. The only tigers I’ve seen in Africa carry golf clubs.
On the use of English language – one headline being used in a particular newspaper regarding the word MULL eg “Johnny mulls going to Gozo…” Surely this should be “Johnny mulls OVER going to Gozo…”?
[Daphne – The one I really hate is ‘to don’ used instead of ‘to wear’: “he went out donning a pair of smart trousers.” And that’s quite apart from the fact that even with correct usage, ‘don’ is now what I call ‘Indian English’, and not English English.]
My personal favourites are picked a friend (as in chose), as opposed to picking him up, and ended in the sea (died) as opposed to ending up there but surviving.
So ‘donning a slipper’ would be Indian Maltese-English, I guess?
“when two sharks that were cleaned of their heads, tails and fins, were found at the fish market in Valletta.”
I think the best part was Landed.
Here’s another piece by a highly educated individual having a ball with the English (British?…Oh he doesn’t know the difference) language. This comment is under the article headed “Maltese witnesses daring London hold-up”
Comments
Freddie Sultana (47 minutes ago)
It looks like the English or British all the same to me are getting very desperate now that unemployment figures are rising and is keeping on rising by the minute since world war ii. Our Maltese brother is taken a chance going to Britain for his holidays its now known as the criminal capital. I hope he is ok and back home safely, the rest in Britian is their problem.
It’s good to hear that there are no robberies and holdups in Malta. According to this chap Malta appears to be very safe haven compared to this desperate country (England/Britain?). I suppose all ex pat Maltese are lining up to leave this “Criminal Capital”
Oh, I should also be very careful tonight, when I head off to a West End show.
[Daphne – Apart from the confusing headline, which reads like there might have been a typo (daring/during), so that you have to read it several times to get the meaning, my favourite bit is the concluding sentence of the report: “No one is believed to have been injured. The thieves wore crash helmets and are thus likely to have thwarted CCTV cameras.” When you thwart a security camera, does it stamp its little electronic feet and sulk for two days, do you think?]
Am I alone in thinking this, or are there others? The English in The Times leaves so much to be desired. And if someone from behind the mountains, to put it literally, as I am, notices all this, then let alone other, more educated people. And the English in Malta Today? THe only good English there is the one penned by Raphael Vassallo. But worst of all…. wait for it! What about Private Eye on Saturday?
All those exclamation marks make you sick !!!
Which Private Eye? The British satirical magazine?
Manwel, I actually left a comment on timesofmalta.com regarding the “self mutilating himself” which, surprise surprise, was never uploaded.
It’s not just The Times that indulges in such amusing translations. I just passed a well-known auto dealership that was advertising ‘Fresh Imports’. Lemons anyone?
Has anyone else seen a truck with “Don’t cut your heart” printed along its side? (It was seen last week in Sliema.) The owner probably meant to say “Taqtax qalbek” in English.
Ah well, with a mentality like this, it comes as no surprise:
“Dj Gianni commented on how he would travel the world and go to some brilliant rock concerts, buy an expensive guitar and invest in his daughter’s education until she’s 18.” – Until she’s eighteen? For heaven’s sake! ( http://www.maltastar.com/pages/ms09dart.asp?a=3743 )
How is this as an example of thinking in Maltese and writing in English? Of all papers it appeared in MaltaToday ‘Englishman liberated after damaging three cars’. For good measure here is the link :
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/08/16/t17.html
Quo Vadis, Saviour Balzan?
[Daphne – I actually noticed that one, and pictured our Englishman running out of court while stripping off his clothes and shouting ‘We have nothing to lose but our chains.’]
When expressing ideas and opinions in English, it is important for the writer to have a thorough command of the language in order to enable him/her to get across with clarity and without ambiguity. But, since content is generally much more important than form, the reader can be excused provided that the thoughts and opinions still come across as strong and intelligible as the writer intended.
Language is a means of communicating. As long as we understand the context,what the heck! Silly season to me.
My pet hates are “lose” and “loose” and “it’s” and “its”. People do not seem to know the difference between the two. Another one is referring to a driving instructor as a “learner”.
[Daphne – He learned me how to drive and in return I borrowed him my new CDs. There’s a serious problem with the use of the past tense, too, in its various forms: I used to go/I have gone/I went. In this particular case, because the words are so different, lots of people don’t seem to realise that it’s the same verb. So you get a lot of ‘I bin der’ for ‘ I went there’ and ‘I bin der many times (but no longer go)’ for ‘I used to go there’.]
What about “I wore her a t-shirt”, for example?
Not only in Malta:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1207301/Punctuation-hero-branded-vandal-inserting-apostrophes-street-signs.html
This isn’t really relevant, but it bears repeating. Shortly after the first (Maltese) MEP elections, the LP decided that its 3 MEPs would take turns at heading the delegation.
The next day, The Times told us “Labour MEPs to have rotating head”.
“two sharks that were cleaned from their heads, tails and fins, were landed at the fish market in Valletta” ……. and do you know why they remove the fins , tail and head?
Answer: So that one would not recognise it and the fish-mongers can sell it as tuna!
Contrary to what seems to be the genaral opinion, I think that the standard of English has improved, not deteriorated and there has been a sharp increase in the number of people who can write well in English.
However, this is masked by the fact that it happened at the same time as a literal explosion in the number of English language publications in Malta. Where we had just two newspapers (if you count the daily/Sunday editions as separate) we now have something like nine plus an uncounted number of magazines, supplements etc.
This has meant that people who, in the past, would not have been allowed to sweep the floor of the newsroom, are now employable in journalism. And no editor on earth can afford the time to rewrite every single piece submitted.
[Daphne – Editors don’t rewrite pieces. They commission them and give instructions for stories to be researched and written. Sub-editors rewrite pieces and creditable newspapers everywhere ‘on earth’ employ sizeable numbers of them.]
In addition to a team of professionally-trained proofreaders.
When was that literal explosion? I didn’t hear it.
We speak of British English, American English, Australian English, Canadian English … why not Maltese English as well? Even the BBC today allows a variety of English … often coming from different areas of the United Kingdom itself. We rarely open H. W. Fowler’s ‘Modern English Usage’, Peter Mark Roget’s ‘Thesaurus’ and Eric Partirdge’s ‘Usage and Abusage’ and their successors. Obviously, it should always be correct English.
[Daphne – I think you’ll find that the grammar in all these forms of English is the same. It is only some usage which is different. The evidence of this is that Australians, Canadians, Americans, South Africans and the British can understand each other, but they have a great deal of difficulty understanding ‘Maltese English’ because it’s just plain, bad English and not another form of the language. Saying that a shark is cleaned from its head is bad English whichever way you look at it. It is completely incomprehensible to an Australian, Canadian, American, South African or British person, and the only reason we Maltese can guess at the meaning is precisely because we know that other language.]
Looks like Maltese English is the answer to pidgin English.
Most Maltese are not bi-lingual in Maltese and English and therefore English is a foreign language to them and not of mother tongue standard. They should not attempt to write in English for publication unless it has been proof-read by a native speaker of English.
A native speaker of English is someone who has spokene English since childhood with at least one of his parents who is a native speaker of English. This does not include ‘Sliema’ speakers of English who always speak (mostly broken) English with their Maltese parents at home and at school.
[Daphne – You’re quite wrong there. REAL ‘Sliema people’ are native speakers of English and speak/write the language perfectly. You have another sort of person in mind: the ones recently described by Mark Anthony Falzon as ‘savagely aspirational’.]
One never becomes a native speaker of a language or reaches a native speaker’s level in adulthood i.e. beyond 16 years of age. Since I left Malta at the age of 19, I would not consider myself anywhere near the level of a native speaker of English, even though I lived for 30 years in the UK.
[Daphne – I agree with you there, particularly where English is concerned. It’s such a difficult language, with so many nuances of idiom, that it is impossible for an adult to surpass ‘foreign language’ standard.]
“Daphne – You’re quite wrong there. REAL ‘Sliema people’ are native speakers of English and speak/write the language perfectly”
You may also wish to point out that “Sliema people” speak proper Maltese too, unlike others who pepper it with English words as they deem fit. (“Trid tixrob water?” ” Ejja ilbes ix-shoes.” “Kemm ghanda libsa nice!”)
Your definition of “native English speaker” is very loose indeed, coming right after your ban on English publications by Maltese authors. Your proofreaders would include everyone from Vicki Pollard to the entire Commonwealth, and I’m not sure their best is as good as our best, while their worst is far worse.
Hans Peter Geerdes: why on earth Scooter?
Because they’re the greatest German musicians since Bach and Händel, Andrea. Wagner wasn’t too shabby either.
Hahaha, that’s the best explanation I’ve ever heard.
Scooter is at least as perplexing as Wagner.
Daphne, I don’t really understand what you mean by ‘REAL Sliema people’.
If ‘Sliema people’ are indistinguishable, to a British person, from a British English native speaker when they speak, than they are truly native speakers of English but I very much doubt it.
[Daphne – It’s hard to explain the distinction to people who didn’t grow up there. Few people under 60 still speak like that, but the Union Club used to be packed with them when I was a child. I don’t know why you’re so surprised. Haven’t you ever heard the cut-glass English accent of some interviewees on the BBC World Service, only to find out from the name that they are Indian? People don’t just ‘learn English; they learn an accent and nuances too.]
One of the most common errors that irks me is the misuse of the word “scope”. Most people mistakenly think it means “purpose”, a literal translation of the Maltese “skop”, when it means “range”…as in ” There is a wide scope for introducing a policy”.
Ditto the word “pretend”. (“Do you pretend that I don’t get angry at you after what you’ve done?”)
‘Tipretendi’ (to expect) in Maltese and ‘to pretend’ (to make believe) in English are false friends.
These are pitfalls for many related languages, such as French, Italian and Spanish.
Maybe someone should compile a list of these words and publish it as a booklet. This would be invaluable to Maltese students.
‘skop’ is derived from ‘scopo’ in Italian and therefore it is correctly used by the Maltese to mean ‘purpose, reason’.
[Daphne – Only in Maltese, but not in English.]
“Pass from here” is one of my pet hates, not to mention the god-awful “by walk”…..
We can go on and on about our Maltese-English pet hates, but rest assured, they are here to stay!
…………which means that mistakes caused by ignorance and poor education are being classed as official usage….
…..which means that mistakes due to ignorance or poor education are classed as official usage……
Conflict of interest is something which many people confuse, I suspect sometimes intentionally, when they write to the media.
Conflict of interest occurs where someone uses his official position for personal gain. Where there is potential conflict of interest, a person can declare it and withdraw from participating in a decision which could potentially benefit him personally. All codes of ethics have provisions to allow for such declaration and withdrawal from the decision.
Leo Brincat does not understand the meaning of conflict of interest. In the Independent of today he writes as follows:
“Conflict of interest: I have been following with interest the recent spat in the local media as to how Valletta risks losing its UNESCO Heritage site status due to over development in the whereabouts. What I found strange was that one of the persons who tried to mitigate the irreparable damage done is an architect who has been deeply involved in the developments concerned. If that is not conflict of interest, then I must be George W. Bush!”
Leo Brincat is referring to letters sent by Alex Torpiano to the Times. Alex Torpiano argued that the Times report of the 11th August entitled “Concerns on heritage status of Valletta” was misleading. In particular the Times report includes the claim that “Concerns about the capital’s privileged status were raised in the last meeting of Unesco’s World Heritage Committee in Seville” – a statement which Alex Torpiano demonstrates to be incorrect.
Alex Torpiano signs the letters as AOM Partnership which is the architectural firm entrusted with the Midi project. Prof. Torpiano is defending the interests of the developers. He has the right and duty to do so.
So please Leo Brincat, where is the conflict of interest?
In all probability, Leo Brincat was instigated to write this nonsense by someone else; someone who is either too stupid to understand conflict of interest or who is sufficiently devious and manipulative to make an MP include a gross piece of stupidity in his writings.
Next time you look in the mirror, Mr. Brincat, pinch yourself hard, just to make sure that you are not George W. Bush.
There are some interesting comments on Valletta’s world heritage status under the “Oh so very Maltese” post.
Who is Bondin trying to fool? In today’s Times someone from half way around the world, a certain Peter Green from Western Australia, made various comments about Malta. This Mr. Green is a “lover of Malta and its people” and seems to be quite knowledgeable about Malta, in spite of visiting Malta only once after 40 years. He is so knowledgeable that he also knows who from amongst us are the most illustrious citizens. He exhorts the younger Maltese generation to recognise “the importance of their country’s heritage and show more respect to what Dr Bondin refers to as OUV (outstanding universal value).” How pathetic!
Why does Mr. Green from Rockingham, if he exists, decide to write about Malta and Bondin? Would it not be more useful for him to write to a national or regional Australian newspaper about Rockingham, or Perth or Adelaide or Katanning or whatever?
Bondin made a fool of himself with his story of Valletta losing its world heritage status and he knows it. Is this letter a puerile attempt to start fixing the damage to his credibility?
There is a good article (To be Maltese) by Michael Falzon in last Sunday’s Maltatoday.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/08/30/michael.html
A few excerpts from the article:
“They do not realise that deprecating the place where you come from is actually a very sad implicit admission of your own inferiority complex. Some Maltese who try to promote themselves by detaching themselves from their own community and criticising their country – implicitly claiming they are superior to their peers – in the end leave a bad impression about themselves. ………Self-flagellation seems to be an appalling syndrome of the collective psyche of the Maltese nation……….. We seem to be goaded by a perverse desire to see our country hurt: the idea that Valletta could (or should?) lose its World Heritage status, for example, obviously sprung from a Maltese source……… This leads some to think that they can succeed in life via an ego trip that relies on deprecating what is Maltese and demeaning their own origin – the ‘I-am-better-than-the-rest’ syndrome, if you like………….If only we always pursue our efforts with dignity, avoiding practices that disgrace our own birthright and that – in the end – can only harm our individual selves as well.”
Ray Bondin please note.
The one word Falzon forgets to mention is “deceit” – self-flagellation is often accompanied by deceit and misinformation.