Wednesday, July 03, 2019

Bountiful

I've noted in the past when I see signs in English and another language (usually Spanish) it seems that English says it in fewer words.  Perhaps this is a coincidence, or perhaps it's just how things are.

Here's another example.  I recently bought some Bounty paper towels, and the print on the packaging was in English, French and Spanish. Let's compare the warning for the bag it comes in.  I won't reproduce the accents, though they mean there's actually more to write in French and Spanish.

WARNING: TO AVOID DANGER OF SUFFOCATION, KEEP THIS BAG AWAY FROM BABIES AND CHILDREN.

MISE EN GARDE: POUR EVITER LES RISQUES DE SUFFOCATION, GARDER CE SAC HORS DE LA PORTEE DES BEBES ET DES ENFANTS.

ADVERTENCIA: PARA EVITAR EL PELIGRO DE ASFIXIA, MANTENGA ESTA BOLSA FUERA DEL ALCANCE DE BEBES Y NINOS.

So, once again, English is the shortest.  In this case, French is the longest.

It might not seem like a big gap, but if the distinction holds true, imagine the difference in a novel and its translation.

2 Comments:

Blogger brian said...

Latinate words do seem to have more syllable than their anglo-saxon counterparts. It also may be that more words are needed as well.

11:18 AM, July 04, 2019  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Main culprit "hors de la portee" for "away"

4:35 AM, July 05, 2019  

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