"Untranslatable" Phrase #2 from La Sombra del Viento
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"Untranslatable" Phrase #2 from La Sombra del Viento

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multilingual book club 01

Since my first post about "untranslatable" passages in La Sombra del Viento led to such an interesting discussion, I thought I'd start another one. This is another passage about Adrián Neri, the piano teacher, and it appears in part 2 (Miseria y Compañía), chapter 7.

"Lo tiene un tal Adrián Neri. Músico. A lo mejor le suena."
"No me suena de nada, y eso es lo peor que se puede decir de un músico."

The verb "sonar" can mean to make a sound, often a ringing sound (bells and telephones both suenan, for example). Other objects that might sonar include alarm clocks and other electronics.

But it also has a meaning that could be translated in English as "to sound familiar" or, more figuratively, "to ring a bell".

Taking the first line of the passage in isolation, I think the most natural-sounding translation would be: "A guy named Adrián Neri has it. He's a musician. Maybe you've heard of him."

But that doesn't work, because the second line plays on the double meaning of sonar: "It doesn't sound like anything to me, and that's the worst thing you could say about a musician".

This one lends itself a bit better to translation into English than the falling piano analogy, but it's still somewhat awkward. I can think of two possible options, neither of which are perfect:

1. "A guy named Adrián Neri has it. He's a musician. Maybe his name rings a bell for you."

"It doesn't ring anything for me, and that's the worst thing you could say about a musician".

The problem with this translation is that most musical instruments don't "ring" in English. Pianos certainly don't. So I'd probably go with the second option instead.

2. "A guy named Adrián Neri has it. He's a musician. Maybe his name sounds familiar to you."

"It doesn't sound like anything to me, and that's the worst thing you could say about a musician".

It doesn't flow as nicely as the original Spanish, but I think it's passable. I'm curious to know if this phrase causes translation difficulties in other languages? Or if you've come across other "untranslatables" in your target language, feel free to share those too!

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