It's been a while since I've written an entry in my "untranslatable" phrases series, so today I'm sharing two phrases in one post, both centred on the theme of names. Chopping two carrots with one knife, as they say.

OK, so no one actually says that, but as an animal lover I've never liked the "kill two birds with one stone" saying. Who wants to kill innocent birds?

[Note: English is my first language, so I am not seeking feedback on my writing this time. But if you spot any mistakes, please do point them out!]

Untranslatable Phrase #3

Anyway, on to our first "untranslatable" phrase. It's from chapter 25 of the "Ciudad de Sombras" ("city of shadows") section of the book and is about Ramón, the custodian of the San Gabriel school. The translation difficulty lies with the nickname that the students at the school give him: Ramón el Unicojonio.

Ramón fought in the Cuban War (also known as the Spanish-American War), where he allegedly lost his right testicle from a gunshot wound inflicted by Theodore Roosevelt. The Spanish word for "testicle" is "cojón", so the nickname means something like "Ramón the One-Balled", but it sounds much more clever than that in Spanish. The pronunciation of "Unicojonio" is very similar to "unicornio", which means "unicorn".

It's not an insurmountable translation problem, but the nickname in Spanish made me laugh, and I haven't been able to think of an English equivalent that would be as funny. So, I'm curious to know what other translators have come up with.

Untranslatable Phrase #4

Our next phrase is also a play on words relating to someone's name, and it's from chapter 28 of the same section. A distinguished filmmaker named Fructuós Gelabert has been hired to try to capture something on film. In order to avoid any spoilers, I won't reveal what he's filming, since it doesn't affect our discussion here.

What matters is that he has failed in his task. The line in which we learn this goes like this:

"Los intentos, hasta la fecha y pese al nombre de pila del técnico al mando de la operación, habían resultado infructuosos."

Which means: "The attempts thus far, despite the first name of the technician in charge of the operation, had been fruitless."

The play on words is in the word "infructuoso" ("unsuccessful" or "fruitless"), since the filmmaker's name "Fructuós" means the exact opposite. And since Fructuós Gelabert is a real, historical figure, changing his name to create a new pun is not an option.

I'd love to hear how this was rendered in other languages. Or if you have your own ideas for translating either of these phrases, please share them in the comments too!