The Contextual Use of Idioms, Wordplay, and Translation

Authors at various times and in a multitude of languages and genres have subjected idioms to some semantic or structural transformation for the sake of creating wordplay. This article will consider the different variants of this rhetorical device from the point of translation. Several translation techniques for this type of wordplay are discussed: the use of an equivalent, loan translation, extension, analogue transformation, substitution, compensation, loss of wordplay, and metalingual comment. The consideration of these techniques also points up a number of priorities to be weighed in individual cases, as well as some of the constraints under which translators have to operate. The author starts from the assumption that translators should strive for equivalent effect. The corpus consists largely of Latvian, German, and Russian translations of Oscar Wilde and Lewis Carroll.