English as she is spoke

From Free net encyclopedia

English as she is spoke is the common name of a 19th-century book credited to José da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino, which was intended as a Portuguese-English conversational guide or phrase book, but is regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour.

The humour appears to be a result of dictionary-aided literal translation, which causes idiomatic expressions to be translated inappropriately. For example, the Portuguese phrase chover a cântaros is translated as raining in jars, whereas the idiomatic English translation would be raining buckets.

Mark Twain said of English as she is spoke:

"Nobody can add to the absurdity of this book, nobody can imitate it successfully, nobody can hope to produce its fellow; it is perfect."

The phrase inspired some other titles, notably English as she is wrote (1883) and an essay by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) English as she is taught: Being genuine answers to examination questions in our public schools (1887).

1 Origin
2 Phrase examples
3 Publication history
4 See also
5 External links

[edit]

Origin

It is widely believed that neither of the authors credited with the work could speak English, and that they used a French-English dictionary to translate an earlier Portuguese-French phrase book O Novo guia da conversação em francês e português, which had been written by José da Fonseca alone. The Portuguese-French phrase book is apparently a competent work, without the defects that characterise English as she is spoke.

More recently, Alexander MacBride of the UCLA Department of Linguistics has suggested that it is more likely that the Portuguese-English book was an unauthorised translation by Pedro Carolino without the involvement of José da Fonseca.

Stephen Pile mentions this work in the Book of Heroic Failures, and comments: "who can surpass the unrivalled beauty of the phrase 'To craunch a marmoset'?"

[edit]

Phrase examples

Sentence in Portuguese	Given translation	Idiomatic translation
As paredes têm ouvidos.	The walls have hearsay.	The walls have ears.
Anda de gatinhas.	He go to four feet.	He crawls. / Crawl. (imperative)
A estrada é segura?	Is sure the road?	Is the road safe?
Sabe montar a cavalo.	He know ride horse.	He knows how to ride a horse.
Que horas são?	What o'clock is it?	What time is it?
Quem cala consente.	That not says a word, consent.	He who doesn't object, consents.
Que faz ele?	What do him?	What does he do? / What is he doing?
Tenho vontade de vomitar.	I have mind to vomit.	I feel like vomiting.
Este lago parece-me bem piscoso. Vamos pescar para nos divertirmos.	That pond it seems me many multiplied of fishes. Let us amuse rather to the fishing.	This lake seems like it's full of fish. Let's have some fun fishing.
Bem sei o que devo fazer ou me compete.	I know well who I have to make.	I know very well what I have to do and what my responsibilities are.

[edit]

Publication history

1853 - In Paris, J.-P. Aillaud, Monlon e Ca published a Portuguese-French phrase book entitled O Novo guia da conversação em francês e português by José da Fonseca. The portuguese Biblioteca Nacional has a copy of this book with catalogue number L.686P. Another copy of this book is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the catalogue number FRBNF30446608.
1855 - In Paris, J.-P. Aillaud, Monlon e Ca published a Portuguese-English phrase book entitled O Novo Guia da Conversação, em Português e Inglês, em Duas Partes (literally, The new guide to conversation, in Portuguese and English, in two parts), with authorship attributed to José da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino. A copy of this book is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France under the catalogue number FRBNF30446609.
1883 - The book is published in London as English as She is Spoke.
1969 - The book was re-published in New York by Dover Publications, under the title English as she is spoke; the new guide of the conversation in Portuguese and English (ISBN 0486223299).
2002 - A new edition edited by Paul Collins was published from the Collins Library imprint of McSweeney's (ISBN 097190474X).
2004 - A revised paperback version of the above Collins Library edition was published (ISBN 1932416110).