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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Fiscal cliff heard round the world: how the term translates across the globe | Fiscal cliff heard round the world: how the term translates across the globe |
| (4 months later) | |
| It is the curse of American swagger that while we make sure our economic successes are known all over the world, so do our failures escape no one's notice. One notable failure – the thus-far deadlocked negotiations over the fiscal cliff – has found its way into business stories all over the world. | It is the curse of American swagger that while we make sure our economic successes are known all over the world, so do our failures escape no one's notice. One notable failure – the thus-far deadlocked negotiations over the fiscal cliff – has found its way into business stories all over the world. |
| One tweet Wednesday mentioned that in Spain the fiscal cliff is being called the "precipicio fiscal" by some news outlets. To the fatigued eye and ear of the English speaker, bored senseless by the same term hammering us in news story after news story, hearing foreign translations for the fiscal cliff provides a little frisson, like seeing an old relative in a new light. For instance, nothing quite puts the fiscal cliff in perspective as finding out that, in the words of many other countries, it is actually an "abyss". | One tweet Wednesday mentioned that in Spain the fiscal cliff is being called the "precipicio fiscal" by some news outlets. To the fatigued eye and ear of the English speaker, bored senseless by the same term hammering us in news story after news story, hearing foreign translations for the fiscal cliff provides a little frisson, like seeing an old relative in a new light. For instance, nothing quite puts the fiscal cliff in perspective as finding out that, in the words of many other countries, it is actually an "abyss". |
| I asked Twitter users overseas what they have heard the fiscal cliff called in their evening news and radio programs, as well as their newspapers. The results are enlightening, entertaining, and often, just a bit mocking. | I asked Twitter users overseas what they have heard the fiscal cliff called in their evening news and radio programs, as well as their newspapers. The results are enlightening, entertaining, and often, just a bit mocking. |
| Italy | Italy |
| Italy is one of several countries – including Chile, Macedonia and Denmark – that dispenses with the relatively picturesque "cliff" idea and goes straight for an "abyss". Twitter user @jacopogio, a European digital consultant, says that in the Italian news, the preferred term is "abisso fiscale". | Italy is one of several countries – including Chile, Macedonia and Denmark – that dispenses with the relatively picturesque "cliff" idea and goes straight for an "abyss". Twitter user @jacopogio, a European digital consultant, says that in the Italian news, the preferred term is "abisso fiscale". |
| Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia | Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia |
| Twitter user Alexandar Raspopovic informs us that the term in Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian is pretty literal: "fiskalna litica", which translates to fiscal cliff, bluff, crag, precipice or rock. | Twitter user Alexandar Raspopovic informs us that the term in Montenegrin, Serbian, Croatian or Bosnian is pretty literal: "fiskalna litica", which translates to fiscal cliff, bluff, crag, precipice or rock. |
| But do not fear! There is also an option for our now-beloved term "abyss". | But do not fear! There is also an option for our now-beloved term "abyss". |
| France | France |
| French traditionalists loathe when English terms creep into the language, but there is an undeniable charm to how many French news outlets have handled the thorny issue of the fiscal cliff: | French traditionalists loathe when English terms creep into the language, but there is an undeniable charm to how many French news outlets have handled the thorny issue of the fiscal cliff: |
| Still, traditionalists have their options too: not a cliff, mountain or slope, but a hard wall. | Still, traditionalists have their options too: not a cliff, mountain or slope, but a hard wall. |
| Germany | Germany |
| Given our common Anglo-Saxon roots, it's not surprising that the German term for fiscal cliff sounds a lot like ours. | Given our common Anglo-Saxon roots, it's not surprising that the German term for fiscal cliff sounds a lot like ours. |
| There's another popular term in Germany: sparbombe, which sounds, actually, even scarier than a cliff. | There's another popular term in Germany: sparbombe, which sounds, actually, even scarier than a cliff. |
| The Netherlands | The Netherlands |
| We owe an apology to the Dutch, who have so many terms for the fiscal cliff that it puts the meager American imagination to shame. | We owe an apology to the Dutch, who have so many terms for the fiscal cliff that it puts the meager American imagination to shame. |
| Belasting in Dutch means "tax," and "kloof" means "cliff." | Belasting in Dutch means "tax," and "kloof" means "cliff." |
| We also spotted, during our idle Google fact-checking, the utterly winsome Dutch term "fiscale kloof," which is self-explanatory. | We also spotted, during our idle Google fact-checking, the utterly winsome Dutch term "fiscale kloof," which is self-explanatory. |
| Denmark | Denmark |
| You might think that the Danish were reasonable and self-contained, but never forget: the existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard was Danish. With one of the most dramatic terms, the Danish equivalent of the BBC goes with a term that translates roughly to "edge of the abyss". | You might think that the Danish were reasonable and self-contained, but never forget: the existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard was Danish. With one of the most dramatic terms, the Danish equivalent of the BBC goes with a term that translates roughly to "edge of the abyss". |
| User Anders Samut Birch, who goes by the name @brikken on Twitter, sends a few variations, all firmly centered on the idea of an abyss. | User Anders Samut Birch, who goes by the name @brikken on Twitter, sends a few variations, all firmly centered on the idea of an abyss. |
| Also in Danish: "Økonomisk afgrund", "den Finansielle afgrund" og "Afgrunden". | Also in Danish: "Økonomisk afgrund", "den Finansielle afgrund" og "Afgrunden". |
| Indonesia | Indonesia |
| It's no surprise, perhaps, that our fiscal follies have traveled all the way around the globe, is it? | It's no surprise, perhaps, that our fiscal follies have traveled all the way around the globe, is it? |
| South America | South America |
| One can't help but feel that Jorge Luis Borges would have made a nice story out of the term widely used in South America: the fiscal abyss. Far more intriguing than the Garden of the Bifurcating Paths, isn't it? | One can't help but feel that Jorge Luis Borges would have made a nice story out of the term widely used in South America: the fiscal abyss. Far more intriguing than the Garden of the Bifurcating Paths, isn't it? |
| Turkey | Turkey |
| Turkey, showing the determination of its Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman ancestors, cuts right to the chase: forget the cliff, and look at the possible result, which is essentially money running away. | Turkey, showing the determination of its Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman ancestors, cuts right to the chase: forget the cliff, and look at the possible result, which is essentially money running away. |
| Norway | Norway |
| Norwegian news outlets have gamely tried to mention the fiscal cliff using the literal translation of something like "budget ravine". | Norwegian news outlets have gamely tried to mention the fiscal cliff using the literal translation of something like "budget ravine". |
| But at least one Twitter user tells us that Norwegian evening news assumes that its viewers could not crack this nut. | But at least one Twitter user tells us that Norwegian evening news assumes that its viewers could not crack this nut. |
| Sweden | Sweden |
| Next door to Norway, the "stupet" idea of a ravine also holds sway. | Next door to Norway, the "stupet" idea of a ravine also holds sway. |
| Note: a search of Swedish business stories show that editors favor "budgetstupet" followed by the English term in parentheticals, "fiscal cliff." The word "stupet" in Swedish means a sharp slope or ravine. | Note: a search of Swedish business stories show that editors favor "budgetstupet" followed by the English term in parentheticals, "fiscal cliff." The word "stupet" in Swedish means a sharp slope or ravine. |
| Thailand | Thailand |
| The direct translation in Thailand is … fiscal cliff. | The direct translation in Thailand is … fiscal cliff. |
| Portugal | Portugal |
| Pig Latin | Pig Latin |
| This will come in handy if you need to communicate about the fiscal cliff with a third-grader. | This will come in handy if you need to communicate about the fiscal cliff with a third-grader. |
| Not surprisingly, the most disdainful answers to our query came from the British Isles. | Not surprisingly, the most disdainful answers to our query came from the British Isles. |
| Ireland | Ireland |
| England | England |
| We hope you have enjoyed this international roundup of the fiscal cliff. As the week passes closer and closer to the final deadline, however, the only important thing is that US lawmakers keep talking about the issue – no matter what language they use. | We hope you have enjoyed this international roundup of the fiscal cliff. As the week passes closer and closer to the final deadline, however, the only important thing is that US lawmakers keep talking about the issue – no matter what language they use. |
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