Translation Fidelity
How faithfully a translated quote preserves the meaning and music of the original.
A quote translated from another language is never an identical thing — it is an interpretation. Translation fidelity is the question of how closely the translated line preserves the original's meaning, tone, rhythm, and register.
Some lines survive translation almost intact: 'Cogito, ergo sum' moves cleanly into 'I think, therefore I am.' Others lose almost everything: a haiku that depends on Japanese kireji and seasonal reference becomes a different poem in English, however careful the translator.
Best practice is to name the translator (a translation is itself a creative work) and, where the original is concise, to print both the source language and the translation. When neither is possible, treat the line as approximate, not definitive.
“Veni, vidi, vici.”
Keep reading the glossary
Restating someone's words in your own — credit still required, quotation marks not.
A formal reference that lets a reader locate the source of a quote.
The original record of a quote — the book, letter, speech, or recording in which it first appeared.
The act of naming the original speaker or writer of a quote.