Lost in Translation.La Piña de Muerte

Mixed Medium Acrylic Painting by Joe Ray

A few years ago, my friend Flaco, who has been a Court Interpreter for many years, told a group of us the following story.

He (Flaco) had some time to kill (no pun intended here) in between his cases in court, so he decided to sit in and observe the initial hearing in a particular murder trial. The accused was a Mexican national who spoke little or no English. His attorney was a man known for a little flamboyance and a little more ego to top it off with. The defendant entered his plea of not guilty, to which the judge reminded him that if convicted, he could receive the death penalty. The judge then asked if he understood this.

The attorney looked at his client and interpreted the judge’s statement to him in Spanish. Evidently, the attorney didn’t feel he would need an interpreter. He felt pretty good about himself and his abilities to speak a little above average Español. He could take care of this himself, right? Why spend the bucks?  He turned to his client and explained that if convicted, he could receive “la piña de muerte”. Upon hearing this, many of the Spanish speakers in attendance began laughing; nervously laughing, but laughing nonetheless. The defendant looked about nervously as the judge called for order. Once again, the judge asked if he understood this. The attorney repeated the same interpretation to his client. Similar response echoed from the courtroom, but with slightly less volume.

I can’t exactly recall how the hearing ended, it’s been several years since I first heard that story. Anyway, what the attorney had meant to tell his client was that if convicted, he could receive “la pena de muerte”.  Penalty of Death. The Death Penalty. What he had told his client was that he could receive “the pineapple of death”.  Pena…Piña, whatever. Close enough, right?

Neither of these sound like a good thing to me.

I’ve used that story often and it always gets a good laugh (it’s much funnier in person, trust me). After laughing, people shake their heads in disbelief. Why? It’s not uncommon to see misinterpretations, or to hear about them.  It’s always a shocker but to anyone who’s bilingual, we see it quite frequently. Not to this extreme, but we do see and hear about it.

I have no idea whatever became of that case, the attorney, etc. Nada. However, as an artist, I’ve played with the image a few times and I’ve always relayed the story about that particular court case and La Piña de Muerte.

If you’re going to require interpretation, use a professional. Don’t attempt it yourself if you’re not, and don’t take such matters so lightly.

Amateur hour’s over. Happy New Year!

Comments

[DD Kullman]

Joe, what a tragedy this mis-interpretation is - messing with someone's life (or death) isn't anything to be trifled with. Thanks for enlightening me.

[David Wolfe]

The city of Springdale, a Cincinnati suburb, recently distributed a poster intended to rally Hispanic residents to participate in the upcoming census. The poster's headline read, "¡Haz Springdale Conde!"

A month or so later, another poster announced free flu shots at the city's health center, "recibe su disparo gratis," was its offer. I'm sure there weren't many Spanish-speaking takers on that one.

[Pilar Saslow]

Thanks for posting this, Joe. It is great that now courts required certified interpreters. As a translator and interpreter I have seen that many bilinguals who speak two languages are not necessarily good at moving information between the two, especially in writing. And experience shows that many people described as bilinguals overestimate their communications skills altogether. (Like the lawyers of your story).

We have resources like the American Translators Associaton atanet.org or NAJIT - National Association of Judiciary Interpreters that can point anyone in the right directions.
Saludos,

[monica]

Hi Joe,

Just found your blog. Better late than never!

This post reminds me of "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez." Poor translation got him in trouble too.