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mistranslate

[mis-trans-leyt, -tranz-, mis-trans-leyt, -tranz-] / ˌmɪs trænsˈleɪt, -trænz-, mɪsˈtræns leɪt, -ˈtrænz- /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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When the interpreter is a no-show, family members often jump in to fill the gap - like the time Ray mischievously stepped up to "mistranslate" his school parents' evening to his own advantage.

From BBC Dec. 27, 2021

I then heard the interpreter mistranslate this question into Mandarin as “Why didn’t the interpreter interpret everything?”

From The New Yorker Oct. 12, 2015

Emoji also tend to mistranslate when sent between platforms, or they get jumbled if you don’t have the right font.

From New York Times Jul. 25, 2014

Did they mistranslate “world’s largest professional network” as “professional network that people actually use”?

From Slate Jun. 7, 2012

To translate it as ‘machine of the world’ is to mistranslate.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Another popular choice is the Chinese character for “freedom,” which mistranslates to mian fei, or “free of charge.”

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 24, 2023

Lane mistranslates, "Made for her a funeral procession."

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 10 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

The line identifying the member of the Royal Family isn't in the English text, so it hasn't been mistranslated.

From BBC Nov. 29, 2023

In “The Life Assignment,” you first write in Spanish, and at times you mistranslated into English, how and why did you take that approach?

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 26, 2023

Ruhl’s plays are sometimes mistranslated from page to stage — rendered less poetic than they are, and more earthbound.

From New York Times Feb. 28, 2023

Angwang told The Associated Press his words were either mistranslated from Mandarin or taken out of context.

From Washington Times Feb. 9, 2023

This accurate description somehow got mistranslated as ‘tube’, but modern medicine seems to be stuck with the inaccurate version of the term.’

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Her Asian-American critics, like Jeffery Chan and Benjamin Tong, accused her of inauthenticity, willfully mistranslating Chinese stories and customs to appeal to a white readership.

From The New Yorker Dec. 30, 2019

One of his interpreters confessed to frequently mistranslating his boss so as to make sense of the nonsense Arafat had spoken.

From Time Magazine Archive

He misstates it thus: "To such laws of the church as have warrant in holy scripture, our law giveth credence," and cites Prisot, mistranslating "ancien scripture" into holy scripture.

From The History Of The Last Trial By Jury For Atheism In England A Fragment of Autobiography Submitted for the Perusal of Her Majesty's Attorney-General and the British Clergy by Holyoake, George Jacob

And cites Prisot; mistranslating 'ancien scripture' into 'holy scripture.'

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

Mr. Harford has transferred much of Vasari's writing to his own pages, but has succeeded in translating or mistranslating all vitality out of it.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 04, February, 1858 by Various




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