What first things come to your mind when you hear about Idioms?
Quoted from the Cambridge Dictionary, idioms mean a fixed order of word groups that present particular meanings that are different from the meanings of each word on its own. Additionally, Palmer (1976: 98-99) divides the form of idioms into two types: full and partial idioms. Chair (2009: 75) and Suwandi (2008: 96) as his followers explain:
Full Idiom
An idiom in which all of its elements have deviated from the lexical and grammatical meaning of its constituents or its meaning is not apparent from its constituent elements. In English, it suits the expressions, such as:
Break a Leg means semoga beruntung. If it is translated literally into Indonesian, it means mematahkan kaki.
A Blessing in Disguise means something thus unpleasant initially but proceeds into something good later. In the Indonesian language defined as keberkahan yang menyamar
Partial Idiom
An idiom that still has its lexical meaning or one of its elements shows its true meaning (lexical meaning). Partial idioms in English can be seen in the expression blacklist/suspected/guilty people, which shows the lingual meaning of the list in the element list, a cup of joe cup of coffee which shows the lexical meaning of cup in the element cup, etc.
Why is translating an Idiom complicated?
Meanwhile, Brisset (in Venuti, 2000: 343) opines that translation is a dual act of communication--there are two codes, namely the source language and the target language. Soesilo (in Kaswanti Purwo, 1990: 180) underlines the importance of translation, including as a means of exploring various information from other countries without having to learn the language first, opening the door to information throughout the world, a means of eliminating the dividing walls between nations, a means of cooperation, understanding, and world peace. Nadar (2007: 5---6) exemplifies the activity of translating English texts into Indonesian is suitable for learning English, especially in the fields of grammar and vocabulary. If you translate a phrase of an idiomatic phrase word for word, then the actual meaning of the phrase will be very different from the original meaning.
One of the reasons that the translation of idioms is complicated is because of the cultural differences between the source and the target language. Language differences are also a problem because idioms cannot be translated word for word. As a result, translators must overcome these challenges to convey the meaning perfectly into the target language (Amalia, Hilman, Putri, 2021). There are several differences in cultural content in English and Indonesian idioms. Therefore, the problem of translating idioms, both in English and Indonesian, is a challenge that requires consideration in translation activities. (Budiawan, 2018).
Moreover, in translation, Idioms are challenging phrases to interpret with the exact meaning. Based on initial research conducted by researchers in mid-2013 comparing the quality translations of translators who received translation theory, translators who have never received translation theory, and machine translation. Therefore, idioms are one of the barriers to translation (Amalia, Hilman, Putri, 2021). When translating the idiom, it will be difficult for ordinary people to understand, and they are often confused if interpreted literally or word for word. For example, hit the sack which means pergi tidur will be confusing if interpreted as "memukul karung", it's not rocket science which means sesuatu yang tidak rumit becomes strange when translated as "ini bukan ilmu roket", and lend an ear which means "dengar dengan baik baik" sounds terrifying if interpreted as "meminjamkan sebuah telinga". The exact thing that happens to the idiom "don't put all eggs in the same basket" which means jangan melakukan yang memiliki resiko tinggi becomes unreasonable when interpreted as "Jangan menyimpan semua telur di satu keranjang".
