Quote:
Originally Posted by calculoso
When scheduling a meeting, they also say (loosely translated) "We'll have a meeting on Monday if Allah is willing".
If the meeting on Monday doesn't happen, I guess Allah wasn't willing. It takes out all of the personal responsibility for their choices.
I don't think that their "metaphors and overstatements" are near as exaggerated as you make them seem. They know what they're saying, and yet have made no effort to clarify... yet it is "our" responsibility to read between the lines?
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Yes, it is our responsibility. If we wish to understand them we must make the effort to decrypt their message better. And yes, their metaphors and overstatements are greatly exaggerated. Do some research on the language and communication style and you'll see just how different it is from ours. See, there is the problem. We use our filter to attempt to understand what they are saying, when we should be using their context to so.
Here's a little experiment for you. Go to any foreign language web site and take the written word and plug it into babblefish. You'll get a translation, but not a meaning. Until you have someone who understands their context, and can decypher the words so they come through that same filter, the message is never going to be understood. We don't understand their context, which is why linguists with a grasp of those languages and regions are so important when it comes to translation.
Consider when I say that I'm leaving at lunch to get my fixed. Now, am I going to get a shoe repair done, or have the trunk on my car repaired? Without context you don't know. When I say "I'm going to hunt you down and make you pay for the sins of humanity" does that mean I'm going to find you at all costs, and kill you in a ritualistic way, or does it mean we're going to meet later and have enough drinks that you wish you were dead? Again, depends on context.