Legal Spanish Blog
Overheard in court…
Attorney: So what happened in the accident?
Defendant: The car in front of me slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting an iguana.
Interpreter: The car in front of me slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting…(thinking iguana must be slang for something like a jersey barrier, a moped or a drug dealer!)…a what, sir?
Defendant: You know, an iguana!
Interpreter: (notices a drawing of a lizard on the police report) Oh, an actual iguana!
Charging higher interest on a loan than permitted by the law.
Heard in small claims court, where an individual was attempting to charge an exorbitant amount of interest on a personal loan given to another individual.
For more information on Colorado Usury Laws, click here.
Translations
Spanish: usura
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A legal action to recover the possession of goods. Most likely to be heard in small claims court.
Translations
Spanish: acción de reinvindicación (de bienes)
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Bedwetting. Can be a sign of sexual abuse in children.
Translations
Spanish: (la) enuresis, micción nocturna
German: bettnässen
Don’t see your language? We need your help! Please submit possible translations in your language here. (Be sure to include the term in English as well.)
Overheard in court…
Judge: Is there anything you’d like to tell me about why you failed to appear for your last court date?
Defendant: I got hit in the face with a crowbar.
Livening up a Monday morning with some classy glasses and a little fun in the (disappearing) sun!
P.S. If you were working somewhere else that day, please submit your photos here.
Overheard in court…
Judge: Is there anything you would like to tell me about the situation in which you were pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt?
Defendant: I forgot to put it on.
A band of metal with four holes that fits over the upper fingers and is gripped when a fist is made, used as a weapon.
(from thefreedictionary.com)
Possible Translations
Spanish: manopla, puño de hierro
Don’t see your language? We need your help! Please submit possible translations in your language here.
As interpreters, we often get contacted by organizations and potential clients who would like us to work for little to no pay. This document was written by two certified Court Interpreters in the state of Colorado as a way of politely responding to these types of requests.
The document follows a classic “Question & Answer” format in order to educate clients and clarify some of the mysteries about interpreting.
Please feel free to download this pdf document for your own use with potential clients and organizations. The more our communities understand what we do, the more professional and successful the field of interpreting will become.
The lag time between when an interpreter hears an utterance in the source language and renders it into the target language in simultaneous interpreting.
“We keep up, catch up, fall behind again, yet must always render appropriately everything.” – Sibirsky and Taylor, Language into Language
Décalage 