Thread with 5 posts
jump to expanded postthere's something to be said for learning a new language. even one from a relatively similar culture to your own can be enlightening. for example, before learning swedish, i did not realise that ârule of lawâ is an anglo-american concept. it's not so commonly used in swedish.
sweden's as enlightenment-influenced as anywhere else in europe, so of course that set of values is important here, but different concepts are used to gesture at it: ârättssäkerhetâ (~= legal certainty) and the ârättsstatâ (literally âlaw stateâ, in english/german: Rechtsstaat)
you could have a whole âââtranslation versus localisationâââ discourse about these terms because they're not directly translatable, but you can convey approximately the same message via rewriting.
âthis is no longer a rechtsstaatâ ~= âthere is no longer rule of lawâ
it's not a potato vs potato thing though. the way the words feel and are used is a bit different. i think i hear ârättssäkerhetâ used to criticise problems with government agencies, the law and the court system in sweden as much as in other places. ârule of lawâ is more dramatic
you could point out that the concept of âlegal certaintyâ does exist in english, and this is true, but i'm not sure it means quite the same thing, and it's not as commonly used. i think it comes up most in the news in translations of stuff eu politicians say⌠makes you think!