, commonly known by the name ''English as She Is Spoke'', is a 19th-century book written by Pedro Carolino, with some editions crediting José da Fonseca as a co-author. It was intended as a Portuguese– English conversational guide or phrase book. However, because the provided translations are usually inaccurate or unidiomatic, it is regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour in translation. The humour largely arises from Carolino's indiscriminate use of

literal translation Literal translation, direct translation, or word-for-word translation is the translation of a text done by translating each word separately without analysing how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence. In translation theory, anoth ...

, which has led to many

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

atic expressions being translated ineptly. For example, Carolino translates the Portuguese phrase as "raining in jars", when an analogous English idiom is available in the form of "raining buckets". It is widely believed that Carolino could not speak English and that a French–English dictionary was used to translate an earlier Portuguese–French phrase book , written by José da Fonseca. Carolino likely added Fonseca's name to the book, without his permission, in an attempt to give it some credibility. The Portuguese–French phrase book is apparently a competent work, without the defects that characterize the Portuguese–English one. The title ''English as She Is Spoke'' was given to the book in its 1883 republication, but the phrase does not appear in the original phrasebook, nor does the word "spoke".

Cultural appraisals and influence

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

said of ''English as She Is Spoke'' "Nobody can add to the absurdity of this book, nobody can imitate it successfully, nobody can hope to produce its fellow; it is perfect." Stephen Pile mentions this work in '' The Book of Heroic Failures'' and comments: "Is there anything in conventional English which could equal the vividness of ''to craunch a marmoset''?" The original has "to craunch the marmoset", an entry under the book's "Idiotisms and Proverbs". This is the author's attempt to translate the French slang idiomatic expression , used to indicate "waiting patiently for someone to open a door", with referring to the "knocking" or "rapping" sound, and , a term for the grotesque door knockers in vogue at the time. "Craunch" is an archaic term meaning 'to chew' or 'crunch'. In Modern French, usually means "to crunch" (cf. croque monsieur); its use in this idiom is a survival from the Middle French meaning of , , which meant "to slap, hit, strike". Tristan Bernard wrote a very short comedy with a similar name, (1899). Ionesco's (1950) is mostly made of lines used out-of- context from inter-lingual conversation books. British comedy television series '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' made use of the theme of the mistranslating guide in the sketch " Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook" (1970), which may have been inspired by ''English as She Is Spoke''.

Phrase examples

In addition to the examples above, Carolino managed to create a number of words which added to the book's unintentionally comic effect. Many can be found in the "Familiar Dialogues" section and include the above "Sook here if I knew to tame hix".

Publication history

* 1853 – In Paris, J.-P. Aillaud, Monlon e Ca published a Portuguese–French phrase book entitled by José da Fonseca. The Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal (National Library of Portugal) has a copy of this book with catalog number L.686P. Another copy of this book is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France) under the catalog number FRBNF30446608. * 1855 – In Paris, J.-P. Aillaud, Monlon e Ca published a Portuguese–English phrase book entitled (literally, ''The new guide to conversation, in Portuguese and English, in Two Parts''), with authorship attributed to José da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino. A copy of this book is in the ''Bibliothèque nationale de France'' under the catalog number FRBNF30446609. Another copy is in the Bodleian Library,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. * 1883 – The book was published in London as ''English as She is Spoke''. The first American edition, published in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, also came out this year, with an introduction by

. * 1969 – The book was re-published in New York by

Dover Publications Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, book ...

, under the title ''English as she is spoke; the new guide of the conversation in Portuguese and English'' (). * 2002 – A new edition edited by Paul Collins was published under the Collins Library imprint of McSweeney's (). * 2002 – Brazilian edition of the copies of the 1855 edition held in the ''Bibliothèque nationale de France'' and the Bodleian Library, published by Casa da Palavra, Rio de Janeiro (). * 2004 – A revised paperback version of the above Collins Library edition was published ().

Related titles

The phrase inspired some other publications, notably: * ''English as she is wrote'' (1883) * ''English as she is taught'' (1887), also with introduction by Mark Twain * ''Ingglish az she iz spelt'' (1885), by "Fritz Federheld" (pseudonym of Frederick Atherton Fernald) * ''Music As She Is Wrote'' (1915), a humorous dictionary of musical terms by the British composer/conductor Frederic Hymen Cowen * ''English Opera as She is Wrote'' (1918), opera burlesque organized by Jane Joseph satirizing operatic composers like Verdi, Wagner,

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

, which Gustav Holst participated in * ''Britain as she is visit'', a spoof tourist guide in a similar style to the original book, by Paul Jennings, British Life (M Joseph, 1976) * ''Elvish as She Is Spoke'' (2006), by Carl F. Hostetter, from ''The Lord of the Rings 1954–2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder'' (Marquette, 2006), ed. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull * ''Rails as she is spoke'' (2012), a humorous guide about OOP problems in the Ruby on Rails web application framework, by Giles Bowkett

Contemporary allusions

The phrase ''English as she is spoke'' is nowadays used allusively, in a form of linguistic play, as a stereotypical example of bad English grammar. In January 1864, then US President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

and Secretary of State William H. Seward laughed as Lincoln's private secretary

John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a Secretary to the President of the United States, private secretary for Abraha ...

read aloud from the book. The book has been cited as one example of many diversions that Lincoln used to lighten his heart and mind from the weight of the US

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and his cabinet's political infighting. In Jerome K. Jerome's book '' Three Men on the Bummel'', set in the late 1800s, the character George comedically tries to use a badly written German–English phrasebook to do some shopping and errands around London. In the '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' sketch " Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook", a man unknowingly causes trouble by reading from a Hungarian–English phrasebook with deliberately mistranslated phrases that are absurd or inappropriate. The sketch ends with the publisher of the book being questioned in court. The English prog rock band

Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (Cardiacs), Tim Smith (guitar and lead vocals) and his brother Jim Smith (bassist), Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One ...

used passages from the book in their 1999 album ''Guns'', most notably in the songs "Cry Wet Smile Dry" and "Sleep All Eyes Open." A more subtle reference occurs in Series 3, Episode 10 "The Affair at the Victory Ball" of the series ''Agatha Christie's Poirot''. This episode ends with Poirot offering to give Inspector Japp "my personal copy of 'The English as She Should be Spoken.'"

Notes

References

External links

*
''The New Guide of the Conversation, in Portuguese and English, in Two Parts'': full facsimile of the 1855 edition at Google Books

Plain text ebook of ''English as She is Spoke'' at Project Gutenberg
*

English as She is Spoke: 150 Years of a Classic
information about other English-Language editions {{authority control 1855 books D. Appleton & Company books English-language education Humour in translation Language textbooks Portuguese language Translation dictionaries