What is the difference between a literal and an idiomatic translation? It could be the difference between the reader understanding what is being said, and laughing at the poor quality of the translation, or worse yet, shaking his or her head in utter bewilderment!

Most “bad” translations suffer from being too literal – too closely tied to the form rather than the meaning of the source text. I strive to say what the original text says, how a native English speaker would say it.