CHALLENGES IN TRANSLATING CULTURAL IDIOMS: A CASE STUDY OF ENGLISH TO INDONESIAN TRANSLATIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Abstract

This study explores the difficulties in translating cultural idioms from English to Indonesian in the setting of social media, with an emphasis on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The goal is to investigate the ways in which idiomatic terms, which have deep cultural connotations, are translated into other linguistic and cultural contexts. The process entails qualitatively analysing English social media posts that contain idioms, then looking at suggested or actual translations into Indonesian. Idioms such as "throw shade," "cut to the chase," and "spill the tea" are among those examined. The results show that there are substantial difficulties when translating idioms since there are no direct parallels in Indonesian and there are discrepancies in cultural references. Translators employ several techniques such as idiomatic modification, paraphrase, and occasionally removing the idiom. In order to preserve communication's authenticity and efficacy, the study emphasizes the significance of cultural competency and inventiveness in translation practice. Future study is advised to investigate idiom translation on various social media platforms in more detail and evaluate how well machine translation algorithms handle idiomatic language.