: Translating a rendering in Greek of a word/term/name in a different language into English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias So I was reading this article on Percy Bysshe Shelley's Ozymandias,

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It Depends

The first question, in my view, is whether a translation is a good idea. It would seem that "Ozymandias" is more of a transliteration into English of the Greek name, which in turn seems to be a transliteration and Hellenization of the Egyptian "User-maat-re", which if I am not mistaken indicates a devotion to the god Re (a variant of the sun-god Ra), a concept which is surely not expressed in the English word "Ozymandias". A translation might be "Chosen of Re" or some such.

In any given case, was the name in its original usage understood as a description or rather as a pure name. For example "Fletcher" once meant a parson who attached feathers to arrows, and by extension, one who made arrows. Similarly, "Smith" once meant a metal-worker, particularly a worker of Iron. But if, for example, some novel about modern Americans of 2019 written in another language were to translate a man named "Fletcher" into "arrow-makeer" or "Smith" into "iron-worker" it would seriously distort how those names are understood in context. Few people meeting a person with one of those names think much on the occupational origins of the names. Many may not even know them. In such a case, translation runs the serious risk of giving a flase impression.

Of course if it is merely a case of wanting an effect, then a name like "One-stone" may be preferable to "Einstein".

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