"Humor is the first of the gifts to perish in a foreign tongue"
- Virginia Woolf
About this Quote
This quote by Virginia Woolf speaks with the trouble of translating humor from one language to another. Humor is frequently based on cultural referrals, wordplay, and other subtleties that can be difficult to convey in a different language. Woolf suggests that humor is the first of the presents to be lost in translation, as it is the most difficult to convey. This is since humor depends on the understanding of the culture and language of the speaker. Without this understanding, the joke or pun may be lost in translation. Woolf's quote is a pointer of the importance of understanding the culture and language of the speaker in order to completely appreciate their humor.
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