RULES TO FOLLOW AT THE OFFICE

Burghiu Iuliana-Florina

Grup Şcolar “Sfânta Maria”, Galaţi

  The article is a translation from Romanian into English of some rules which almost every employee should respect at the office so as to be perceived as an ideal colleague. Firstly, the text deals with collocations and idioms which belong to the Romanian culture, such as ‘a scãpa basma curatã’, ‘a da nas în nas’, and consequently have been difficult to render exactly in English. My intention was to preserve the intended meaning as much as possible. Moreover, the humorous device was another cultural constituent which I had to get close to, but due to the fact that cultures converge to some extent, the target text succeeds in expressing the comic of the situation.

Reguli de respectat într-un birou

1. Sã nu furi! Chiar dacã îţi inchipui cã nu-i mare lucru dacã pleci acasã cu nişte pixuri, un top de hartie, câteva dosare sau orice alte bunuri pe care le produce firma la care lucrezi, aflã cã pentru câteva nimicuri rişti sã fii prins. Imagineazã-ţi numai cum este sã dai nas in nas cu şeful sau cu un coleg tocmai când încerci sã doseşti in geantã toate acestea.

2. Sã nu dai vina pe alţii pentru greşelile tale! Este un lucru copilãresc. Sigur, poate fi jenant uneori sã recunoşti cã ai greşit, dar nu atât de penibil ca atunci când trebuie sã recunoşti cã ai minţit şi ai încercat sã scapi basma curatã dând vina pe altcineva.

3. Sã nu rãspandeşti barfe! Mulţi dintre noi rãspândesc anumite zvonuri mai mult sau mai puţin adevãrate. Gandeşte-te cã iti va fi mai bine dacã incerci sã te abţii sã mai faci comentarii sau sã mai vorbeşti de rãu pe altcineva. Incearcã sa te abţii, oricât de tare ţi-ar plãcea sã le spui şi altora anumite lucruri. Nu numai cã ii poţi face rau acelei persoane, dar îţi poti strica relaţiile cu ea, dacã va afla cã de la tine a pornit totul.

4. … dar nici sã nu apari la serviciu atunci când nu te simţi bine! In afarã de şef, care probabil se aflã in alt birou, nimeni nu se va bucura cã vii la muncã atunci cand ai gripã. Nu va trece mult şi cel puţin unul dintre cei din jurul tãu va începe sã strãnute sau sã tuşeascã. Nimeni nu va aprecia cã ai venit sa împrãştii microbi în jur.

Useful rules if you work in an office

1. Do not steal! Even if you think that leaving home with some pens, quire, some files or any other goods made by the company you work in, is not a big deal, than find out that you take the risk to be caught for almost anything. Just imagine what going cheek by jowl with your boss or colleague means when you were just trying to conceal (or hide) all those things.

I found difficult to translate “nas în nas” but I chose Cheek by jowl, with the cheeks close together; side by side; 

in close proximity. "I will go with the cheek by Jole”.          

I also tried to translate ‘a dosi’ because in Romanian it has a connection with the verb ‘a îndesa’ referring to the action 

of sticking something, quickly down to bottom of a bag. Unfortunately, there is no verb like such in English, so I chose 

‘to conceal’ or ‘to hide’.

2. Do not blame the others for your mistakes! It is a childish thing. Of course, sometimes, it is embarrassing admitting that you 

were wrong, but not as embarrassing when you have to admit that you lied trying to get off scatheless by blaming somebody else.

‘A scãpa basma curatã’ is a Romanian expression which no longer preserves the basic meaning.  It initially meant 

that if somebody had dropped the handkerchief (which in Romanian means ‘şervetel’ and not ‘basma’) and it hadn’t 

got dirty, that person was considered a lucky person. Nowadays, the verb ‘a scapa’ got the meaning ‘to save you from 

prison and punishment’ using lies. Another variant may be ’to bluff it out’.

3. Do not widespread gossips! Many of us spread gossips which may be more or less true. Your life at the office would be easier

 if you keep your opinions for you and you don’t  backbite. Do your best and think twice before you speak, no matter how bad 

you would like to share your real opinions. Not only will you harm that person but also you could ruin your good relations, 

if she/he found that everything began from you.

I considered that the imperative ‘gândeşte-te’ should be omitted at the beginning of the sentence and I used only the result 

of this process:’ your life would be easier…..’

The expression “a nu face comentarii’ is replaced by ‘to keep your opinions’ and ‘sã te abţii’ is replaced by ‘think twice before’,

 because I felt the need to recover the serious tone of the advice. Even if they are entitled rules, they have a funny side that 

is why they are considered pieces of advice instead of rules.

I used ‘to backbite’ instead of ‘to disparage’ because the second meaning is more powerful and it implies the idea of speaking 

about somebody, in the absence of that person.

4. … when you are not feeling well, do not show at the office, either. Nobody would appreciate that you came to work when you 

have flu, except, maybe, the boss, who has another office. In a short time after, at least a person who sits next to you will start 

sneeze or cough. Nobody will appreciate that you spread viruses.

Bibliography

Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman, Edinburgh, 2001.

International Dictionary of Idioms, Cambridge University Press, London, 1998.