I can't help but think of that curious delay [in translation], the gap between the spoken word and its effect. I mean the delay that we notice whenever we attend a conference or debate in several languages: the way the laughs come out of sync once the translator manages to convey the comic effect, and how difficult it is for the speakers to be moving or eloquent in the delayed time of translation. The European 'we' is dependent on this resonance chamber, this delay. So what is the language of Europe?

Camille de Toledo, Utopie linguistique