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 # 21
Delay and understand
Invitations to contemplate these words and play with your thoughts
What if we tell a different history
While I am writing this comment, technology is increasingly eliminating this delay. Perhaps it is therefore futile to elaborate on it. But what if we would learn to pause more often when we speak? Technology may close the gap in time, but our minds might profit from keeping it open — allowing a delay between what we say and what we understand — not only by others, but by ourselves. A delay in which we might begin to understand our own words.
of our Imagination
