the laughing fit

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Sunday, May 28, 2006
Erectile dysfunction drug importer
has hard time with Maltese translation of penis
David Lindsay

On a lighter note to the heated debate over the cost of registering medicines in Malta, and one which demonstrates the bureaucratic difficulties of the system, a medicinal importer recently described how the failure to find a suitable translation of the word “penis” into Maltese had given him and the Medicines Authority something of a hard time. Some time ago, the importer started bringing a well-known erectile dysfunction drug into Malta but, unlike other similar drugs, the product had fallen under the Europe-wide centralised registration procedure applicable to newer and hi-tech medicines.

The procedure in question necessitates the translation of the product package and informational insert into Maltese and, given the nature of the medicinal in question, the word “penis” had figured in the product literature to no small extent. But when it came to translating the word into Maltese, the importers found themselves at something of a loss and requested guidance from the Medicines Authority, which, in turn, referred the importer to the tried and tested Prof. Joseph Aquilina’s English-Maltese dictionary for clarification. But when the importers purchased the pricey reference book, they found penis translated simply as “zobb”, with no other appropriate suggestions available, and went ahead with the translation as per the dictionary definition.

But when the Authority received the translation, with penis duly translated to zobb, it recoiled at the mention of the word, considering its somewhat crass everyday usage. The Authority, however, was at a loss for a viable alternative, as was the importer. The advice of lawyers was eventually sought and the importer was informed that the Maltese courts sometimes referred to the penis as “il-metafora” (the metaphor), which was rather ambiguous for inclusion in medical literature. Unfortunately, there was no precedent as this appeared to be the first such incidence in the Maltese medicinal registration field.

Both the Authority and importer alike were stumped and the importers set about racking their brains for a solution to the problem of terminology. A great number of synonyms were bandied about, including another word used in the courts – il-gisem (the body). For want of a better solution, in the end both the importer and the Authority settled for the Italian translation of penis – “pene” for the Maltese literature. “I can only imagine what difficulties could arise if literature for a women’s health product had to be translated into Maltese,” the importer mused.