it’s not that unusual, in translation, to come across something that has a dedicated word or…

lukittuhhh:it’s not that unusual, in translation, to come across something that has a dedicated word or expression in the source language but requires a lengthier explication in the target text. sometimes, however, it’s the other way around! not so much found in the process of translation as found waiting for you in translation.a very satisfying case, in the very first chapter I picked to translate, wasGideon would have immediately made plans to … do up all the buttons on [Harrow’s] shirts, making sure that each button went into the hole above the one it was meant to go into.which is a long description for something that Finnish has a word for:[Gideon] olisi heti ottanut asiakseen … napittaa kaikki [Harrow'n] paidat juoponnappiin.(lit. button her shirts into drunkard’s buttons)