To put it in another way, the first rule tells us that, with the help of the context, it is always possible for interpreters to convey the meaning. The other two rules indicate the importance of being cautious with idioms. Interpreters should first be able to distinguish from the context the intended function of the idiom, thus, refrain from using formally similar idioms that actually have a different meaning in the target language. If the interpreter is not confident of providing an accurate idiomatic rendition in the target language, he should simply avoid using an idiom. After all, a flat but faithful rendering of an idiom better meets the standards of interpreters’ work ethics than a flowery but erroneous one.
2.2.2 Interpreting of figures
Figures may cause problems to interpreters because they are very often unpredictable, and there is a huge difference in measuring units between Chinese and English. It is likely that an interpreter expects some figures on certain occasions, but it is impossible for the interpreter to predict the exact form in which figures will be used. During consecutive interpreting, the unpredictability of figures puts great pressure on interpreters, especially in such settings as business negotiations when an accurate interpretation of figures bears extreme importance.
Cardinal numbers are also called natural numbers. The problematic part of cardinal number interpreting originates from the different counting units in English and Chinese. Cardinal numbers of 3 or fewer digits are relatively easy for interpreters, and it is those” big numbers” that cause difficulties. We can find equivalents for ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands in Chinese, but the Chinese “wan”, “shiwan” and numbers bigger than those are often difficult for interpreters to convert into English immediately. The reason lies in the different counting and measuring units of cardinal numbers between the two languages. In Chinese, cardinal numbers increase every digit with designated measure words while in English they increase every three digits to acquire a matching measure word if greater than the thousand units. For example, the number 36,542,970,675,124 should be read in Chinese: 36兆5,429亿,7067万5,124. The number is read so simply because in Chinese we break the number every four digits. In English, the number is read: thirty-six trillion, five hundred forty-two billion, nine hundred seventy million, six hundred seventy-five thousand, one hundred twenty-four. A better understanding of different ways of writing and reading big cardinal numbers in English and Chinese may help interpreters. Take the above number, for example, and compare:
Chinese: 36,(zhao)5,429,(yi)7,067,(wan)5,124.
English: 36(trillion),542(billion),970(million),675(thousand),124.
Obviously, it would help an interpreter if she could break cardinal numbers every four digits from the end when working from English into Chinese, and every three digits from the end when working from Chinese into English. In order to interpret big cardinal numbers accurately and efficiently, it is very important for interpreters to get sufficient practice, it is time-consuming and the goal for the interpreter is to familiarize with the correct way of breaking up big cardinal numbers.
As for coping tactics in interpreting cardinal numbers, there are two ways: obscuring and note taking, the interpreter could provide an approximate number if it does not hinder the conveying of ideas. Or, if the number is of vital importance, say, very important figures in negotiations and meetings, he/she is supposed to jot down the number and then break the number up in such a way that the number could be easily reproduced in the target language.
2.2.2 Interpreting of humor and jokes
Humor in conferences mostly takes the form of anecdotes, irony and jokes. Typical purposes include introducing a subject or speaker, easing perlocutionary effects for a culturally homogeneous audience. Even though humor is rooted in language itself, it is difficult to render it from one language into another. Taken out of its original cultural context, humor can be, at worst, incomprehensible to an audience that does not share the same cultural heritage. In a luckier case where an interpreter hits upon something comparable in the target culture, humor might be, at best, a paraphrase that loses most of the perlocutionary effects intended by the speaker.
An interpreter is both a receiver of the speech in the source language and a sender of the speech in the target language. Therefore, grasping and locating the perlocutionary effect of a source text and, if possible, devising strategies for producing comparable effects, on the spot, in the target language are aspirations that might provoke lifelong efforts of no avail. Nonetheless, no one should take a fatalistic view of the prospects for interpreting humor and jokes across language.
As we have stated throughout, interpreters must have a solid grounding in the working languages, especially in vocabulary and terminology. But when speakers proffer wisecracks, for the aforementioned reasons, interpreters’ mental repertoire of lexical equivalents will not be reliable in creating perlocutionary effects to the same extent as the original. This is when interpreters will have to be mentally agile and improvise for their mission impossible. The most notorious of jocular comments is the pun－a play on words for the combination and contrast of sound and meaning. Unless interpreters happen to be in possession of a pun in the target language with similar functions both in meaning and form (if there ever is one), they can do nothing more than explain the pun in as humorous a fashion as they can.
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