You know, I speak several languages and, along with pretty much all multilingual people, I know that there's no such thing as a literal translation.

All words carry complex denotations (particular meanings) and even more complex connotations that flavor primary meanings with cultural information.

Just the other day, Esther Spurrill-Jones and and I were having a casual conversation about a poem she wrote that contains the French word Seigneur for Lord.

French Christians use the word Seigneur just like English-speaking Christians use the word Lord — to translate a Greek word.

But here's the thing. When a French person see the word Seigneur, they get very different pictures in their heads from an American seeing the word Lord. The connotations packed into the two words are just that different.

This is a trivial example, and not a huge problem because translators can help clarify by how they use the words.

But it does well illustrate that all translation is approximation, and that there is no such thing as a literal translation.