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Abstract
Idioms are expressions frequently seen in literature, and these expressions occasionally project the culture of the society in which they originated. However, translating idioms is a contested issue and they should not be translated literally because they mostly have a figurative meaning. Regarding this, it can sometimes be problematic to translate idioms. Hence, it is essential for translators to have a thorough understanding of the cultural context of the societies for which they are translating. With regard to this issue, the study intends to discuss how English idioms existing in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” were translated into Turkish. Thus, the decisions made by the translator while transferring the idioms in “To Build a Fire” into its Turkish translation “Ateş Yakmak” translated by Nurettin Özyürek, were uncovered. These decisions were analyzed considering Mona Baker’s (2001, pp.72-77) strategies for translating idiomatic expressions: “using an idiom of similar meaning and form, using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form, translation by paraphrase and translation by omission”. The findings revealed that the translator applied Baker’s (2001) “using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form” and “translation by paraphrase” techniques while other techniques were not chosen. The findings also indicated that the most prevalent technique was “translation by paraphrase” (Baker, 2001).
