Monday 2 February 2009

Translation in an age of capitalism - word of the day prix choc

As I go around the supermarket my eyes are assaulted by fluorescent orange lables. A few years ago the orange lable meant there was 50% off but then the policy changed and today only 30% off is ever offered in my local shop. However very cleverly the special offer lables are the same shape and colour as the reduced lables.
This evening I could have bought two 500 gramme bags of rice at a "prix choc". Round the corner in a different aisle a single 1000 gramme bag of exactly the same rice was being sold at 20% less. A real case of caveat emptor leading me to grimly observe that a translation of prix choc should really be "shocking price" .
Translation in the age of capitalism is about navigating and interpreting between the fluorescent lables as much as understanding the words.
Meanwhile for many people the huge rise and volatility of rice prices is a matter of survival and not just of irritation.

1 Comment:

janetlees said...

Good point, but of course I thought 'prix choc' was the price of chocolate.