Diplomatic language: 'Go to @#$%!'

With the ruckus over European cartoons insulting the founder of Islam subsiding a little, I went on the internet looking for calm, well-considered commentary on cross-cultural communication. That's what we're really talking about here. I found plenty, almost too much to assimilate. Somehow, a civil conversation has to take place between Muslims and mostly secular people in the West. And those conversations may be beginning, especially in the media. We'll follow them as they develop.

But instead, today I was drawn into a news blog posted Tuesday by Simon Jeffrey of The Guardian, a center-left newspaper in England that is considered one of the best in the world. I'll admit it -- it tempted me down off from the high road. Jeffreys was commenting on Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez' reply, in colorful street language, when British prime minister Tony Blair criticized him in the British House of Commons.

Chavez' idiom was a little hard for the Brits, who learn their Spanish in school and not on the street, to figure out. Said Jeffrey:

When Hugo Chavez told Tony Blair to "vayase largo al cipote" there were a few immediate problems. Where had the Venezuelan leader told the prime minister to go? What was he being asked to stick where?

It is normal in diplomacy for words to assume a level of meaning rather different to that understood by the man in the street. A "full and frank discussion" is, for example, something closer to a flaming row. The difference with Mr Chavez's words is that the closer you are to the Venezuelan street, the more likely you are to understand them.

"Vayase" means go, and "largo" a long way - that much is straightforward. "Cipote" is rather more difficult. ...

I'll paraphrase: Jeffrey said the Spaniards he asked thought it was an anatomical reference, but they couldn't decide which body part it referred to. He continued:

A colleague who spent six years as a reporter in neighbouring Colombia then offered his expertise. He had never encountered the phrase either, but by consulting the extensive online dictionary of the Real Academia Espanola (yes, part of this job does involve looking up rude words in dictionaries), he put it somewhere between "get stuffed" and a rather more vehement expletive ending in "off".

The jibe at Mr Blair - prompted by him telling the Commons that Venezuela should abide by the rules of the international community - seemed to pose similar problems for others trying to report it. The Reuters news agency, whose translation we followed, had Mr Chavez telling the prime minister to "Go right to hell" but "using local slang that is more vulgar". The Spanish version had to translate too, adding the word "diablo" (devil) so readers who did not understand "cipote" would get the pitch of going to hell.

And that's how the international press settled one of the great issues of the day. Tomorrow we'll get back to the efforts to restore civil discourse between secular journalists and Muslims in Europe.