False Pairs in Expert Registers: the Word Drug, its Collocations and Translation Equivalents from English to Serbian Language

Abstract

The paper focuses on the problem of false pairs in English and Serbian languages, and the issues stemming from and related to this phenomenon. Special attention was given to false pairs in occupational registers, and particularly to the register of medical profession. The author gives a number of examples showing that translators often fail to perceive the differences in semantic fields covered by the pairs observed in the two languages, which may cause serious misunderstanding. While in everyday life such a misunderstanding can be a source of amusement or embarrassment, in scientific or academic registers it could have more serious consequences.