Today, 13 September, is a day dedicating to celebrating the life and works of Roald Dahl, one of the world’s most extraordinary storytellers. He gifted us many a wonderful story such as The Twits and Esio Trot, as well as memorable characters including Oompa-Loompa (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Miss Trunchbull (from Matilda), and Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge (from James and the Giant Peach) that have entertained both children and adults for generations.
As a language lover, I am particularly drawn to what makes Roald Dahl’s timeless classics most captivating: his elaborate and inventive use of language.
Gobblefunk is the language Roald Dahl created that bends conventional linguistic structures and grammar rules to entertain readers. Unlike gibberish, Gobblefunk makes a lot of sense even to the little ones because such wordplay is achieved through reimagining the building blocks of language. That is, using word formation patterns and spoonerisms – swapping the first sounds of two words – with which younger readers are already familiar to create new vocabulary and meanings from everyday words, making the world of his stories more alive and amusing.
As a translator and transcreator, I see Roald Dahl’s linguistic playfulness a whoopsy-whiffling – that is “great” in Gobblefunk! – reminder that we don’t always have to take language too seriously.
This is especially true when we are working on a marketing campaign, where an engaging approach to wordplay can create an instant and lasting impression on a brand’s potential customers, while the use of puns in advertising may also turn a mere slogan into a valuable brand asset. Some examples are Kit Kat’s “Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat” – do you see what they did there with the word “break”? – and American Eagle’s controversial “Great Jeans”, which, like it or not, went viral.
There are a lot to thank Roald Dahl for: the mad worlds, the endless laughs, the life lessons, and what’s more, his boundless creativity and sharp wit that enable us to appreciate the richness and vibrancy of language and instil a belief that, if I may misquote, “somewhere inside all of us is the linguistic power to change the world”.
Happy Roald Dahl Day!