How interpreters juggle two languages at once - Ewandro Magalhaes

In 1956, during a diplomatic reception in Moscow, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev told Western Bloc ambassadors, " My vas pokhoronim! " His interpreter rendered that into English as, " We will bury you! "

This statement sent shockwaves through the Western world, heightening the tension between the Soviet Union and the US who were in the thick of the Cold War.

Some believe this incident alone set East/West relations back a decade.

As it turns out, Khrushchev's remark was translated a bit too literally.

Given the context, his words should have been rendered as, " We will live to see you buried, "

meaning that Communism would outlast Capitalism, a less threatening comment.

Though the intended meaning was eventually clarified, the initial impact of Khrushchev's apparent words put the world on a path that could have led to nuclear armageddon.

So now, given the complexities of language and cultural exchange, how does this sort of thing not happen all the time?

Much of the answer lies with the skill and training of interpreters, to overcome language barriers.

For most of history, interpretation was mainly done consecutively, with speakers and interpreters making pauses to allow each other to speak.