Liberal translation may be defined as a supplementary means to mainly convey the meaning and spirit of the original without trying to replace its sentence patterns or figure of speech (刘重德，1998). Some idioms, due to cultural differences or cultural blanks in the language concerned, have no equivalent image in the target language culture. In translating such idioms, a translator is often obliged to sacrifice images to meanings by giving up some, sometimes even all, of their cultural features of the original texts and translating them liberally or freely so that the implied meaning of the figures of speech or idioms in the original can be expressed as fully as possible. In addition, liberal translation is adopted especially when the translator thinks subconsciously that the linguistic culture of his own nation is better than that of the original, or when contradictions occur between cultural phenomena of the source language and habits of the target language and we should ensure the integration of the target language and the target culture. Here are some examples.

[32] Achilles’ heel
[32tr] 致命弱点
[33] At the eleventh hour
[33tr] 关键时刻，在最后关头
[34] To play second fiddle
[34tr] 充当副手
[35] The patience of Job
[35tr] 极大的耐心
[36] Separate the sheep from the goats
[36tr] 区分好人与坏人
[37] Tom, Dick and Harry
[37tr] 普通人，无名小卒
[38] Cat’s paw
[38tr] 炮灰
[39] Break the ice
[39tr] 无话找话
[40] Pass the buck
[40tr] 推卸责任
[41] Grasp the nettle
[41tr] 快刀斩乱麻
[42] Pay through the nose
[42tr] 付出高价
[43] Have cold feet
[43tr] 发怵

Liberal translation is by far the most common way of translating idioms when a match cannot be found in the target language or when it seems inappropriate to use idiomatic language in the target text because of differences in stylistic preferences of the source and target languages. Sometimes the style can be neglected and in this case, there is always some loss of the rhetorical features or even part of the meaning. However, liberal translation doesn’t mean random translation. Only when you change the sentence structure or the figure of speech but make no addition to or omission of the original meaning at will can your translation be regarded as proper free translation; otherwise, it is merely random translation.

In Case Two the researcher elaborates on what liberal translation is and when and why it is used. However, the priority should have been given to the analysis of the data—application of liberal translation in the examples. Although he may not have to explain why and how it is adopted in each and every of the thirteen examples, he is expected to do so with at least three of them. Please remember that the objective of data analysis is not to explain theories but to use them to explain translation phenomena.