  We provide a complete and unified description of translational symmetry
breaking in a simple holographic model. In particular, we focus on the
distinction and the interplay between explicit and spontaneous breaking. We
consider a class of holographic massive gravity models which allow to range
continuously from one situation to the other. We study the collective degrees
of freedom, the electric AC conductivity and the shear correlator in function
of the explicit and spontaneous scales. We show the possibility of having a
sound-to-diffusion crossover for the transverse phonons. Within our model, we
verify the validity of the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation. Despite of strong
evidence for the absence of any standard dislocation induced phase relaxation
mechanism, we identify a novel relaxation scale controlled by the ratio between
the explicit and spontaneous breaking scales. Finally, in the
pseudo-spontaneous limit, we prove analytically the relation, which has been
discussed in the literature, between this novel relaxation scale, the mass of
the pseudo-phonons and the Goldstone diffusivity. Our numerical data confirms
this analytic result.
