Bad Movie Logo
"A website to the detriment of good film"
Custom Search
HOMEB-MOVIE REVIEWSREADER REVIEWSFORUMINTERVIEWSUPDATESABOUT
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 19, 2024, 02:36:20 AM
712922 Posts in 53040 Topics by 7722 Members
Latest Member: GenevaBarr
Badmovies.org Forum  |  Other Topics  |  Television  |  The real meaning of "Lost in translation." « previous next »
Pages: 1 [2]
Author Topic: The real meaning of "Lost in translation."  (Read 15012 times)
Pacman000
Guest
« Reply #15 on: September 22, 2013, 01:43:29 PM »

Here's a good article on the difficulties of translating:

http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/lost-in-translation/
Logged
ER
B-Movie Kraken
*****

Karma: 1753
Posts: 13395


The sleep of reasoner breeds monsters. (sic)


« Reply #16 on: October 07, 2013, 09:40:02 AM »

I remember in school the local Archbishop once came and taught a class and he said one of the hardest parts of translating the Bible into modern languages is we've lost the meaning of so many colloquialisms that made perfect sense to those who used them 2,000-plus years ago, but which if taken literally mean nothing to us today, leaving translators having to both guess at the meaning and come up with a latter-day equivalent. Since language is nothing less than translating thought into word, there's always going to be an impurity to the exercise of communication, but taking a thought in one language and putting it into another....it's a wonder anything ever comes across as clearly as it does.

Good thing anime usually gets its point across in facial expressions...
Logged

What does not kill me makes me stranger.
Trevor
Uncle Zombie and Eminent Shitologist
B-Movie Kraken
*****

Karma: 2120
Posts: 22697



« Reply #17 on: August 26, 2014, 06:26:31 AM »

Pardonnez-moi s'il vous plaît: il est trop amusant de jouer avec le troll.  

 TeddyR TeddyR TeddyR Thumbup

If I have to tell you how much that stretched my limited French, well......  TeddyR

My high school friends who took French (I took Afrikaans) always used to amuse themselves by giving me the rudest things to say in French and then stood back as I took verbal abuse from their French teacher.  Buggedout TeddyR

I just remembered one of the things I was told to say: "Baise moi!" - I thought it was a compliment to the very pretty French teacher until she started yelling at me.  Buggedout Buggedout
Logged

I know I can make it on my own if I try, but I'm searching for the Great Heart
To stand me by, underneath the African sky
A Great Heart to stand me by.
Newt
Mostly Harmless. Mostly.
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 856
Posts: 3715


I want to be Ripley when I grow up.


« Reply #18 on: August 26, 2014, 08:14:26 AM »

I just remembered one of the things I was told to say: "Baise moi!" - I thought it was a compliment to the very pretty French teacher until she started yelling at me.  Buggedout Buggedout

TREVOR!!!   Buggedout Buggedout Buggedout  Those rotten kids!  Hatred  You're lucky she didn't wash your mouth out with soap!
Logged

"May I offer you a Peek Frean?" - Walter Bishop
"Thank you for appreciating my descent into deviant behavior, Mr. Reese." - Harold Finch
Trevor
Uncle Zombie and Eminent Shitologist
B-Movie Kraken
*****

Karma: 2120
Posts: 22697



« Reply #19 on: August 26, 2014, 08:49:07 AM »

I just remembered one of the things I was told to say: "Baise moi!" - I thought it was a compliment to the very pretty French teacher until she started yelling at me.  Buggedout Buggedout

TREVOR!!!   Buggedout Buggedout Buggedout  Those rotten kids!  Hatred  You're lucky she didn't wash your mouth out with soap!

That and I'm glad she didn't hit me: the French teacher was a feisty lady indeed.  Buggedout I remember spluttering apologies after I was told what that phrase meant - my face was so red you could have lit cigarettes off of it.  Lookingup Buggedout Buggedout
Logged

I know I can make it on my own if I try, but I'm searching for the Great Heart
To stand me by, underneath the African sky
A Great Heart to stand me by.
Archivist
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 111
Posts: 1379


« Reply #20 on: September 02, 2014, 11:42:55 PM »

Years ago, I knew of someone who had the theory that if you knew how to say, 'I have a big snake in my pants' in any language, that was all you needed.  He asked a Chinese girl to teach him how to say this in Cantonese, and she refused, saying that the translation was incredibly, incredibly crude.

Legolas = Kagolaxis.  Sounds like a medication for when you have difficulty going to the toilet.

I was given an 'unauthorized' copy of the Donnie Yen movie Ip Man.  Not since the 80's have I seen such weird translations of Cantonese into English.  They constantly translated names into their literal meaning, so 'Wing Chun' was referred to as 'Eternal Spring' or 'Everlasting Spring'. 

Also, there were weird literal translations of Cantonese, complete with Cantonese syntax.  For example, in Cantonese the word for 'challenge match' with reference to a martial arts school is 'tek kwoon', which literally translates to 'kick house of training' or 'kick temple'.

The Cantonese idiom for 'is it or is it not' or 'will you or won't you' is 'hai m-hai', which is a modifier that literally translates as 'yes / not yes'. 

So, the subtitles were full of loopy sentences like, 'teacher, he is here to kick temple!  You kick temple yes not yes?'  'I am Ip Man Everlasting Spring Time!'
Logged

"Many others since have tried & failed at making a watchable parasite slug movie" - LilCerberus
Archivist
Frightening Fanatic of Horrible Cinema
****

Karma: 111
Posts: 1379


« Reply #21 on: September 04, 2014, 07:07:26 PM »

Fortunately, the glories of the internet make even more incredibad Hong Kong subtitles available:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/44-hong-kong-movie-subtitles-gone-wrong#fjkden

"I'm the ass devil!"

"He wants you to Hong Kong and make deal with this punky."

http://members.iinet.net.au/~sharptongue/hksubs.html

"Today is my sperms birthday!"

"I scare nothing!  Even you become napkins!"

Now that's what I call lost in translation.
Logged

"Many others since have tried & failed at making a watchable parasite slug movie" - LilCerberus
Pages: 1 [2]
Badmovies.org Forum  |  Other Topics  |  Television  |  The real meaning of "Lost in translation." « previous next »
    Jump to:  


    RSS Feed Subscribe Subscribe by RSS
    Email Subscribe Subscribe by Email


    Popular Articles
    How To Find A Bad Movie

    The Champions of Justice

    Plan 9 from Outer Space

    Manos, The Hands of Fate

    Podcast: Todd the Convenience Store Clerk

    Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

    Dragonball: The Magic Begins

    Cool As Ice

    The Educational Archives: Driver's Ed

    Godzilla vs. Monster Zero

    Do you have a zombie plan?

    FROM THE BADMOVIES.ORG ARCHIVES
    ImageThe Giant Claw - Slime drop

    Earth is visited by a GIANT ANTIMATTER SPACE BUZZARD! Gawk at the amazingly bad bird puppet, or chuckle over the silly dialog. This is one of the greatest b-movies ever made.

    Lesson Learned:
    • Osmosis: os·mo·sis (oz-mo'sis, os-) n., 1. When a bird eats something.

    Subscribe to Badmovies.org and get updates by email:

    HOME B-Movie Reviews Reader Reviews Forum Interviews TV Shows Advertising Information Sideshows Links Contact

    Badmovies.org is owned and operated by Andrew Borntreger. All original content is © 1998 - 2014 by its respective author(s). Image, video, and audio files are used in accordance with the Fair Use Law, and are property of the film copyright holders. You may freely link to any page (.html or .php) on this website, but reproduction in any other form must be authorized by the copyright holder.