Bad translations

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Have you noticed how incredibly off some translations are? Here in Norway a lot of the TV shows are subtitled as most of them are foreign. Some times the translators manage to do some real interesting translations, the kind that are almost funnier than the sitcom it might come from.

I thought it could be fun if we collect such gems here. Here are those I can remember here and now. They are all from series and movies, but examples from books or the like are all welcome.

I won’t bother typing the Norwegian subtitles, only what they mean in English.

“Seinfeld”: Elaine (? I think it was her, but it might have been Jerry, I can’t remember) had been to a baby shower, and said they’d had to leave because “the water broke”. In Norwegian this became: “The baby wet itself.”
In all fairness baby showers aren’t that common here in Norway, so maybe the translator thought it easier to pick something ‘close enough’.

“Married with children”: Al Bundy is wryly saying that Peggy (his wife) is in heat. In Norwegian that was translated as if he said: “Peggy is warm.”

Sitcom (don’t remember which one): A guy is watching a nature program about turtle doves. In Norwegian it was about turtles.

“Children of the corn”: The big bad was called “He who walks behind the rows”. In Norwegian: “He who walks behind the rose.”

Maybe it isn’t an example of a bad translation but I find it so funny that I simply must share this with you and that's a good thread for it. Have you read Conrad’s “The Heart of Darkness”? In English „heart” means the physical organ but also something’s core. In our language “heart” was replaced by “jadro’ (I’m writing with no diacritics) which also has two meanings – a metaphorical one, like a core of something and a physical one because this word means… testicle . So for the next time when you read this novel, remember about Poles who read “The Testicle of Darkness”. It’s exactly how we call this book in the Polish translation (but nobody even laughs because we are too used to the double meaning of this word) .

And that’s what I can remember now when it comes to the titles of movies:

Dirty Dancing – Swirling Sex

The Haunting – Haunted. Some Houses Are Born Evil (an English speaking person having heard this, asked me: “do they come out of big houses kicking and screaming?” )

Terminator was showed in the eighties in our cinemas as Electronic Murderer

A movie in the US -Free Willy - has the translation in the UK of 'unencumbered gentitals'

I wish that TV3 sometimes could show the english text instead of the dubbed norwegian one, that would certainly be lovely. When i watch pokemon in the morning and afternoon, i notice they not only chose bad voice actors, like Paul's voice being too deep, deeper than his OLDER BROTHER's, but at least, they had a man voice Ash, the theme songs COULD have been better translated, ESPECIALLY the newest one over here, Battle Dimension, that one made me disgraced, they chose the wrong singer, text and...... everything that COMES with it. Many other cartoons have the same problem.

Great stuff, Irulan and pakled!

ZEGH8578: Yes, TV3 is really bad at it. My first 2 were from TV3, the 3rd from either TV3 or TVN, while Children of the corn was from the video. NRK is usually good at it, too bad they hardly ever broadcast something worth watching!
Just this moring TV3 messed up “Married with children” again, when one of the members of “No ma’am” sarcastically was called “Free Willy” (for being fat) which was translated to “Cheap Willy”.

For anyone who thinks this topic is fun, I recommend these books:
Stewart Clark: Broken English
Charlie Croker: Lost in translation

I have them and they are very entertaining.

Sign in bar in Norway: “Women are not allowed to have children in the bar”

This is a great site: http://www.engrish.com

I have seen this letter while surfing the web...

Note :The letter was said to have been found at a certain bar in Manila and has been preserved in its original, unedited form.

==================================

To Marjie,

I am not surprise or wander why Dennis leave you. Why? What reason you can think about but you’re very fat body. I thought before that Dennis only use me to his toy but sooner and later I’m realize that he really can’t not beared or stomached to be with you anymore because at first, Dennis say he could not stand you’re habit of making intervene all his walks (appointments ) and always calling to their house what he go home or this or that

And then he say he get ashame to met iether in school or in his family and then asking you to exercise you’re very very, very fat body but you hate it thougth your the most preetiest girls he knows about what do you think you are “Beautiful Girl” of Jose Marie Chan

Even you are beautiful face to your think you do not have the right to called me whatsoever or else different name one time or the other for the real purposed to insults my personality because I’m never call you names iether in the front of Dennis or in the backs of Dennis, but if you start already to calling me different name, I don’t have any other choice but to call you other different name to like you are a PIG, FAT, OBESSED, OVERWIGHT, AND UGLY SHAPE girl. Shame to you’re body that is to a BUDING.

You can’t not blame Dennis for exchanging you to me because I am the more sexier than you when you look to us in the mirror. I’m repeat again that you are like Ike Lozada when she is a girl.

FROM: THE SEXIEST GIRL OF D.M.

P.S. You say that I’m the bad breathe but who is Dennis want to kissed. Me or you? You or me? And the final is me. There you go.
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:lmao: What a letter!

btw,this is quite similar to this:

http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthr ... #pid292374

skilpadde, have you checked nrk anytime in the past 20 years?
nrk has the absolutely best programming norwegian tv can offer, when it comes to quality. it has the best handpicked movies, the absolutely best documentaries. nrk docus are the only ones that respect your intelligence. at least i think so. i watch tv3 a lot, cus its light and easy background noise, most of its programming is pure crap

its like a die-hard myth that nrk sucks. the other channels survive by mindless commercialism, which is naturally more popular than more intelligent programming :I

bdhkhsfgk, a dub is a complete voice-over. norwegian tv doesnt dub their programmes. the only dubbing norway does is childrens movies and cartoons, and never on tv :]

Eh, no it's not. NRK sucks! I thoroughly check the TV guide nearly every day. And NRK sucks! The only things they have broadcasted the last year that interested me was "Schrødinger's katt" and "Life in cold blood". NRK has the worst programming Norwegian TV can offer. I'd pick TV2, TVN or even TV3 with its subtitles over NRK any day!

Big Brother was awesome, so was Idol, but for shows that exist right now, my favorite is Hotel Cæsar, I NEVER get tired of that, i mean; Relationships, conflicts, problems at work/job............. What more can you ask for, i have loved that show since i was 6-7 when it came out

There's a few problems i can often think of when it comes to translating stuff. 1) Utterly bad translation or typos. 2) word for word translation. 3) bad synchronism between lip movement and speech. =/ That's about it from the top of my head.