Hello,
DON:
(*SPOILER on A Little Something Special*)
>? If you were "expecting something more", that's the definition of
>"disappointing", eh? But I knew I didn't give DD heroic enough roles,
>so I thought giving him the speech that intellectually and dynamically
>spurs the entire city to action would be the best part in the story.
Well, my english needs a total refresh: I misunderstood the real
meaning of disappointing, I was supposing it was used to define a
status like "boring", or "annoying". And I was not meaning that
Donald's role was wrong: his role was GREAT, I liked very much the
panels of his speech, so much that I'd wish to see even more of them...
that's all.
BTW, thank you for your answers!
PER:
Great statistics! Are we really 500? WOW, there must be a lot of
lurkers.... BTW, there are 462 subscibers to the digest and 40 to
individual messages.... are there 2 persons who receive both the digest
and the messages??
ABOUT MR. BLUM:
In recent digests many times have been messages about the writings of
MR. Blum, and they made me curious to take a look at them. Is there a
website with them or a book from him? As long as I know in Italy are no
published articles by him.
HARRY:
>"I heard y'were lookin' for a teller!"
>"Sorry! You're not the man we want! The teller we're
>looking for is the one who skipped with $60,000!"
Well, maybe it's due to Italian inflation, but in the italian version
of the story, the man they want, skipped with 1.000.000!!!!!
Ciao,
Paolo Castagno alias Luna Storta
---------------------------------
visit the Disney Comics Market at
http://www.confor.it:2222/disney
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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Author
Topic: 199801
(513 messages)
Luna Storta
Happy new year
Message 46 -
1998-01-04 at 21:15:59
Stefan Diös
Translating wordplay
Message 47 -
1998-01-05 at 02:40:18
Regarding "Plain Awful" (brought up by Rich Morrissey), Martin Berglund gave
a very good explanation of how this witty name is rendered in Swedish.
(Digest #1.) The name, "Avskyvarld", is indeed a brilliant translation that
keeps the original "double entendre" intact in a remarkably simple and
effectual way. The responsible party, as far as we know, would be Per Anders
Westrin with wife Maibrit, who wrote the Swedish scripts when "Lost in the
Andes" was first published here (as late as 1963).
However, I believe that Rich was referring to the sequel by Don Rosa,
"Return to Plain Awful", first published in DDA #12 (first Gladstone run).
In the Scandinavian weeklies, at least the Swedish ones, it appeared in
##17-20, 1990.
I hope I've learned enough from reading this list not to disclose too much
of the ending, but it does involve a clever pun on one classic $crooge
catchphrase.
More so, one of the meanings is shown in the picture. I wrote the Swedish
dialogue for that story (as I have been privileged enough to do for every
Rosa story published here so far), and I remember having quite some trouble
with that part. In order to make the pun work, I had to drop the key phrase
that is so often repeated in other stories and so central to $crooge's
character and history, and substitute some other phrase that could be used
for the sight gag in the end. This, of course, detracts much from the spirit
of the original, and I was not particularly pleased with the rather weakish
result. I agree that it would be interesting to learn how other translators
coped with this, and other similar problems.
I want to point out that I very much enjoy the challenge of good puns in
good stories, if not taken to extremes. Don Rosa has gracefully supplied me
with several headaches during these years - and these are invariably among
the most pleasurable of headaches! It's not always possible to find good
solutions, and I have certainly found myself forced to ignore the pun
altogether on more than one occasion. Generally, though, some kind of gag
can be extracted, or maybe inserted somewhere else in the story. More often
than one would expect, an incredible solution jumps off the page and more or
less writes itself. Rarely as good as "Avskyvarld", perhaps, but in the same
genre.
A specific Don Rosa story that comes to mind is "Fortune on the Rocks" from
U$A #9 (and Swedish weekly ##8-9, 1990). This little gem (uh) of a story is
chock-full of puns relating to rocks and minerals. As I recall, I was able
to find one or two good Swedish equivalents, at least one really bad one (so
bad it's almost good), and, hopefully, a few passable ones. I'm also sure
that some were left out entirely. But I do remember this story as extremely
fun to work with! It was also one of the first instances for me to try my
hand on elaborate Woodchuck-style abbreviations.
If I have to mention a pun that I didn't even notice (and couldn't have done
anything about, even if I had), it would be the infamous "coral barques"
from "Treasure under Glass". This story, by the way, is still one of my
favorite Rosas.
Naturally, the toughest puns are those that are illustrated or have an
important bearing on the plot - let alone both. The most difficult case I've
ever come across in about 15 years of translating Disney comics occurred
quite recently. In fact, the story has just published in Scandinavia some
week ago. So I won't say much about it here, but it is written by one of the
finest of the "new breed" of writers. Pat, if you're out there - you realize
what you put me through?!? Wheeze! I'm sure someone will get back to this
story when it gets published in English. As I hope it will be, what with
everything that's happening these days.
That's all for now. Except this, in line with the subject at hand:
DWIGHT:
"Mess of the Abbevilles"?!? I like that!
Stefan Dios
Malmo, Sweden
a very good explanation of how this witty name is rendered in Swedish.
(Digest #1.) The name, "Avskyvarld", is indeed a brilliant translation that
keeps the original "double entendre" intact in a remarkably simple and
effectual way. The responsible party, as far as we know, would be Per Anders
Westrin with wife Maibrit, who wrote the Swedish scripts when "Lost in the
Andes" was first published here (as late as 1963).
However, I believe that Rich was referring to the sequel by Don Rosa,
"Return to Plain Awful", first published in DDA #12 (first Gladstone run).
In the Scandinavian weeklies, at least the Swedish ones, it appeared in
##17-20, 1990.
I hope I've learned enough from reading this list not to disclose too much
of the ending, but it does involve a clever pun on one classic $crooge
catchphrase.
More so, one of the meanings is shown in the picture. I wrote the Swedish
dialogue for that story (as I have been privileged enough to do for every
Rosa story published here so far), and I remember having quite some trouble
with that part. In order to make the pun work, I had to drop the key phrase
that is so often repeated in other stories and so central to $crooge's
character and history, and substitute some other phrase that could be used
for the sight gag in the end. This, of course, detracts much from the spirit
of the original, and I was not particularly pleased with the rather weakish
result. I agree that it would be interesting to learn how other translators
coped with this, and other similar problems.
I want to point out that I very much enjoy the challenge of good puns in
good stories, if not taken to extremes. Don Rosa has gracefully supplied me
with several headaches during these years - and these are invariably among
the most pleasurable of headaches! It's not always possible to find good
solutions, and I have certainly found myself forced to ignore the pun
altogether on more than one occasion. Generally, though, some kind of gag
can be extracted, or maybe inserted somewhere else in the story. More often
than one would expect, an incredible solution jumps off the page and more or
less writes itself. Rarely as good as "Avskyvarld", perhaps, but in the same
genre.
A specific Don Rosa story that comes to mind is "Fortune on the Rocks" from
U$A #9 (and Swedish weekly ##8-9, 1990). This little gem (uh) of a story is
chock-full of puns relating to rocks and minerals. As I recall, I was able
to find one or two good Swedish equivalents, at least one really bad one (so
bad it's almost good), and, hopefully, a few passable ones. I'm also sure
that some were left out entirely. But I do remember this story as extremely
fun to work with! It was also one of the first instances for me to try my
hand on elaborate Woodchuck-style abbreviations.
If I have to mention a pun that I didn't even notice (and couldn't have done
anything about, even if I had), it would be the infamous "coral barques"
from "Treasure under Glass". This story, by the way, is still one of my
favorite Rosas.
Naturally, the toughest puns are those that are illustrated or have an
important bearing on the plot - let alone both. The most difficult case I've
ever come across in about 15 years of translating Disney comics occurred
quite recently. In fact, the story has just published in Scandinavia some
week ago. So I won't say much about it here, but it is written by one of the
finest of the "new breed" of writers. Pat, if you're out there - you realize
what you put me through?!? Wheeze! I'm sure someone will get back to this
story when it gets published in English. As I hope it will be, what with
everything that's happening these days.
That's all for now. Except this, in line with the subject at hand:
DWIGHT:
"Mess of the Abbevilles"?!? I like that!
Stefan Dios
Malmo, Sweden
Soeren Krarup Olesen
Scarpa's reprints in Italy
Message 48 -
1998-01-05 at 12:08:27
Leonardo Gori wrote:
> Yes, positively. "Comic Art" publisher (Via F. Domiziano, 9 ROMA - IT=
ALY,
> (Email removed) ), printed (for the "direct" market) a *complete* edi=
tion
> of Scarpa's early work (only 1 episode is missing, "Codino Cavallo
> marino"), from the very beginning (1953) to 1962, in 12 hardbound vol=
umes,
> larger (in format) than "Topolino". The books are in sharp b/w, the s=
ources
> are the Mondadori's proofs, corrected and integrated with the lost
> material, and with contribution of me, Luca and alberto. The series i=
s "Le
> grandi storie di...", and they are also other volumes devoted to Carp=
i's,
> Bottaro's, Cavazzano's and also some american authors' work.
Great! What is the price of this 12 volume edition? How do I order?
S=F8ren Krarup Olesen
http://www.kom.auc.dk/~sko
> Yes, positively. "Comic Art" publisher (Via F. Domiziano, 9 ROMA - IT=
ALY,
> (Email removed) ), printed (for the "direct" market) a *complete* edi=
tion
> of Scarpa's early work (only 1 episode is missing, "Codino Cavallo
> marino"), from the very beginning (1953) to 1962, in 12 hardbound vol=
umes,
> larger (in format) than "Topolino". The books are in sharp b/w, the s=
ources
> are the Mondadori's proofs, corrected and integrated with the lost
> material, and with contribution of me, Luca and alberto. The series i=
s "Le
> grandi storie di...", and they are also other volumes devoted to Carp=
i's,
> Bottaro's, Cavazzano's and also some american authors' work.
Great! What is the price of this 12 volume edition? How do I order?
S=F8ren Krarup Olesen
http://www.kom.auc.dk/~sko
Daniel Van Eijmeren
Lo$ 3B: Indonesia
Message 49 -
1998-01-05 at 14:43:47
DON ROSA, 30 DECEMBER 1997:
> That leads me to ask for help with my current project -- the new
> episode in the "Lo$"... this will be chapter 3B, taking place in late
> 19th century Indonesia. (And if you think you can guess why, shut
> up! [...]) I haven't finished looking, but maybe somebody here can
> quickly put me on the track of a few good books which will show me
> EXACTLY what sorts of sailing ships and clothing and buildings and who
> the rulers were on Java in those years. Maybe Harry or another Dutch
> Duckfan can help, since Java was a Dutch colony then.
Do you still need this information? I've called around and got the
telephone-number of the "Tropenmuseum" in Amsterdam (020-5688215). They
have a library there, but couldn't help me because I was not specific
enough in my question (I hadn't reread your letter at that point). The
lady told me they have a lot of books, so finding information certainly
won't be a problem.
So this is at least a beginning, but before I go brainstorming in how to
dig up information, I would like to know if there's a certain deadline.
It's no use to search if you don't need it to be found anymore. :-)
Tell me what you need (and when) and I'll try my best to get as much as
possible.
Maybe people will now think I'm contradicting myself because I've said I'm
not quite fond of the new 'untold' Lo$-stories. Well, this is still the
case, but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to help out. Sitting back here
in Holland when it's about Indonesia is almost *counteracting* and you
don't want me to do that, eh? :-)
A warning: When I was calling around I also thought of a man who comes from
Indonesia, but I got the advice that asking him would be "too painful".
I don't know quite much about Dutch history when it comes to Indonesia
so I really can't say if this is something general (do you know HARRY?),
but I thought it might be better to warn you: You might step on something
that might not mean much to you, but which is something very touchy here.
The war between Holland and Indonesia was 'only' about 50 years ago, so
many people do still remember it from their very own memory.
HARRY FLUKS:
Please help me out, am I right here? My knowlegde is really much too hazy
on this matter. There has been some negativeness according to Holland and
Indonesia in the news recently (1996 or 1997), but I really have no idea
what it was about. Are my warnings valid?
Greetings,
--- Daniel
"It *is* true that many businessmen need only an
*easy chair* and a *telephone* to make money!"
(Don Rosa - Nobody's Business)
Indeed: It's really amazing how one can 'travel by telephone'! :-)
> That leads me to ask for help with my current project -- the new
> episode in the "Lo$"... this will be chapter 3B, taking place in late
> 19th century Indonesia. (And if you think you can guess why, shut
> up! [...]) I haven't finished looking, but maybe somebody here can
> quickly put me on the track of a few good books which will show me
> EXACTLY what sorts of sailing ships and clothing and buildings and who
> the rulers were on Java in those years. Maybe Harry or another Dutch
> Duckfan can help, since Java was a Dutch colony then.
Do you still need this information? I've called around and got the
telephone-number of the "Tropenmuseum" in Amsterdam (020-5688215). They
have a library there, but couldn't help me because I was not specific
enough in my question (I hadn't reread your letter at that point). The
lady told me they have a lot of books, so finding information certainly
won't be a problem.
So this is at least a beginning, but before I go brainstorming in how to
dig up information, I would like to know if there's a certain deadline.
It's no use to search if you don't need it to be found anymore. :-)
Tell me what you need (and when) and I'll try my best to get as much as
possible.
Maybe people will now think I'm contradicting myself because I've said I'm
not quite fond of the new 'untold' Lo$-stories. Well, this is still the
case, but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to help out. Sitting back here
in Holland when it's about Indonesia is almost *counteracting* and you
don't want me to do that, eh? :-)
A warning: When I was calling around I also thought of a man who comes from
Indonesia, but I got the advice that asking him would be "too painful".
I don't know quite much about Dutch history when it comes to Indonesia
so I really can't say if this is something general (do you know HARRY?),
but I thought it might be better to warn you: You might step on something
that might not mean much to you, but which is something very touchy here.
The war between Holland and Indonesia was 'only' about 50 years ago, so
many people do still remember it from their very own memory.
HARRY FLUKS:
Please help me out, am I right here? My knowlegde is really much too hazy
on this matter. There has been some negativeness according to Holland and
Indonesia in the news recently (1996 or 1997), but I really have no idea
what it was about. Are my warnings valid?
Greetings,
--- Daniel
"It *is* true that many businessmen need only an
*easy chair* and a *telephone* to make money!"
(Don Rosa - Nobody's Business)
Indeed: It's really amazing how one can 'travel by telephone'! :-)
Daniel Van Eijmeren
Changes in the CBL / fascimile Atom Bomb
Message 50 -
1998-01-05 at 15:05:14
FRANCOIS WILLOT, 2 JANUARY 1997:
>> The "Changes in the Carl Barks Library" list is already very long and
>> *still growing*.
> Did they explain in the CBL that the version printed was not the
> original version?
No, the only story which is mentioned as being censored is "Treasure of
Marco Polo" and this is somewhere in an article.
> I was surprised to see that Gladstone didn't say, in the CBL in Color,
> that "DD's Atom Bomb" was redrawn! (And the original is much *better*).
The original is indeed far superior! Even though Disney might object to
the last panel, I think this is no reason to not print the other 29,5
pages in fascimile. The quality of the original comic is better and
brighter than I expected, which also seems to be the case with all other
giveaway-stories.
BTW. I have Atom Bomb here in scanned form (in colour), if someone wants
them for a webpage, I'll gladly forward them. (Please: Only for a webpage,
don't mailbomb me with hundreds of individual requests!)
Greetings,
--- Daniel
"We are the Village Green Preservation Society,
God save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety"
(The Kinks, 1968)
>> The "Changes in the Carl Barks Library" list is already very long and
>> *still growing*.
> Did they explain in the CBL that the version printed was not the
> original version?
No, the only story which is mentioned as being censored is "Treasure of
Marco Polo" and this is somewhere in an article.
> I was surprised to see that Gladstone didn't say, in the CBL in Color,
> that "DD's Atom Bomb" was redrawn! (And the original is much *better*).
The original is indeed far superior! Even though Disney might object to
the last panel, I think this is no reason to not print the other 29,5
pages in fascimile. The quality of the original comic is better and
brighter than I expected, which also seems to be the case with all other
giveaway-stories.
BTW. I have Atom Bomb here in scanned form (in colour), if someone wants
them for a webpage, I'll gladly forward them. (Please: Only for a webpage,
don't mailbomb me with hundreds of individual requests!)
Greetings,
--- Daniel
"We are the Village Green Preservation Society,
God save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety"
(The Kinks, 1968)
D Decker
Translating wordplay
Message 51 -
1998-01-05 at 17:42:28
--PART-BOUNDARY=9801050842.ZM23766.stardust
Content-Description: Text
Content-Type: text/plain ; charset=o-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Zm-Decoding-Hint: mimencode -q -u
On Jan 5, 1:40am, Stefan Diös wrote:
> Naturally, the toughest puns are those that are illustrated or have an
> important bearing on the plot - let alone both. The most difficult case I've
> ever come across in about 15 years of translating Disney comics occurred
> quite recently. In fact, the story has just published in Scandinavia some
> week ago. So I won't say much about it here, but it is written by one of the
> finest of the "new breed" of writers. Pat, if you're out there - you realize
> what you put me through?!? Wheeze! I'm sure someone will get back to this
> story when it gets published in English. As I hope it will be, what with
> everything that's happening these days.
>
That's got to be the "ant farm" story! Since it's based on an
old song that you have to be familiar with to understand the
joke at the end, I was wondering how our overseas translating
friends would handle that...
--Dwight Decker
--PART-BOUNDARY=9801050842.ZM23766.stardust--
Content-Description: Text
Content-Type: text/plain ; charset=o-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Zm-Decoding-Hint: mimencode -q -u
On Jan 5, 1:40am, Stefan Diös wrote:
> Naturally, the toughest puns are those that are illustrated or have an
> important bearing on the plot - let alone both. The most difficult case I've
> ever come across in about 15 years of translating Disney comics occurred
> quite recently. In fact, the story has just published in Scandinavia some
> week ago. So I won't say much about it here, but it is written by one of the
> finest of the "new breed" of writers. Pat, if you're out there - you realize
> what you put me through?!? Wheeze! I'm sure someone will get back to this
> story when it gets published in English. As I hope it will be, what with
> everything that's happening these days.
>
That's got to be the "ant farm" story! Since it's based on an
old song that you have to be familiar with to understand the
joke at the end, I was wondering how our overseas translating
friends would handle that...
--Dwight Decker
--PART-BOUNDARY=9801050842.ZM23766.stardust--
Fluks, H.W.
Translating wordplay
Message 52 -
1998-01-05 at 19:12:14
Stefan wrote:
>I believe that Rich was referring to the sequel by Don Rosa,
>"Return to Plain Awful", first published in DDA #12 (first Gladstone run).
>I agree that it would be interesting to learn how other translators
>coped with this, and other similar problems.
In the Dutch translation, they simply used an expression
("I laugh in your face squarely" [?]) with no relation to
what happened before, or what Scrooge always says. I wouldn't
know any better solution in the Dutch language...
>A specific Don Rosa story that comes to mind is "Fortune
>on the Rocks"
In Holland, a lot of puns have gone. I think mainly because the
Dutch translation was taken from a German translation, and it
seems Germans care less about translating English word play.
--x--
Here's a not quite related misunderstanding about translations
in Holland.
When the Barks story about Gyro's custard gun was first used
in Holland, the translation said "mustard gun". In the reprint,
20 years later, they used the literal translation of custard
gun.
A Dutch bibliographer (Hans Matla) suspected that they changed
"mustard" into "custard" because children might try it at home,
and mustard in the eyes is rather unhealthy!
I still don't know why the first translation changed the text
from "custard" to "mustard". Is it a coincidence that the
words only differ 1 character? The Dutch translations
("mosterd", "pudding") are very different...
--Harry.
><><><><
--------------------------------
End of Disney comics Digest V98 Issue #4
****************************************
>I believe that Rich was referring to the sequel by Don Rosa,
>"Return to Plain Awful", first published in DDA #12 (first Gladstone run).
>I agree that it would be interesting to learn how other translators
>coped with this, and other similar problems.
In the Dutch translation, they simply used an expression
("I laugh in your face squarely" [?]) with no relation to
what happened before, or what Scrooge always says. I wouldn't
know any better solution in the Dutch language...
>A specific Don Rosa story that comes to mind is "Fortune
>on the Rocks"
In Holland, a lot of puns have gone. I think mainly because the
Dutch translation was taken from a German translation, and it
seems Germans care less about translating English word play.
--x--
Here's a not quite related misunderstanding about translations
in Holland.
When the Barks story about Gyro's custard gun was first used
in Holland, the translation said "mustard gun". In the reprint,
20 years later, they used the literal translation of custard
gun.
A Dutch bibliographer (Hans Matla) suspected that they changed
"mustard" into "custard" because children might try it at home,
and mustard in the eyes is rather unhealthy!
I still don't know why the first translation changed the text
from "custard" to "mustard". Is it a coincidence that the
words only differ 1 character? The Dutch translations
("mosterd", "pudding") are very different...
--Harry.
><><><><
--------------------------------
End of Disney comics Digest V98 Issue #4
****************************************
Fluks, H.W.
Taliaferro strips
Message 53 -
1998-01-05 at 19:18:55
Don M. wrote (about reprinting Taliaferro's daily strips in
WDC&S):
> After 30 months, there were more unreprinted strips
> than at the beginning.
This, and all the rest of your mail, was exactly what I was
trying to say!
> The reason the Talliaferro strips Gladstone reprints
> don't go over very well is, if you ask me, because we get
> "saturated" reading them, not because they aren't good
> strips
And this may well have been the reason for the Western editors
in the 40s to have Barks make longer stories in stead of only
using the Taliaferro strips.
--Harry.
><><><><
WDC&S):
> After 30 months, there were more unreprinted strips
> than at the beginning.
This, and all the rest of your mail, was exactly what I was
trying to say!
> The reason the Talliaferro strips Gladstone reprints
> don't go over very well is, if you ask me, because we get
> "saturated" reading them, not because they aren't good
> strips
And this may well have been the reason for the Western editors
in the 40s to have Barks make longer stories in stead of only
using the Taliaferro strips.
--Harry.
><><><><
Fluks, H.W.
Indonesia
Message 54 -
1998-01-05 at 19:29:45
Daniel van E.:
> A warning: When I was calling around I also thought of a man
> who comes from Indonesia, but I got the advice that
> asking him would be "too painful".
> I don't know quite much about Dutch history when it comes to
> Indonesia so I really can't say if this is something general
> (do you know HARRY?)
Indonesia is not more painful for a Dutchman than Vietnam is for
an American, or India for an Englishman. The Netherlands have
been a colonial power, with all the good and bad things
that went with it.
--Harry.
><><><><
> A warning: When I was calling around I also thought of a man
> who comes from Indonesia, but I got the advice that
> asking him would be "too painful".
> I don't know quite much about Dutch history when it comes to
> Indonesia so I really can't say if this is something general
> (do you know HARRY?)
Indonesia is not more painful for a Dutchman than Vietnam is for
an American, or India for an Englishman. The Netherlands have
been a colonial power, with all the good and bad things
that went with it.
--Harry.
><><><><
D Decker
Translating wordplay
Message 55 -
1998-01-05 at 19:37:34
On Jan 5, 6:12pm, Fluks, H.W. wrote:
> Subject: RE: Translating wordplay
> I still don't know why the first translation changed the text
> from "custard" to "mustard". Is it a coincidence that the
> words only differ 1 character? The Dutch translations
> ("mosterd", "pudding") are very different...
>
I saw something similar in a Dutch translation of an Edgar Rice Burroughs
novel. The translator apparently misread "science" as "silence." The
situation was that the hero from modernday Earth was fighting a caveman,
and "I had one thing he didn't. Science." The Dutch version made it,
"I had one thing he didn't. Silence." (Stilte, not Wetenschap.) The
original version meant that the hero knew the techniques of
hand-to-hand combat, while the caveman was just an ignorant brawler
relying on strength to overcome his opponents. The word "science" is
used in English in connection with trained fighting skills (boxing is
even called "the sweet science"). I could guess that the Dutch translator
either misread "science" as "silence" in her haste -- or, as is also
possible, read "science" correctly but had no idea what was meant by
it in this unusual context and plugged in something reasonably similar
even though it didn't make much sense in the story. (Silence might be
useful in a fight if you're sneaking up on somebody at the beginning, but
after the fight starts and you're going at it hammer and tongs, what's
the point?) Could something like this have happened with custard and
mustard? The translator didn't know what custard was and substituted
something that sounded similar? (Except that custard should be in any
English/Dutch dictionary. The word is fairly common. When the company
I work for adopted an off-white/dark yellow color scheme some years ago,
the employees didn't waste any time calling it "custard and mustard.")
--Dwight Decker
> Subject: RE: Translating wordplay
> I still don't know why the first translation changed the text
> from "custard" to "mustard". Is it a coincidence that the
> words only differ 1 character? The Dutch translations
> ("mosterd", "pudding") are very different...
>
I saw something similar in a Dutch translation of an Edgar Rice Burroughs
novel. The translator apparently misread "science" as "silence." The
situation was that the hero from modernday Earth was fighting a caveman,
and "I had one thing he didn't. Science." The Dutch version made it,
"I had one thing he didn't. Silence." (Stilte, not Wetenschap.) The
original version meant that the hero knew the techniques of
hand-to-hand combat, while the caveman was just an ignorant brawler
relying on strength to overcome his opponents. The word "science" is
used in English in connection with trained fighting skills (boxing is
even called "the sweet science"). I could guess that the Dutch translator
either misread "science" as "silence" in her haste -- or, as is also
possible, read "science" correctly but had no idea what was meant by
it in this unusual context and plugged in something reasonably similar
even though it didn't make much sense in the story. (Silence might be
useful in a fight if you're sneaking up on somebody at the beginning, but
after the fight starts and you're going at it hammer and tongs, what's
the point?) Could something like this have happened with custard and
mustard? The translator didn't know what custard was and substituted
something that sounded similar? (Except that custard should be in any
English/Dutch dictionary. The word is fairly common. When the company
I work for adopted an off-white/dark yellow color scheme some years ago,
the employees didn't waste any time calling it "custard and mustard.")
--Dwight Decker
Mattias Hallin
Translating wordplay
Message 56 -
1998-01-05 at 19:49:20
At 08.42 1998-01-05, D Decker wrote:
>That's got to be the "ant farm" story! Since it's based on an
>old song that you have to be familiar with to understand the
>joke at the end, I was wondering how our overseas translating
>friends would handle that...
Hmmm... that song... it wouldn't possibly be "I Can't Dance (I Got Ants In
My Pants)", would it now? 'Cause if it is, I sure got to have a look at the
story!
/Mattias
*** Mattias Hallin ** Brussels ** Belgium ** <(Email removed)> ***
* *
* "Oh bury me thar! With my battered git-tar! *
************* A-screamin' my heart out fer yew!" *************
>That's got to be the "ant farm" story! Since it's based on an
>old song that you have to be familiar with to understand the
>joke at the end, I was wondering how our overseas translating
>friends would handle that...
Hmmm... that song... it wouldn't possibly be "I Can't Dance (I Got Ants In
My Pants)", would it now? 'Cause if it is, I sure got to have a look at the
story!
/Mattias
*** Mattias Hallin ** Brussels ** Belgium ** <(Email removed)> ***
* *
* "Oh bury me thar! With my battered git-tar! *
************* A-screamin' my heart out fer yew!" *************
D Decker
Translating wordplay
Message 57 -
1998-01-05 at 20:13:09
On Jan 5, 6:49pm, Mattias Hallin wrote:
> Subject: Re: Translating wordplay
> At 08.42 1998-01-05, D Decker wrote:
>
> >That's got to be the "ant farm" story! Since it's based on an
> >old song that you have to be familiar with to understand the
> >joke at the end, I was wondering how our overseas translating
> >friends would handle that...
>
> Hmmm... that song... it wouldn't possibly be "I Can't Dance (I Got Ants In
> My Pants)", would it now? 'Cause if it is, I sure got to have a look at the
> story!
>
Nope, different other song. I forget the exact title -- it's
the one about an ant knocking over a rubber tree plant. (Does
"High Hopes" sound right...?)
--Dwight Decker
> Subject: Re: Translating wordplay
> At 08.42 1998-01-05, D Decker wrote:
>
> >That's got to be the "ant farm" story! Since it's based on an
> >old song that you have to be familiar with to understand the
> >joke at the end, I was wondering how our overseas translating
> >friends would handle that...
>
> Hmmm... that song... it wouldn't possibly be "I Can't Dance (I Got Ants In
> My Pants)", would it now? 'Cause if it is, I sure got to have a look at the
> story!
>
Nope, different other song. I forget the exact title -- it's
the one about an ant knocking over a rubber tree plant. (Does
"High Hopes" sound right...?)
--Dwight Decker
Fluks, H.W.
Translating wordplay
Message 58 -
1998-01-05 at 20:14:27
Dwight:
> Could something like this have happened with custard and
> mustard? The translator didn't know what custard was and
> substituted something that sounded similar?
Possibly. Maybe custard was unknown in post-war (1950s)
Holland, where the food was on distribution only a few years earlier.
--Harry.
::::::
> Could something like this have happened with custard and
> mustard? The translator didn't know what custard was and
> substituted something that sounded similar?
Possibly. Maybe custard was unknown in post-war (1950s)
Holland, where the food was on distribution only a few years earlier.
--Harry.
::::::
Stefan Diös
Translating wordplay
Message 59 -
1998-01-05 at 21:24:13
Regarding a recent story with untranslatable gags, Dwight wrote:
>That's got to be the "ant farm" story! Since it's based on an
>old song that you have to be familiar with to understand the
>joke at the end, I was wondering how our overseas translating
>friends would handle that...
No, that's not the one I meant! I'm getting scared to reveal anything about
any story on this list, but I hope we can talk about these stories soon.
I don't recall any ant farm story for the moment. Maybe it's coming soon.
More trouble ahead, eh? Or maybe I did the story, never saw the joke, and
forgot it immediately...
Stefan Dios
Malmo, Sweden
>That's got to be the "ant farm" story! Since it's based on an
>old song that you have to be familiar with to understand the
>joke at the end, I was wondering how our overseas translating
>friends would handle that...
No, that's not the one I meant! I'm getting scared to reveal anything about
any story on this list, but I hope we can talk about these stories soon.
I don't recall any ant farm story for the moment. Maybe it's coming soon.
More trouble ahead, eh? Or maybe I did the story, never saw the joke, and
forgot it immediately...
Stefan Dios
Malmo, Sweden
Joakim Gunnarsson
Facsimile editions.
Message 60 -
1998-01-05 at 21:58:05
Per-Erik wrote:
> Then it might be a good idea for Gladstone to print facsimile editions of
> the first issues of US, WDC, DD, etc. I'm sure many collectors would like
>to buy a cheap newprinted copy of US #1, instead of paying thousands of
> dollars for an original. What do you think Gary? Could it be done?
Well, that's a really nice idea!
Maybe not with U$ #1 (Wich we already have in so many various reprint
editions.), but with the Firestone Giveaways, March of Comics, old FC's,
the first 20 WDC's etc. Finally all those books would be available to for
*fans*, and not only for rich investors. If this project see the light of
day the stupid "collectors prices" would implode (?) and we could all have
a laughat the silly prices in Mr.Overstreets Guide. And *that* would be
just wonderful!
GARY: Is such project possible?
There is only one minor problem here: Does Gladstone have access
to the old comics so that they can do this? Maybe Bruce Hamilton
have those issues in his collection? If so: does he want his comics
to be used in such project if it means that his collection will be less
worth if he is going to sell it one day?
If the books aren't available at all for Gladstone: *who* would loan them
to a project that means that he/she will loose money in the long run?
Let's hope that Gladstone will give this a try, and that there is someone
who owns those books that still is a fan at heart.
/Joakim Gunnarsson
Falkenberg, Sweden.
> Then it might be a good idea for Gladstone to print facsimile editions of
> the first issues of US, WDC, DD, etc. I'm sure many collectors would like
>to buy a cheap newprinted copy of US #1, instead of paying thousands of
> dollars for an original. What do you think Gary? Could it be done?
Well, that's a really nice idea!
Maybe not with U$ #1 (Wich we already have in so many various reprint
editions.), but with the Firestone Giveaways, March of Comics, old FC's,
the first 20 WDC's etc. Finally all those books would be available to for
*fans*, and not only for rich investors. If this project see the light of
day the stupid "collectors prices" would implode (?) and we could all have
a laughat the silly prices in Mr.Overstreets Guide. And *that* would be
just wonderful!
GARY: Is such project possible?
There is only one minor problem here: Does Gladstone have access
to the old comics so that they can do this? Maybe Bruce Hamilton
have those issues in his collection? If so: does he want his comics
to be used in such project if it means that his collection will be less
worth if he is going to sell it one day?
If the books aren't available at all for Gladstone: *who* would loan them
to a project that means that he/she will loose money in the long run?
Let's hope that Gladstone will give this a try, and that there is someone
who owns those books that still is a fan at heart.
/Joakim Gunnarsson
Falkenberg, Sweden.