Another Improvisation post! Thank you for the feedback and the suggestions!
Fun fact: Dr. Dolittle’s name in Russian is Айболи́т (Aibolit) which is a combination of a Russian exclamation «Ай!» and the word «Боли́т» («hurts»). The Russian translators really wanted to make his name speak for itself so they literally named him «Ouch, (it) hurts».
I’m sorry, but THIS. This is what great translation is. Simple, yet genius.
Shield — щит (pronounced as ‘sheet’; masc., sing.)
So yeah, in the Russian version of Free Guy, Chris Evans said both ‘what the shield’ and ‘what the shit’.
The translators could have just put ‘Что за чёрт?’ in there (which is a standard way of translating ‘What the hell/shit/etc?’ in Russian), but they used this beautiful combination of circumstances to their advantage.
As someone who’s majoring in translation, I just can’t get over how good this bit is. This joke got a lot of laughs in the movie theater I went to.
Back in the 90’s, my mom was doing a fan translation of this one book that wasn’t translated into Russian yet, but she was sure it was going to be. I read it in English and was sure she was wasting her time because I thought no person in the world would be interested in something like this. Eventually my mom didn’t finish the translation because she couldn’t negotiate with the publisher, but a couple of years later it was oficially released by the name of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”. Well, I was a little wrong.
In Swedish we don’t say that someone “has it easy”, we say that that “glider på en räkmacka” and I think that’s beautiful.
Glida = To glide/slide
Räkor = Shrimps/prawns
Macka = (open) Sandwich
So the phrase “glider på räkmacka” translates to “glide/slide on a shrimp sandwich”. And you should probably know that Swedes love their mackor (which is another word for smörgås)
What this expression really means is that someone has an easy time… that things work out for them with little effort.
This is used to talk about people that are perceived as lucky, who move forward through life, fast, “gliding”. And of course, all done in a seemingly easy and very pleasant way. Most swedes love a good räkmacka.
Also räkor are highly considered in Sweden. Tasty and healthy, but not cheap. So it is a bit fancy as well. Probably the fanciest of all mäckas. The good life. Which sometimes, might also point to the fact that you have it easy because you have rich parents.
Hans föräldrar köpte en lägenhet till honom = His parents bought him an apartment
Han glider på en räkmacka = He glides on a shrimp sandwich (he has it easy)
In Swedish we don’t say that someone “has it easy”, we say that that “glider på en räkmacka” and I think that’s beautiful.
Glida = To glide/slide
Räkor = Shrimps/prawns
Macka = (open) Sandwich
So the phrase “glider på räkmacka” translates to “glide/slide on a shrimp sandwich”. And you should probably know that Swedes love their mackor (which is another word for smörgås)
What this expression really means is that someone has an easy time… that things work out for them with little effort.
This is used to talk about people that are perceived as lucky, who move forward through life, fast, “gliding”. And of course, all done in a seemingly easy and very pleasant way. Most swedes love a good räkmacka.
Also räkor are highly considered in Sweden. Tasty and healthy, but not cheap. So it is a bit fancy as well. Probably the fanciest of all mäckas. The good life. Which sometimes, might also point to the fact that you have it easy because you have rich parents.
Hans föräldrar köpte en lägenhet till honom = His parents bought him an apartment
Han glider på en räkmacka = He glides on a shrimp sandwich (he has it easy)
Another one of those very practical Swedish words is nyvaken
Ny= New
Vaken = Awake
Nyvaken can be translated to “newly awakened”. Specially useful during the winters. Nyvaken is this concept of having just woken up and being still a bit groggy.
It comes in very handy when you quickly want to give an excuse.
Kan du kast soporna? = Can you take out the trash?
Jag är nyvaken = I am newly awakened
Jag är nyvaken = I am newly awakened
Kan du diska? = Can you do the dishes?
Jag är fortfarande nyvaken = I am still newly awakened
