#translating
The best joke ever translated into Spanish is the translation of “Much Ado About Nothing” by Shakespeare
Because in Spanish, the title is Mucho ruido y pocas nueces
This translation excellently preserves the double entendre in the English. In English, “Much ado about nothing” on the surface means what you’d expect, “making a big deal out of nothing”. But in Shakespeare’s time, “nothing” was slang for female genitals… the idea being they had “nothing” there.
So the English double entendre is that it could mean “a lot of fuss about nothing important” or “a lot of fuss about/over women”
The Spanish translation is mucho ruido y pocas nueces which translates literally as “a lot of noise and few nuts”. The general meaning would be implied as “you’re trying to get the nuts to fall off the tree so you hit it a lot”, aka “a lot of effort and little reward” which captures the first meaning.
And of course, “a lot of noise and no nuts” has dual meanings in Spanish. Because la nuez could be “nut” (specifically “walnut”), or also testicle, AND la nuez could also mean “Adam’s apple”
In that case it’s, “a lot of noise and no nuts” or “a lot of noise and no Adam’s apples”, referring to women.
And so both meanings of the joke get translated pretty equally well
This is part of a larger set called Capsule Computer, which I don’t have the rest of.
Same artist as the Fosters’ one. Once again editing out ComicsPorno’s logo was more trouble than it was worth. There already existed an english version but it had astoundingly bad grammar.
English translations for #1 - #3 had been available for a while, but this one sat for a year with no translation being done. Finally I got sick of waiting and translated it myself. I think this is the best one so far.
#5 is also out, and I’m waiting for an english translation for that one. I have no plans to translate that one because of how damn long it takes, but if I get impatient enough I might break down and do it. We’ll see.
Long comic by the legendary french artist Passage, who sadly is retired.
I got partway through before giving up. I hate the Japanese language. I actually made this cover myself because the original’s cover was so bland and simple.
Related post: Translating Movie Titles into Chinese
I’m assuming other people have noticed this, but 1) I haven’t seen anyone talk about it, 2) no one I’ve told in real life seemed impressed, and 3) I think it’s just so clever that I wanted to share.
As a Chinese American, I really enjoyed Lulu Wang’s The Farewell. I’ve seen it three times, and I think I cried each time. I definitely recommend it if you’re an ABC/CBC/BBC/etc. or a learner of Chinese looking for a less intimidating Chinese-language film (since it is both in Chinese and English).
The Chinese title is 别告诉她, which means “don’t tell her.” The vibe is very different, so I was a bit curious. Well, 告别 means “to bid farewell.” So the English title is hidden within the Chinese title! I just thought this was so clever. I don’t know for sure that this was the thought process behind the title, but it can’t be a coincidence.
What’s the story behind these two titles? I will explain below. I don’t think this is a spoiler because you find out all this info very early on in the film, and the first paragraph of Wikipedia and non-spoiler reviews reveal all of this info too. But if you want to watch the movie 100% blind, umm avert your eyes.
Basically, Billi (the main charater) and her family have gone to China for her cousin’s wedding. But actually, the wedding has been planned last-minute as an excuse for the extended family to gather because Nainai (Billi’s grandmother) is sick and not expected to have much time left. However, the family hasn’t told Nainai, which is why they had to orchestrate the wedding to come see her. So they can’t tell Nainai the truth (别告诉她) that they are really in China to see her potentially for the last time (TheFarewell).
Disclaimer: I know Awkafina is considered somewhat controversial, and I have noticed a lot of negative posts about her recently. I personally think this film is important for Chinese Americans, so I am willing to overlook Awkafina’s flaws to watch it. The movie is so much more than her. If you disagree, that’s fine, but please just be respectful towards those of us who enjoy the film. Liking the film does not equate to taking a stance on her actions and behavior.
