Have you ever watch movies which are from internet? If yes, we believe you should have met this situation - the bad translation quality makes you don’t even want to continue watching it.
Hope you won’t
meet the following situations:
The two classic cases among all the bad subtitles
Here
are some more
(Who else can
imagine even ‘Seven Years Later’ can be translated to a name?)
How can you be so
lazy like that…
(…)
In fact, not all
the subtitles translated by Mainland China fansub are bad.
(Fansub, are amateur
groups, add subtitles to foreign language videos without any subtitle or add
translated subtitles to those videos which originally with foreign subtitles.)
There are some
fansub like YYeTs put a lot of effort into providing the most suitable
subtitles for the movies. Then, we start
thinking of “why do they provide subtitles for us? Is this a money making activity?
Or just base on their own savour?”
After we searched
on the internet, the fact is that they nearly do not make any money from this
and most of them do this “voluntary work” mainly because of their hobbies. Fansub do
subtitling is based on the movies they like and that they want more people to
familiar and understand the movies. They want to share
the happiness and other feelings they gain from the movies. YYets’s boss LEUNG
Leung even have to pay for the keeping of this unprofitable business.
Of course, not all
of them think this way, some of them is for personal benefits and do it
illegally like piracy. Subtitling on the
internet also requires high moral standard. However, one of
the fansub member said that he do this because he couldn’t endure the bad
subtitles anymore. And once his name
is shown on the subtitles, he found pride and the sense of success. Maybe this is also
one of the reasons to continue doing subtitling.
It is really not
an easy job to make a good translation since there are different cultures
between countries. That’s why we
rarely see subtitles that can perfectly bring original meanings out.
A friend of us
told us that the cluster she had for last term was about transition in movies.
And the questions
appeared on the exam paper was telling her to translate a short dialogue from
Steven Chow’s movie, which was「經脈逆流，胡思亂想，而致走火入魔」
In the movie, the
sentence is translated into “And your blood will go in opposite direction until
death.”
「一日喪命散」is translated into “Greatest Drug in the World”
「含笑半步癲」is translated into “Tong’s Killing Powder”
It is very hard to
translate it with bringing out the same meaning.
Do you guys have
better ideas on translating these two names and the sentence above?
References and photos sources:
There is always a mountain lower this one... ...
ReplyDeleteBrilliant Beijing Hotel Brochure - Translated as only they can.
A friend went to Beijing recently and was given this brochure by the hotel. It is precious.
She is keeping it and reading it whenever she feels depressed.
Obviously, it has been translated directly, word for word from Mandarin to English.
===============================
Getting There:
Our representative will make you wait at the airport. The bus to the hotel runs along the lake shore. Soon you will feel pleasure in passing water. You will know that you are getting near the hotel, because you will go round the bend. The manager will await you in the entrance hall. He always tries to have intercourse with all new guests.
The Hotel:
This is a family hotel, so children are very welcome. We of course are always pleased to accept adultery. Highly skilled nurses are available in the evenings to put down your children. Guests are invited to conjugate in the bar and expose themselves to others. But please note that ladies are not allowed to have babies in the bar. We organize social games, so no guest is ever left alone to play with them self.
The Restaurant:
Our menus have been carefully chosen to be ordinary and unexciting. At dinner, our quartet will circulate from table to table, and fiddle with you.
Your Room:
Every room has excellent facilities for your private parts. In winter, every room is on heat. Each room has a balcony offering views of outstanding obscenity! .. You will not be disturbed by traffic noise, since the road between the hotel and the lake is used only by pederasts.
Bed
Your bed has been made in accordance with local tradition. If you have any other ideas please ring for the chambermaid. Please take advantage of her. She will be very pleased to squash your shirts, blouses and underwear. If asked, she will also squeeze your trousers.
Above All:
When you leave us at the end of your holiday, you will have no hope. You will struggle to forget it. Sourced My Facebook.
--- by KENNY
I like this post a lot! It's really funny. lol
ReplyDelete「經脈逆流，胡思亂想，而致走火入魔」
I don't think it has anything to do with blood but I could understand why it was translated into blood but not "Qi" or "Chi" (氣). Since the translation was done around 20 years ago (I guess), at the time, very few foreign people knew about "Chi". As a result, no one could understand if it was translated into "Chi". However, in recent years, many foreign people are interested in Chinese culture.Also, due to the rapid globalization, the concept of "Chi" is now wide-spread compared to 20 years ago. Therefore, if 「經脈逆流」is translated nowadays, translator can use the word "Chi".
If I were the translator, I would say "the "Chi" will go in opposite direction and harms your physical and mental health."
By Michael