Comments on: Airing of Grievances: Substandard Translation Services

By: Doc Rampage

Doc Rampage — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 03:27:20 +0000

Oh.

OK, some of us need it spelled out…

By: Xrlq

Xrlq — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 19:07:50 +0000

My guess is that the show was real, but the subtitles were creative writing. I could easily see someone watching a talk show on a wholly unrelated topic, notice a male guest’s ridiculously high voice and a talk show host who can’t stop laughing, and then writing a whole new script around that. That’s why I referenced it as a likely bad translation – like the pendejo/friend one, an accidentally-on-purpose error.

By: Doc Rampage

Doc Rampage — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 18:43:48 +0000

That interview has got to be a setup. First of all, I don’t believe that after your voice changes, it really changes back if you lose your jewels. Losing your jewels can’t change the shape and size of your throat. Second, a couple of those lines were obviously intended to be funny (like the one about the dog).

By: gattsuru

gattsuru — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:49:03 +0000

Pendejo is one of those words that doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere.

However, it does remain an insult no matter where you go… excluding that of people who assume everything on a T-shirt is true.

This isn’t a case of mistaken translation. It’s a bit of Tex-Mex grunge culture used to show anticonformity. Since many people don’t know what it means, you can get away with it when jerkwad might get you in trouble.

By: Charlie (Colorado)

Charlie (Colorado) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:11:16 +0000

Uh, BR — a hint: Spanish-speaking people in San Antonio have been there longer than the US has. So maybe you should “assimilate”. Hijo.

By: nk

nk — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 20:01:39 +0000

Yes. Anybody can be a translator. There’s a little qulifying voir dire that goes: “Are you fluent in blank and in English, can you translate from blank to English and from English to blank, and how did you become this way?”

By: BR

BR — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:09:51 +0000

After consulting an on-line Spanish-English translation site, I guess the line is an insult to those of us who didn’t learn Spanish.

And to that I say, “ASSIMILATE! Just like my ancestors did. Be proud to live in America.”