I've noticed that I tend to a lot write about stupidity, and the source of stupidity, scientifically known as idiots. It's not a big thing, everyone writes about that, however, I seem to lack a tag for this genre of posts. So, as of today, I've incorporated the Idiocracy tag (though I doubt anyone browses my posts using tags).
So, to start this post about stupidity, I'll tell you about subtitles. When people set out to subtitle works, they should be aware that it's hard work. In case subtitles come out really stupid, it's probably one of the following: the subtitler (that word is probably inexistant) doesn't know the original language, the subtitler doesn't know the destination language, the subtitler has a hearing impediment, the subtitler is an idiot.
Recently I saw some good movies with bad subtitles and some bad movies with even worse subtitles. Let me give you some examples. The guy who's riding a motorcycle throughout the movie andat the end buys a car saying "I sold my chopper", translated as "Am vandut elicopterul". "People forget that the M in MRI stands for 'magnetic'", translates to "Nu uita ca razele X sunt magnetice". "You might want to avoid the red tape" some believe means "Poate vrei sa eviti covorul rosu".
And these are just a few examples of the stupidities I came across. If you know any similar idiotic (or funny) subtitle (or translation) cases, preferably ones you experienced, feel free to share it with us.
So, to start this post about stupidity, I'll tell you about subtitles. When people set out to subtitle works, they should be aware that it's hard work. In case subtitles come out really stupid, it's probably one of the following: the subtitler (that word is probably inexistant) doesn't know the original language, the subtitler doesn't know the destination language, the subtitler has a hearing impediment, the subtitler is an idiot.
Recently I saw some good movies with bad subtitles and some bad movies with even worse subtitles. Let me give you some examples. The guy who's riding a motorcycle throughout the movie andat the end buys a car saying "I sold my chopper", translated as "Am vandut elicopterul". "People forget that the M in MRI stands for 'magnetic'", translates to "Nu uita ca razele X sunt magnetice". "You might want to avoid the red tape" some believe means "Poate vrei sa eviti covorul rosu".
And these are just a few examples of the stupidities I came across. If you know any similar idiotic (or funny) subtitle (or translation) cases, preferably ones you experienced, feel free to share it with us.
11 comments:
I don't know which movie it was, I think it was some series or what. So:
One guy was telling something about a girl to another guy:
"Forget it, I just dont give a f.ck!"
In hungarian:
"Felejtsd el, nem fogom megdugni!"
And by the way, have you seen the movie "Idiocracy!" It's phenomenal!
Yes, of course I did. If anyone reading this didn't see it, I warmly recommend it to you. The title of the movie did inspire the name of the tag, by the way (and also, people searching for the movie in Google will probably stumble upon my blog entry which has nothing to do with it... mwahahahahahaha).
"cei unspe oameni nu au nevoie de..."
classic, a true classic.
and let's not mention the other: "si orca ma impungea cu sulita"
of course, most of the time these translations are made by people who freshly finished high school, working in a cheap studio for minimum wage, who lack the knowledge and motivation to do any better.
of course, when a professional subtitling studio fucks up it becomes really hillarious.
Yes, I had forgotten about those... But tell everyone what they were supposed to be: "The elven people have no need of magic" and "The orc was poking me with its spear". Also, tell them that these were official translation on HBO...
"of course, most of the time these translations are made by people who freshly finished high school, working in a cheap studio for minimum wage, who lack the knowledge and motivation to do any better."
I have to disagree with you on that, Tibi. I think most of these subtitles are made at home, by fans, or by people willing to be the first to give a subtitle for the actual movie. This is all about underground prestige, like it is with the torrent releases.
i don't think that hbo is using fan subtitles, andras.
Oh, I thought that Viki was talking about those internet-subtitles, 'cause those have serious errors. I have only watched 2 movies on the romanian HBO all my life, so I can't tell anything about those subtitles.
To clarify: I was talking about fan subtitles, but the examples Tibi gave were on HBO.
So, to clarify, I was right!!! :P
BTW, have you noticed, that this is the most discussed post in your blog? :D
Indeed it is. Idiocy seems to attract people.
I heard a new subtitle goof. "We will show them our resolve." -> "Vom rezolva problema."
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