Lost in Translation? 3

[LFI]

I hope this is the right forum for this. Perhaps it will spawn some interesting discussion.

I opened a fortune cookie the other day and do not understand the message. I Googled part of the phrase and all I found was a web site of fortune cookies and this was one of the fortunes there too! Either this is a popular fortune or they use the same company that stuffed my cookie (perhaps there's a better way to say that...).

So, I figure this is either an idiom I have never heard or a sincere Chinese blessing that got mangled in translation.

Any insights would be grand!

Here it is:

Now is the time to make circles with mints, do not haste any longer.

???

--Dave

 

[Chopstik]

<feeling very gullible>
anotherhiggins, thank you for that. To be honest, I had not paid attention to it before, just remembered the article from some time back (actually, it was Fark'd) and thought it amusing at the time... Allow me to caveat my previous post and recognise that it was satire and not a true case.
</still feeling very gullible>

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

 

[AnotherHiggins]

Don't feel too bad. I imagine all of us have fallen for something like that at some time or another.

It's still a funny article.

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue]
[/tt][red]Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur[/red]

Help us help you. Please read FAQ181-2886 before posting.

 

[Stella740pl]

Paul4Meep,

...if something has meaning to you, it always will.
...it is okay to get a tattoo that you think is cool.
Not necessarily. It may very well lose its meaning to you, or has a good chance to reverse the sign to the opposite; or you can find later that the idea is good, but the expression is tasteless. Or you can just decide one day that having a tattoo at all is not cool, no matter whether it still means something to you or not. I, personally, prefer to keep what matters to me in places other than my skin - but that's my opinion.

But this thread used to be mostly about bad translations, not moral grounds for tattoos.

 

[Paul4Meep]

Calm down, Paul4Meep.

I was calm. It's just a topic that captures my interest.

Notice that the linked article was published on soufoaklin.com? Click the 'Home link at the top left and you'll quickly realize that this is a spoof site.

Really? Well, I wouldn't have bothered to notice something like that. I've never heard of the site, and I just read the article from the link. I didn't bother to look around on the site.

When I first started reading it I was wondering if it was legit or not, but once I read the line, “I don’t even like General Tso’s!” Baker sobbed. “I’m a vegetarian!” I knew that this had to be a joke.

Yeah, that quote seemed kinda weird to me, but not too weird if you think about it. Newspapers and TV news like to take catchy little sound bites like that. That could very well have been one thing the person said in a big string of complaints, and they kept it because it sounded funny.

anotherhiggins, thank you for that. To be honest, I had not paid attention to it before, just remembered the article from some time back (actually, it was Fark'd) and thought it amusing at the time... Allow me to caveat my previous post and recognise that it was satire and not a true case.

Don't feel bad. Same thing happened to me, obviously. The article seemed real enough if you didn't go snooping around the rest of the site.

Not necessarily. It may very well lose its meaning to you, or has a good chance to reverse the sign to the opposite; or you can find later that the idea is good, but the expression is tasteless. Or you can just decide one day that having a tattoo at all is not cool, no matter whether it still means something to you or not. I, personally, prefer to keep what matters to me in places other than my skin - but that's my opinion.

You know, actually, I guess you are right. I personally don't get tattoos unless they are something that has a deep, very personal, and permanent meaning to me. I don't get something unless it is something I know will not ever regret. The sad truth is you are probably more right. Most people probably aren't that thoughtful about it. But, personally, I never got one until I was at an age where I had become the man I'd pretty much be for the rest of my life. In other words, I'm not likely to later decide I don't like them. I'm old enough now that, if I like them now, it is not likely to change.

But this thread used to be mostly about bad translations, not moral grounds for tattoos.

LOL. Okay, okay, you got me. The article just kinda got me going. It is a topic that really interests me. We can get back to the main topic for anybody who wants to, but since the thread spawned this discussion, I think it is only fair to let it continue if anybody else has more input. Actually, I'm done with it unless anybody else has something they want to add. We can go back to mistranslations. I'll get us started...

I can't remember where I found the story. If I find it, I'll post it. I'll just summarize what I remember.

An international internet company wanted to use Woody Woodpecker for their mascot. When their campaign went into full swing, they started getting a lot of negative feedback from one country. People there did not seem to like it. Well, as it turns out, in the country involved, their slogan translated to something along the lines of "Say hello to Woody, your internet pecker."

 

[Stella740pl]

Paul,

I never got one until I was at an age where I had become the man I'd pretty much be for the rest of my life. ... I'm old enough now that, if I like them now, it is not likely to change.
Never say "never". Soooo many things changed for me over the last 20 years, I can't believe it myself - and I am still in my 30s. That's why I wouldn't dare to say that I am already a woman I'd be for the rest of my life.

But that's your business - and LookingForInfo's thread.

 

[Paul4Meep]

Well, I certainly think it is only fair to allow spawn conversations if they interest anybody.

 

[Stella740pl]

In this forum, it's up to CajunCenturion only.
But we are done with this one, aren't we?

 

[Paul4Meep]

In this forum, it's up to CajunCenturion only.
But we are done with this one, aren't we?

Huh? Is CajunCenturion this group's moderator, or something?

Grrr... I wish I could remember where I found that Woody Woodpecker story. The site had a lot of funny mistranslations.

 

[Stella740pl]

Yes, "Making an Impression" is one of the member-moderated forums, and CajunCenturion is the owner and moderator of this group. Take a look at the FAQ section of this forum.

I wish I could remember where I found that Woody Woodpecker story.
Would a Google search help?

 

[TheRambler]

Paul4Meep,
Search for "Touch Woody -- The Internet Pecker".

 

[Paul4Meep]

Hmmm... I guess I could try a Google search. Not sure exactly what I'd use as my search term. Maybe the quote from story that I remember. After all, if I just searched for "Woody Woodpecker," I wouldn't have too good a chance of finding what I was looking for. LOL I might also try a google search of "funny mistranslations," or something like that.

 

[Paul4Meep]

Search for "Touch Woody -- The Internet Pecker".

THAT WAS IT!!!! I forgot that. I got the quote wrong. I remember that now. That was even funnier. I'll try searching that.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

Huh? Is CajunCenturion this group's moderator, or something?

As Stella740pl pointed out, CajunCenturion is the moderator. As an FYI, this is one of the private groups hosted on Tek-Tips, meaning that CC actually pays for the honor of running this particular forum.

As for the woodpecker thing, a quick google of "woody woodpecker translation" found multiple sources of the story you describe.

Here is a listing of several 'Translation Faux Pas'. These stories are humorous, but the list includes two stories that I know for a fact are false:
[ul][li]The (in)famous story about the Chevy Nova not selling well in Spanish-speaking markets because it means 'no go'[/li]
[li]Coca-Cola translating their brand name into Chinese as "bite the wax tadpole."[/li][/ul]
So just remember that some of the other stories are probably untrue as well.

Bonus
The list to which I just linked serves another purpose for this forum: there are tons of spelling and grammatical errors.

[tt]_____
[blue]-John[/blue]
[/tt][red]Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur[/red]

Help us help you. Please read FAQ181-2886 before posting.

 

[Paul4Meep]

As Stella740pl pointed out, CajunCenturion is the moderator. As an FYI, this is one of the private groups hosted on Tek-Tips, meaning that CC actually pays for the honor of running this particular forum.

Wow! Really? That's really cool of CajunCenturion, then. I had just figured that member moderated boards were just free boards a member created and moderated. Well, upon hearing the truth, I want to take a moment to say thank you very much to CajunCenturion for bringing us this forum. I'm a newbie, and I'm already hooked.

As for the woodpecker thing, a quick google of "woody woodpecker translation" found multiple sources of the story you describe.

Yeah, I was able to find it with a google search.

 

[SilentAiche]

Paul4Meep,

Dude, welcome to Tek-Tips! Is this place awesome or what?

Just from reading your posts, you seem really computer-ite (ok, that's my made-up term for "computer-literite").

So, what's your school/major and all that? If you want to do a whole community intro, there's a thread for that somewhere I forget where. Look for, or just post.

Tim

[blue]______________________________________________________________
I love logging onto Tek-Tips. It's always so exciting to see what the hell I
said yesterday. [/blue]

 

[Paul4Meep]

Paul4Meep,

Dude, welcome to Tek-Tips! Is this place awesome or what?

Yeah! I love Tek-Tips. I've only been a member for a few days and I am hooked. Just found out that a co-worker registered today too. Groovy! Does anybody else actually use that word anymore?

Just from reading your posts, you seem really computer-ite (ok, that's my made-up term for "computer-literite").

He he. I like that. Yes, you could say that I am pretty computer-ite.

So, what's your school/major and all that? If you want to do a whole community intro, there's a thread for that somewhere I forget where. Look for, or just post.

Really? Cool! I'll have to see if I can find that thread. Anyway, I DID major in IST (Information Sciences and Technology). I like to call it a business course with a twist of IT, because this is what it seemed like to me. I studied at Penn State. I've graduated now. I'm just glad to be done with it. It got so frustrating near the end. I didn't think I was learning anything new. To me, it felt they were rehasing old crap over and over. Such as waste of money. I better get something out of it, I'm telling you that, or I may ask for a refund due to shoddy merchandise. LOL. ;-)

 

[Stella740pl]

Paul,

If you introduce yourself in thread1256-1051474, CajunCenturion will transfer your info into faq1256-5837 when he has time.

Also, you might want to look into another member-moderated forum1229. This one needs an invitation, so if you like it, you can apply for membership (on the bottom). Then introduce yourself in thread1229-767978.

 

[Paul4Meep]

Thanks, Stella! I'm looking at this board's introduction thread now. I'll check out the other board you mentioned soon.

 

[ttmac]

Mitsubishi sell a SUV that is known as the Mitsubishi Pajero in many countries.

However, I believe that the vehicle is called something else in Spain as a translation of the spanish word pajero equates to wa%*er - a term for self abuse in some countries.

See

http://chameleon-translations.com/Index-Companies-pajero.shtml

 

[TheRambler]

Those marketing blunders are sure funny, but some times mistranslations have serious consequences. For instance consider the book "Freud and Man's Soul" by Bruno Bettelheim, where he argues that mistranslation has distorted Freud's work in English; others say the American psychiatric community perverted Freud.

It may surprise readers of the ''Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud'' to find that its chief editor, James Strachey, and his collaborators (including his co-editor, Anna Freud) are here made responsible for the failure of American psychoanalysis....

In any translation there is a drift away from the tone and even the sense of the original, and this drift is likely to be stronger when the text is treasured by an institution that is split by doctrinal and national disagreement; as in theology, key terms acquire incompatible definitions. Moreover, the German language has the trick of making up new terms out of its own substance; lacking this capability, English has usually resorted to neologisms made from Greek and Latin roots. To Dr. Bettelheim such words look affectedly learned, and sometimes they are. Strachey should not have translated ''Mutterleib'' as ''uterus''; ''womb'' is better. ''Unheil'' is not ''trouble'' but ''disaster.'' ''Masse'' doesn't mean ''group'' -it simply means ''mass'' - and so an important book, ''Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego,'' has a mistranslated title. Worse still, ''Trieb'' does not mean ''instinct''; Strachey hesitated over the word, disliking ''drive,'' but he should have seen that ''instinct'' was worse. ''Triebe und Triebschicksale'' simply doesn't mean ''Instincts and Their Vicissitudes,'' though Dr. Bettelheim's ''Drives and Their Mutability'' is only slightly better. Perhaps ''Drives and Their Vicissitudes'' would be the best compromise.

He insists that Freud was always trying to avoid technical words, so that it is a distortion to make him sound technical in a translation. For example, ''Besetzung,'' which means ''occupation'' or ''investment'' or ''filling'' in ordinary German, is translated as ''cathexis.'' But granted the English habit of making up words from Greek, ''cathexis'' means ''occupation,'' in what is obviously a special sense. And it must surely have a special sense in Freud. He also uses ''Uberbesetzung''; not, I am told, a common word. Is ''hypercathexis'' really more bizarre than ''over-occupation'' or ''upper-occupation''?

ASIMILAR point arises with Freud's word ''Fehlleistung,'' a combination of two ordinary words that means something like ''faulty achievement.'' Freud used it (pace Dr. Bettelheim) as a technical term, covering acts or speech-acts in which the unconscious enters to prevent our doing what we set out to achieve. Strachey translated ''Fehlleistung'' as ''parapraxis,'' which is rather brilliant and conveys the sense of Freud's word better than the clumsy circumlocution that would have otherwise been necessary. Dr. Bettelheim says he has never heard anybody say ''parapraxis,'' which is odd, since I hear the word often and use it myself. It might be thought of as Strachey's little contribution to the tradition of classical culture in which Dr. Bettelheim wishes we were educated. But such praise is not to be expected here. Strachey is even blamed for translating ''Versprechen'' as ''slips of the tongue,'' though it is an expression far older than Freud and an exact equivalent of the Latin ''lapsus linguae,'' which Freud himself could have used. Dr. Bettelheim says fancifully that Strachey was making the tongue responsible for the error, which is simply to misread the idiom.

...

But the substance of Dr. Bettelheim's complaint is suggested by his book's title. Freud used the word ''Seele'' very freely: ''A dream is the result of the activity of our own soul''; ''the structure of the soul''; ''the life of the soul.'' Strachey avoided the word, always translating it as ''mind'' and ''Seelische'' as ''mental.'' He must have known that this was inaccurate; his problem, as usual, was the different semantic range of the words ''Seele'' and ''soul.'' It would be disastrous to say in English ''psychoanalysis is a part of psychology which is dedicated to the science of the soul''; Strachey said ''part of the mental science of psychology,'' which is bad but lacks the religious, or religiose, overtones of the more literal version. Perhaps he should have used ''psyche'' and ''psychic,'' but there are obvious dangers in those words too. Dr. Bettelheim's observations are here more justifiable, but perhaps he should address his complaints to Babel rather than to Strachey; some of these problems are inherent in the diversity of languages and cultures.

Sorry for the long post.