tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post4268464857321870249..comments2023-08-25T03:19:21.216-06:00Comments on Stæfcræft & Vyākaraṇa: "Oh, no, maadarcho-": On subtitling vulgarities in Hindi filmsbe_slayedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02920742528327860445noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-63701448009341242742012-12-05T16:26:11.601-07:002012-12-05T16:26:11.601-07:00The word mādar is also used in another, and, much ...The word mādar is also used in another, and, much less profane context. In mādar - e - watan, i.e. moherland or matribhoomi. A Solitary Wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00513391518631615164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-37224483268956619712012-08-04T20:40:49.394-06:002012-08-04T20:40:49.394-06:00@Rebekka: That's interesting. Sometimes, as in...@Rebekka: That's interesting. Sometimes, as in this case, the *absence* of the taboo word is more jarring than its presence....be_slayedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02920742528327860445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-81465681837246946972012-08-02T04:21:48.287-06:002012-08-02T04:21:48.287-06:00I know I'm late to the conversation, but I'...I know I'm late to the conversation, but I'm a new reader so you'll have to excuse me.<br /><br />I've done some freelance translation (English to Danish and Danish to English)including translation of subtitles. Translation of subtitles is usually not a direct translation, as you are taught to shorten the sentences (because it takes longer to read than to hear a sentence). In addition, swear words and vulgarities are usually banned - even when used in the original speech, and as such you have to find euphemisms and other ways of saying things.Rebekka @ Becky's Kaleidoscopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08561986047548051036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-39946192474390448702012-07-09T11:53:35.928-06:002012-07-09T11:53:35.928-06:00@Stuart: Well, certainly there are people who can ...@Stuart: Well, certainly there are people who can read "standard written English" but fail to understand (or have limited understanding of) particular varieties of spoken English. So Australian English speakers might not fully comprehend spoken Indian English, American English speakers might have trouble with spoken Scots English, etc. etc.be_slayedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02920742528327860445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-47315321177976540672012-07-09T04:51:06.502-06:002012-07-09T04:51:06.502-06:00Tanks for writing about something that has long am...Tanks for writing about something that has long amused me. When words like madarchod and benchod are bowdlerised in translation I can sort of understand why, but the practice of subtitling English dialogue with different English words is just surreal - is there anyone who can read English but can't understand it when spoken? The practice goes beyond vulgarities, too. It never fails to amuse, hearing one thing and seeing another, and trying to figure out why.mehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09042500344000182850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-41924739288494034522012-06-26T20:01:56.586-06:002012-06-26T20:01:56.586-06:00@DMcCunney: There are occasional kissing-in-public...@DMcCunney: There are occasional kissing-in-public scandals in India, sometimes involving public outcry at foreigners kissing in public. And in Bollywood movies for a long time kissing was not shown (though often implied) even in films involving near nudity. But since sometime in the 90s Bollywood films have shown kissing and even sometimes sex scenes (without nudity). <br /><br />But the point about the perceptions of the subtitlers about the sensibilities of English-speakers is interesting. <br /><br />@Annie Paul: There is at least one town/county or the like in the US which has begun enforcing its no-foul-language-in-public law (it involves a fine, and I'm assuming the economic downturn is not unrelated to the re-enforcement of the law).<br /><br />I'd love to see your writing on "bad" words in the Jamaican context.<br /><br />Re: the idea about the assimilation of (Victorian) British culture by Indians. That must certainly be sure. The difficulty is always knowing to what extent, and which taboos/ideas are correctly attributed to this cultural contact. I recall reading that saris were originally worn without the now ubiquitous sari-blouse, and that this change was due to Victorian prudery.be_slayedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02920742528327860445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-54155423339096460562012-06-26T08:30:09.069-06:002012-06-26T08:30:09.069-06:00Yes as in Jamaica where it's actually illegal ...Yes as in Jamaica where it's actually illegal to cuss and you can be arrested for cursing in a 'public place'...this is fascinating, thanks so much, i have written a lot about so-called 'bad' words in the Jamaican context so very glad to see this piece...you're on the money to attribute it to the puritanical morality of the English-speakers, and McCunney is right to attribute this to the residue of cultural contact w the Victorians....Annie Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05741373844055889633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-82607538171020933592012-06-20T21:03:01.971-06:002012-06-20T21:03:01.971-06:00"I wonder if there is a certain subset of Sou..."I wonder if there is a certain subset of South Asians (who can speak English, and reside somewhere in South Asia, as opposed to abroad) who are uncomfortable with cursing in English..."<br /><br />It may not be their discomfort, but their perceptions of those who will read the translations.<br /><br />Or there may be other cultural manifestations at work. I hear of periodic scandals in Bollywood when male and female stars are observed kissing in public. It appears this ranks only slightly below public sex on the scale of taboos. It's one of those things simply Not Done in front of others.<br /><br />A similar dynamic may be in play here.<br /><br />(And I'm just guessing, but the taboo about public kissing might have been one picked up from the English during the period when Britain ruled India. A people conquered by another tend to assimilate bits of the victor's culture, and some of those bits may hang around long after those it was copied from are gone.)DMcCunneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01405765936160659518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-47291669740262574982012-06-19T00:18:40.250-06:002012-06-19T00:18:40.250-06:00@John Cowan: A more general difference on the cons...@John Cowan: A more general difference on the constraints of oral vs. written discourse then?be_slayedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02920742528327860445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6092202804301639769.post-44329492487898041852012-06-18T23:01:44.183-06:002012-06-18T23:01:44.183-06:00From Robert A. Heinlein's 1970 novel I Will Fe...From Robert A. Heinlein's 1970 novel <i>I Will Fear No Evil</i> (Johann Smith is speaking to his secretary, Eunice):<br /><br />"[...]Why, those bastards — excuse me, Eunice."<br /> <br />"My [transcribing] machine is instructed to spell that word as 'scoundrel,' Mr. Smith."<br /><br />"Thank you, Eunice."<br /><br />In fact, however, there are only three other occurrences of <i>scoundrel</i> in the book, versus twenty of <i>bastard</i>, all of them in dialogue — the novel is almost all dialogue.John Cowanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452247999156925669noreply@blogger.com