funny or annoying translation mistakes

[Nagini's Neville]

8 hours ago, Jekse said:

Dutch:

Jeyne, Jeyne, it rhymes with tears. 

close lol  in german tears also means Tränen ( I know you have an a  ) they didn't even attempt the rhyme thing. It just says "Jeyne, Jeyne alone in her anguish" poor Jeyne - always get the worst stomach ache, when I just read her name 

[Jekse]

On 10/4/2019 at 9:11 PM, Lady Dacey said:

Tranen? What, why? 

In Dutch the name is Jeane, but apparantly you're still supposed to pronounce it as Jeyne because at times the Dutch translation still rhymes with -ain.  The translator was just breaking their own rules here.

[Lady Dacey]

7 hours ago, Jekse said:

In Dutch the name is Jeane, but apparantly you're still supposed to pronounce it as Jeyne because at times the Dutch translation still rhymes with -ain.  The translator was just breaking their own rules here.

Oh, I didn’t realize the names had been changed. 

It’s almost impossible to translate rhymes, puns and wordplay in general. Usually I prefer translations which opt to loose one aspect - either keep a literal translation and forego the rhymes, like the german version @Nagini's Neville spoke about, or a version with a distinct meaning that uses the same sounds accompanied by footnotes explaining the translator’s choice and the original meaning... I remember reading His Dark Materials as a preteen and thinking “oh, here is a translator that respects my intelligence and the original work both!” because of the well placed footnotes along the books.

I mean... -ijn and -ane ?

[Nagini's Neville]

2 hours ago, Lady Dacey said:

Oh, I didn’t realize the names had been changed. 

It’s almost impossible to translate rhymes, puns and wordplay in general. Usually I prefer translations which opt to loose one aspect - either keep a literal translation and forego the rhymes, like the german version @Nagini's Neville spoke about, or a version with a distinct meaning that uses the same sounds accompanied by footnotes explaining the translator’s choice and the original meaning... I remember reading His Dark Materials as a preteen and thinking “oh, here is a translator that respects my intelligence and the original work both!” because of the well placed footnotes along the books.

I mean... -ijn and -ane ?

I agree  It's just annoying, when the translators can't get a bit creative themselves, when it's appropriate. Better than reading something that doesn't make any sense at all and feeling like your intelligence has been insulted  Good footnotes are great as well!

[Adam Targaryen]

In one of the Swedish translations, the Reach is translated as "Ödemarkerna", which means "the desolation", "the wastelands" or "the deserted grounds". That's an extremely inappropriate name for the most fertile region in all of Westeros. I'm guessing that the translator thought that something which is a "reach" of land is very outstretched and that it therefore has to be a desert, since it sounds like it is only a vast, outstretched land without anything on it (such as forests, rivers or lakes).

 

(But there is a good translation of it too, where it's translated as "Vidderna", which means "the wide expanses" or something similar, and therefore does not carry the meaning that the land is empty or deserted).

[Adam Targaryen]

On 10/2/2019 at 12:22 PM, DanaKz said:

Casterly Rock is translated to Russian as "Beavers' Cliff". Don't ask me why. I don't know. It's crazy

I'm guessing it was because "Castor" is the Latin word for "beaver" and "Casterly" is close to that lol

[Platypus Rex]

On 10/2/2019 at 12:24 AM, shameeka said:

Jaime Lannister "The things I do for love." -> "I love doing this." (KR)

 

I bet nothing can surpass this one.

I rather like this translation.