April 18, 2012
I think the most difficult common word for subtitlers to translate must be sasuga. There isn't any single word in English with that meaning. There isn't anything even close, yet it gets used all the time in anime.
"Living up to our high expectations" is about what it means, but that's way too clumsy for normal use. "Just what we expect from..." is how it's often translated, but that feels stilted in English.
I noticed that in Mouretsu Pirates ep 15, at one point the translator made it "Way to go!" And that's really good. It obviously isn't literal, but that's about what Hyakume was thinking when he said it. (At 20:04.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Japanese at
01:24 PM
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Posted by: Toren at April 18, 2012 02:07 PM (aq2MN)
...depending on those circumstances, of course. But that's true of translating any language.
Posted by: atomic_fungus at April 18, 2012 02:23 PM (vq4t5)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 18, 2012 03:17 PM (+rSRq)
-j
Posted by: J Greely at April 18, 2012 04:31 PM (fpXGN)
"Way to go" is a good way to translate the normal sense of the word. But a lot of it depends on the tone of the speaker. A more literal meaning would be better from someone who otherwise speaks very formally (and from such a person, the slightly-stilted effect ought to fit right in with the rest of their speech), and something like "way to go!" is perfect for an informal speaker.
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at April 18, 2012 04:43 PM (pWQz4)
Yeah sasuga is one of those terms that just sounds horrible translated literally. It sounds stilted and awkwards most of the time.
Posted by: tellu541 at April 19, 2012 01:35 AM (Nu03Y)
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at April 19, 2012 09:59 PM (5OBKC)
Posted by: Tex Lovera at April 20, 2012 03:17 PM (DvLEA)
The other Japanese construction which is painful to translate is the -tachi particle. A lot of English translators have settled on "and them" for that, which I always hate. At the very least I'd like "and the others" or "and the rest", if they can't come up with anything else. I know it's longer, but no English speaker says "and them".
Sasuga and -tachi are probably responsible for more stilted English in translations than anything else.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 20, 2012 06:16 PM (+rSRq)
-j
Posted by: J Greely at April 20, 2012 06:27 PM (fpXGN)
Some older people in the southeast do. Jeff Foxworthy's made mention of it. Sasuga Redneck-san.
"And company" might be better, though.
Posted by: jcm3 at April 21, 2012 11:14 AM (OU30d)
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