I had no problem with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Fairy cakes, Biros... all these things are in the dictionary, or if not, gleanable from context.
Buffy: Where are the burgers? Riley: Yeah man, I'm starving. Cow me. Xander: I'd love to make with the moo but the fire's not cooperating.
'Lessons'
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Laga - Nov 17, 2010 7:47:11 am PST #12057 of 30000
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
§ ita § - Nov 17, 2010 7:53:09 am PST #12058 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Fairy cakes, Biros... all these things are in the dictionary
Not all of them, now that I check...
Laga - Nov 17, 2010 7:59:02 am PST #12059 of 30000
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
Still I tend to watch BBC with subtitles on if I can. Hamish MacBeth! I can't understand 10% of what you're saying but I love you anyway!
Steph L. - Nov 17, 2010 8:18:22 am PST #12060 of 30000
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
American readers really can't adapt to that degree
Well, to be fair, "jumper" is already used in American English, just not for the same article of clothing as it is in British English. I don't think it's that unusual to read a word you already have a meaning for and wonder at its seeming misuse (Harry putting on a jumper, for instance, or the whole "pants" definition thingie). Sure, it's more or less easy enough to work out in context (although I had to hunt down a British person to figure out what the hell a "modcon" was), but I just don't find misunderstandings of that sort to be proof of inability to adapt.
Perhaps it makes me a linguistic isolationist, but I tend to read things through the lens of the meanings of words that I've used all my life.
Laga - Nov 17, 2010 8:22:02 am PST #12061 of 30000
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.
Sometimes I just skip over stuff I don't understand. I could swear I've never heard 'modcon' before but I'm sure it will jump right out at me next time I see it just like 'chipolatas' yesterday.
le nubian - Nov 17, 2010 8:22:27 am PST #12062 of 30000
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
I read a lot of british mysteries, so I'm not sure much of the slang would phase me, but Beau doesn't understand at least 10% of the BBC shows we watch.
beekaytee - Nov 17, 2010 8:22:50 am PST #12063 of 30000
Compassionately intolerant
Fair point.
I think my rampant Anglophile fangirlishness dims my view of the translations because I prefer the 'when in Rome' approach. The minority view...I can accept that.
Jessica - Nov 17, 2010 8:25:07 am PST #12064 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
My vote is still for no translation, glossary in the back. I mean hell, the books were published by Scholastic - if they can't shoehorn in some vocab educational content, who can?
Steph L. - Nov 17, 2010 8:29:35 am PST #12065 of 30000
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
My vote is still for no translation, glossary in the back.
Which just took me to an Anathem place. I did so much flipping back and forth between the text and glossary that it impeded my enjoyment of the book. Though I think a re-read would be much more enjoyable, because I'd remember a lot of the words now.
megan walker - Nov 17, 2010 8:30:24 am PST #12066 of 30000
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
Normally, I'd vote no translation, but I think the hyphens alone might kill me: [link]