Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2018
- Messages
- 1,013
I said "Obviously that's not what you mean" but I guess you didn't read past that one sentence you quoted. Or maybe you just don't have any reply against my actual argument, with the examples with the pronouns? A weak way to write off my whole paragraph when you don't even address the main point I make. (Hmm, what lowbrow debating technique does that sound like?)Brother, I have no time for strawmen. If you're going to pretend I'm stupid, I'm just letting the exchange die here.
Here's how it is: you said, and I quote, "I would classify "they wrote something the characters didn't say" as precisely the definition of a translation error." You applied this to the use of "fuck" in Amou's line. I applied it to the use of "you" in another line. So tell me, which of these is your stance?
a) Your statement is wrong, as it is currently stated. Did you intend to say something different to the exact words you wrote?
b) Your application of your statement was wrong.
c) Your application of your statement was correct, and my application was wrong. Please enlighten me as to how I am supposed to know when it is and isn't applicable from your "definition of a translation error" only.
d) Both applications of your statement are correct. Saying "Have you no manners" is incorrect, and it should be something more like "Are there no manners".
e) None of the above. I'd like to know what case I could have missed.
So now you claim I say something I didn't. Not once did I say that swear words were needed. I only ever said that they were appropriate. I did say that they were the best choice in this situation, and based on the new information I have now learnt on what the original text was, I think I take that back. But I never at any point said, or implied, that that was the only way to translate it. Did it seem that way to you?Yeah. You think that you need people to swear to mark the speech as impolite for some reason, even though, for example, she's in her mom's face shouting at the top of her lungs in an obvious fight.
Alright, so your point is that she isn't the type of character to swear, ever. Is that it?You haven't been paying attention, and I've already explained what the problem is. Read through the exchange over again and ask questions if you're still not getting what I'm saying.And this is the point I'm trying to make about your original comment: your immediate dismissal of the translation as wrong because of the use of a swear word is using an arbitrary rule that hinders translation.
Well, maybe you're wrong, maybe you're right. I have seen plenty of people who will never swear, except when they blow their top - maybe she's one of them, maybe she isn't. Who can say when there are no swear words in Japanese?
But it seems to me that you haven't been paying attention to what I've said. Read the line you quoted again.
Your immediate dismissal of the translation as wrong because of the use of a swear word is using an arbitrary rule that hinders translation.
You think I'm trying to convince you that Amou might say fuck. I'm not. I'm pushing the point that marking the translation as an error is wrong.
If you'd used her personality as your main reason for your disagreement with the translator's use of "fuck", I wouldn't have complained and gone on my rant about formality in different languages. My gripe is not with your decision, but your justification.
My point is that your stringent translation rules like "fuck is wrong because Japanese doesn't have swear words", or worse, "it's wrong if it has words that weren't there in the original" are arbitrary, needlessly restrictive and obstructing the conveying of intent behind words, rather than just meaning. I'm fine if a translator chooses never to use swear words in a translation. But the way you treat it like it's a factual error is what I disagree with, because it perpetuates these false conceptions, that your judgement comes from a universal rule and not a guideline based on other factors.
If you're going to complain about the use of swear words, justify it based on the genre of the material, the intended target audience, and the like. Say it's inappropriate, not that it's incorrect. Stop giving anyone else the impression that "fuck" is wrong for grammatical reasons.