Welcome to my world.That TL note just made me more confused.
I can't tell who should be more offended.So basically she's saying that her daughter is an indication of her husband's awkward phase.
Yes, it can mean that, since it's a punchline. Like "Don't you talk shit about my boy", in a role reversal. みたいに turned the whole thing into a simile, so at that point, it seemed unlikely she was talking about him personally. If it seemed obvious to you that she means "your child", you've either got a better grasp of the language than me, or you're prone to miss the "Me/My" use case of 我がI don't completely understand your reasoning for 我が子 being "my child" - are you saying it would mean that the daughter is calling the father her own child? I thought it's quite clear it should mean "your own child", not "my child".
やつ doesn't always literally refer to concrete things, but rather can put things in a category based on some characteristic. In this case "イマイチだった時" seems to be the thing being categorized, and みたいに seems to be the daughter finally drawing the link between herself and the category of thing she described.It seems like you left out the part "のヤツ" in your translation, since you put "she's that awkward phase" rather than "she's the thing from that awkward phase" or something like that.
So basically I think the meaning of the sentence should be more along the lines of "Don't talk about your own daughter like she's the result of a time where something wasn't good enough", or slightly less clunkier, "Don't talk about your own daughter like she's a defective product" (though that might be a bit liberal)
We can all suffer together <3I like that the line is making us both suffer.![]()
I think your suggestions are better honestly. The way it is now the text don't stand on its own, and the TL note just makes it confusing. And it sounds way, way better. Having it chunky and hard to understand because it was ambigious like that in the original sort of sounds like a bad reason for making it like that in the translation. I think someone who doesn't understand this fails at translating honestly.I don't completely understand your reasoning for 我が子 being "my child" - are you saying it would mean that the daughter is calling the father her own child? I thought it's quite clear it should mean "your own child", not "my child".
It seems like you left out the part "のヤツ" in your translation, since you put "she's that awkward phase" rather than "she's the thing from that awkward phase" or something like that.
Also, I don't think "awkward" is the most fitting translation of イマイチ here. The part it's in, イマイチだった時, is "the time where (something) was iffy/not good", and given what the sentence is supposed to be a reply to, I think she means "the time (of conception) where something was not good (because the father was not producing sperm with Y chromosomes)". So basically I think the meaning of the sentence should be more along the lines of "Don't talk about your own daughter like she's the result of a time where something wasn't good enough", or slightly less clunkier, "Don't talk about your own daughter like she's a defective product" (though that might be a bit liberal).
But then you're asking them to take liberties. The problem isn't necessarily with the translator, but the language itself. Japanese tends to remove a lot of things that are usually necessary in English, especially when it comes to dialogue/conversation, because it relies a lot on inference and context.I think your suggestions are better honestly. The way it is now the text don't stand on its own, and the TL note just makes it confusing. And it sounds way, way better. Having it chunky and hard to understand because it was ambigious like that in the original sort of sounds like a bad reason for making it like that in the translation. I think someone who doesn't understand this fails at translating honestly.
Fluency and readibility is the most important for a good translation in my opinion. If you can't make it somewhat readable and understandable, you've not done a good job.But then you're asking them to take liberties. The problem isn't necessarily with the translator, but the language itself. Japanese tends to remove a lot of things that are usually necessary in English, especially when it comes to dialogue/conversation, because it relies a lot on inference and context.
But it is readable. Very readable. "So basically she's saying that her daughter is an indication/product of her husband's awkward phase." Is the takeaway.Fluency and readibility is the most important for a good translation in my opinion. If you can't make it somewhat readable and understandable, you've not done a good job.
Maybe change it to something like "Don't talk about your own daughter like her conception was that awkward phase you went through" ?Yes, it can mean that, since it's a punchline. Like "Don't you talk shit about my boy", in a role reversal. みたいに turned the whole thing into a simile, so at that point, it seemed unlikely she was talking about him personally. If it seemed obvious to you that she means "your child", you've either got a better grasp of the language than me, or you're prone to miss the "Me/My" use case of 我が
やつ doesn't always literally refer to concrete things, but rather can put things in a category based on some characteristic. In this case "イマイチだった時" seems to be the thing being categorized, and みたいに seems to be the daughter finally drawing the link between herself and the category of thing she described.
I like that the line is making us both suffer.![]()
I still think the other guy did it better. You kind of kill the punch line with a somewhat bad sentence and a TL note.But it is readable. Very readable. "So basically she's saying that her daughter is an indication/product of her husband's awkward phase." Is the takeaway.
And this is much better than innacuracies.
I mean hey, if you prefer slight liberties for a better sentence, that's totally fine.I still think the other guy did it better. You kind of kill the punch line with a somewhat bad sentence and a TL note.
Fluency, readibility, and flow is the most important in my opinion. If you kill the punch line in a comedy, or you kill the mood or tone otherwise, you have kind of ruined your own product honestly. Then you're doing it more for your own satisfaction than the reader, which is fair I guess but then it ruins the purpose of posting it for others to read.I mean hey, if you prefer slight liberties for a better sentence, that's totally fine.
This TL and I seem to prefer otherwise xD
I think he enhanced the experience for me as a reader because I now actually understand what was going on better.Fluency, readibility, and flow is the most important in my opinion. If you kill the punch line in a comedy, or you kill the mood or tone otherwise, you have kind of ruined your own product honestly. Then you're doing it more for your own satisfaction than the reader, which is fair I guess but then it ruins the purpose of posting it for others to read.
I think it was less fun.I think he enhanced the experience for me as a reader because I now actually understand what was going on better.
Something like "don't talk about your daughter as if she's a failure" has a COMPLETELY different meaning than basically saying "don't talk about your daughter as if her conception was your/an awkward phase you went through."
The former makes it sound like blame is being put on the daughter rather than the father. Maybe saying "product of failure" would have been much better.
How about "Don't talk about your daughter as if she's a product of failure" ?I don't completely understand your reasoning for 我が子 being "my child" - are you saying it would mean that the daughter is calling the father her own child? I thought it's quite clear it should mean "your own child", not "my child".
It seems like you left out the part "のヤツ" in your translation, since you put "she's that awkward phase" rather than "she's the thing from that awkward phase" or something like that.
Also, I don't think "awkward" is the most fitting translation of イマイチ here. The part it's in, イマイチだった時, is "the time where (something) was iffy/not good", and given what the sentence is supposed to be a reply to, I think she means "the time (of conception) where something was not good (because the father was not producing sperm with Y chromosomes)". So basically I think the meaning of the sentence should be more along the lines of "Don't talk about your own daughter like she's the result of a time where something wasn't good enough", or slightly less clunkier, "Don't talk about your own daughter like she's a defective product" (though that might be a bit liberal).