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Comical Translation: Difference between revisions
sorted examples, added example, needs more examples
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'''[[Tactful Translation]]''': Perhaps Alice wants to ask Bob out on a date, but there's a language barrier. She asks Carol to translate, and asks Bob out. He responds rudely, but Carol translates his response into something more polite, perhaps to spare Alice's feelings or because she doesn't use profanity herself. The exchange might go something like this:
{{quote|
'''Bob:''' ''*looks disgusted, yells for several minutes and spits on Alice's shoe*''
'''Carol'''(''To Alice''): He says he'd like to, but he must politely decline. }}
'''[[Translation: "Yes"]]''': Often overlapping with [[Tactful Translation]], this is when an incredibly long word or phrase translates to a much shorter one, usually a single word. Also covers the inverse, when a single word translates into whole sentences or paragraphs. Sometimes used with [[Fun
{{quote|
'''Subtitles:''' Yes }}
'''Pragmatic Translation''': There are certain phrases that are common in the English language, but derived from other languages. Often, their literal translation is only loosely related to their common usage. Sometimes, it's easier to just tell someone what a phrase means in context, rather than translate it. It's also commonly used condescendingly by [[Insufferable Genius
{{quote|
'''Fred:''' [[Gratuitous Latin|Caveat emptor.]]
'''Eric:''' What does that mean?
'''Fred:''' It means you're shit outta luck. }}
'''[[Fun
'''[[Gag Dub]]''': Inaccurately dubbing a show from one language to another for laughs.
'''Obviously False Translation''': When someone says something, which may or may not even be a real language, and then offers his own translation, usually as a bad comeback.
{{quote|
'''Harry''' (''Obviously not understanding''): Oh yeah? Well ''vuvu zoo la moo'' to you too.
'''George:''' That was gibberish.
'''Harry:''' Gibberish for "Screw you" }}
'''[[Completely Unnecessary Translator]]''': A character is introduced speaking a foreign language and has someone translate for him. The English-speaking characters may mutter something insulting under their breaths or casually discuss something meant to be a secret, but find out that the foreign character does, in fact, understand what they're saying.
'''[[Conveniently Precise Translation]]''': When a word or name in a foreign language translates into something incredibly specific to the situation. Happens often with [[Meaningful Name
{{quote|
'''[[Who's
{{quote|
'''Merton:''' "I don't know what."
'''Tommy:''' That's what I'm asking you! }}
'''Prank Translation''': Someone asks a friend how to say something, perhaps to impress someone. Instead of giving him a real translation, the second character gives the first an insult or rude remark. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
{{quote|
'''Carol:''' "Tu eres un burro."
'''Bob:''' Thanks! }}
'''False Cognate Translation''': When someone translates something, either seriously or sarcastically, as whatever it sounds like in his language regardless of the real meaning.
'''[["El
{{examples}}
== [[Film]] ==
* In ''[[Phenomenon]]'', there's an inverted Prank Translation. Nate has a crush on a Portuguese housekeeper but does not speak Portuguese, so he asks George, who does, to teach him some phrases related to asking her to clean his house. The ones George teaches him are polite, but very romantic phrases having nothing to do with housekeeping.▼
* In ''[[Despicable Me]]'', Gru uses a Prank Translation to insult orphanage manager Miss Hattie, telling her that her face is "''como un burro''" (like a donkey) while claiming it means she is beautiful. Unfortunately for him, she gets her hands on a Spanish-English dictionary before the end of the film
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* Prank Translation in the ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' sketch in which [[
* Played with in the ''[[Friends]]'' episode when [[The Ditz|Phoebe]] dates an Eastern European diplomat.
{{quote|
'''Phoebe:''' Oooh...
'''Translator:''' Oooiih... }}
** Later in the episode, when the translator is [[Distracted
{{quote|
'''Translator:''' [Eastern European sounding gibberish.]
'''Phoebe:''' "You didn't mention Bouthros Bouthros Ghali."
'''Translator:''' "Bouthros Bouthros Ghali." }}
▲* In ''[[Phenomenon]]'', there's an inverted Prank Translation. Nate has a crush on a Portuguese housekeeper but does not speak Portuguese, so he asks George, who does, to teach him some phrases related to asking her to clean his house. The ones George teaches him are polite, but very romantic phrases having nothing to do with housekeeping.
* ''[[Scrubs]]'': Dominican nurse Carla provides [[Anything That Moves|The Todd]] with a few prank translations when he asks for Spanish pickup lines, resulting in him telling women he has a "tiny penis" or "genital herpes, ''for you!''"
** In another episode Eliot is mad at Doctor Cox when he asks her how to tell a German patient he has fluid in his lungs. She tells him how to say "Your wife has nice cans", which he repeats while miming a pair of lungs.
* On an episode of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', where House gives us this quote:
{{quote|
* ''[[Top Gear]]'':▼
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== [[Other Media]] ==
* A joke with various permutations, [[Orphaned Punchline|whose gist is]] a white boss thinks that "[[Your Mom|Tu madre]]" is Spanish for "Yes, sir."
▲* [[Top Gear]]
{{Needs More Examples}}
▲{{quote| '''Clarkson''' [''reading from the car's manual, trying to figure out why the fuel filler cap won't open'']: ''Consola centrali con intoratori aperturi sportello rifornimento.'' We are useless Italians and we haven't built this properly.}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Translation Tropes]]
[[Category:Comical Translation]]
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