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Tactful Translation: Difference between revisions
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No, if you're smart, you choose to do a [[Tactful Translation]], translating the spirit of what was said or is important, while leaving out all the insulting, offensive, or just plain stupid stuff that would only get in the way or complicate things. Odds are that afterward all the sides will go home feeling pleased with themselves or like they really showed those other guys, while only the translator(s) will know just why that whole deal worked out without turning into a bloodbath.
Often winds up looking like a case of [[Translation: "Yes"]]. May be the job of a [[Completely Unnecessary Translator]].
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
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{{quote| '''Japan:''' Go. Away.<br />
'''Interpreter:''' It's nice that you have such interesting pursuits, but please pursue them at your own residence. }}
** A meta example: in [http://www.geocities.jp/himaruya/omochi.html one of his mochi strips] (titled "Beautiful Rice Cake"), the [[Makes Just As Much Sense in Context|"king of rice cake"]] drops tonnes of [[Cluster F
{{quote| '''Mochi:''' Get out of my sight! Holy Bitch!<br />
'''translation:''' I'm glad you like it. }}
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* Used by Charlie Chaplin in ''[[The Great Dictator]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4UhJpviVYg here].
* In the Guy Ritchie film ''[[Revolver]]'', there's a scene where Lord John endlessly abuses Macha's men in Cantonese, while the translator expresses this in very to the point and non-offensive words.
* In ''[[Speed (Film)|Speed]]'', Alan Ruck's character, relaying Keanu's responses via walkie talkie to bomb control, relays a frustrated "'''[[Precision F
* In ''[[Ip Man]]'', after the titular character's [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against ten Japanese black belts, the general, suitably impressed by his skill, gives him his prize of rice and asks him to come again. Ip Man responds by telling the translator that he didn't come for the rice, implying he just came to kick their asses. The translator simply tells the general that Ip Man said he will come again. This is immediately followed up by another example: The general asks for Ip Man's name, and the latter replies that he is 'just a Chinese person', to which the translator tells the general that 'his name is Ip Man'.
* Brazilian movie "Meu nome Não é Johnny" ("My name isn't Johnny") featured a middle-class guy that ended up in prison due to drug sale and abuse. He knew English, and, as his fellow prisoners had to deal with American prisoners (in none-too-friendly talks), he had to interpret between them and tried to do this. It went downhill when one of the Brazilian inmates remarked he knew what "fuck you" means.
* ''[[Battlefield Earth]]'', [[The Film of the Book]]: Terl makes a long threat (which [[Translation Convention|we hear in English]]), and Jonnie translates as "Try to run, he'll kill us". Terl [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs]] a [[Translation: "Yes"|lampshade]] immediately after.
* Slightly inverted in ''[[Fort Apache]]'', in that Cochise calls the Indian agent Meachum "un hombre malvado, que no dice la verdad," which Sergeant Beaufort renders as "a yellow-bellied polecat of dubious antecedents and conjectural progeny."
* ''[[Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]'' amusingly plays with this trope while combining it with [[Fun With Subtitles]]. When one gangster is informing another about infamous [[The Yardies|Yardie]] kingpin Rory Breaker his lines (which are in a a deep slang and would be all but incomprehensible in North America) get subtitled. As the character narrates about [[Too Dumb to Live|some poor dumb bastard]] confronting Rory at a bar, changing the channel Rory was watching and saying "Now fuck off and watch it somewhere else" the subtitles show up with "Please remove yourself from this bar". Just a few seconds later, however, the trope is gleefully inverted, as the narrator tells about how Rory "Walks straight past the jam rolls who are ready for action" and the subtitles translate this as "He walks straight past the arseholes". A couple of seconds after ''that'' there is more bickering between Rory and the other guy that involves cursing at each other and it gets translated far more politely than how it was actually said. Enjoy it for yourself [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRDOpknHLLo here].
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== Literature ==
* ''[[The Warlord Chronicles]]'' gives us a page quote when the [[Boisterous Bruiser]] Saxon warrior king Aelle faces off with a coalition of Briton princes, generals, and warlords. When called upon to surrender and offered mercy, Aelle responds with [[Cut His Heart Out With a Spoon|an incredibly long-winded and detailed set of threats, tortures and torments]] toward every notable figure on the British side. (Believe it or not, the version on the quote page is ''much'' shorter than the full thing). The translator's version is simply "He says no." The trope also gets lampshaded, as right after Derfel translates Aelle's speech, Meurig responds "[[Translation: "Yes"|Surely he said more than that]]?" The [[Old Soldier]] Sagramor, [[Seen It All|who has been doing this sort of thing for his almost his entire life]], just tells Meurig "[[You Do NOT Want to Know|You don't want to know what he really said]]."
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', when Daenerys negotiates for an army of Unsullied in Astapor one of the merchants insults her repeatedly and uses [[Politically
** In an earlier book by the same author, ''Windhaven'', someone is ''executed'' for doing this. She was carrying very rude verbal messages between two places at risk of war, and made them a bit more polite. When her employer found out he had her killed, and though he was removed from his position for insanity shortly thereafter, he was considered within his rights to do so. They take the job of delivering the exact message seriously.
* A large part of Bren Cameron's job in [[CJ Cherryh]]'s Foreigner-verse, as the ''only'' person authorized by treaty to translate between a human settlement and the government of the other intelligent species on the planet. Even when, as in later books, he's not the only person who can translate, his skill at tact and diplomacy is exceptionally valuable.
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