Slang in US Disney comics
Olaf Solstrand
olaf at andebyonline.com
Tue Aug 19 09:08:24 CEST 2003
Quoting "Sigvald Grøsfjeld jr." <sigvald at duckburg.dk>:
> Hi all!
>
> This week a 16 page mini-booklet is attached to the weeklies in
> Scandinavia.
> This mini-booklet contains 3 stories in English:
>
> b) Was this a wise thing to do by Egmont? (Remember I have previously been
> told to avoid "colorful language" in DCML.)
>
Well... now there's a difference between the DCML and the weeklies/monthlies...
AND there's a difference between the language Donald uses and the language YOU
have been using... ("sufferin' catfish" and "dipshit" are two VERY different
words!) I feel that slang expressions in a comic adds colour and spice, and
makes the story more interesting... Isn't it silly that both Goofy and the
Beagle Boys talk exactly like Grandma and Rockerduck? They ARE from different
groups of the society, so using slang expressions/dialects is in my opinion a
good way to express that... Even though the Norwegian translators've never done
that. Well, except for one story, of course - "Lost in Andes"...
So, I think "colourful language" and slang in stories is a GOOD thing. But, to
answer your question: NO, I don't think this was a wise thing to do by Egmont.
For two reasons.
1) They are calling this an English course - but only a few of the words are
explained. Sure, "Busybodies" is printed in the magazine in Norwegian, so one
could easily just compare them... But hey! The Norwegian translator has not
translated everything word by word! The title "Busybodies" has
become "Neighbour is neighbour worst", "the planet Neptune" has become "the
Milky Way", "I'm a monkey's third cousin" has become "I'm a stool", in one
occation "atom bomb" has become "spy equipment" and "Mata Hari" has
become "woman person". Not to mention that the mountains of Bolivia are
translated into the mountains of the non-existing Hutaheiti. And this was just
a few examples... Can this booklet possibly be used to learn English? Only if
you know a lot already, and wants to learn slang a la Van Horn. But this
booklet will probably attract those interested in learning English with
Donald... which they can't.
2) Egmont is publishing stories in the original American... Personally I think
that is a good thing, but as a result of what I mentioned above: This is
eventually not good for them. Norwegian magazines have always had terrible
translations - their only advance was that we didn't know how lousy they were.
Now, they're SHOWING US. If not "Busibodies" will, I feel sure that many after
reading this will find their issue of "On Stolen Time" to figure out what was
the Norwegian equivalent of "sufferin' catfish", "have you popped your cork"
or "greenbacks" - and discover that there aren't any.
So basically, I think it's good to get to read this, but I think Egmont is
hurting themselves by doing it and that it also should not be marketed as
an "English course", but rather as a special pearl for those of us who wants to
read stories in the original language every now and then.
Two questions about this booklet...
1) Donald says "take a gander!" The translation says "throw a look at", with a
following paranthesis "(gander really means goose, and is the surname of both
Gladstone and Gus in English)"... I know Gladstone's name is Gander, but is
GUS' as well?
2) Donald says "Straighten out and fly right!" The translation says "Line from
well-known song!" Aw, please help me out here... WHICH ONE?
Olaf the Blue
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