This can go both ways whether you understand both the original dub and the subtitle language that differs from the dub, for example: I recall watching a TV show episode where a conversation about a friend of theirs being drafted to war, but this piece of dialog was horribly translated: “He’s still a kid” as in the guy is his early 20s.

The subtitles in 日本語 however, used the worst wording for this idiomatic prasing by translating “kid” as in a literal minor (子供) when the real context is more on referring to someone who’s 20 years old or above (basically equivallent to saying “young man” / 若い人) which butchered the scene since the subtitles failed to express that.

I mean, do you know examples of a movie or TV show where the subtitles suck at translating the spoken dialog when it involves idioms, puns or even cultural references? Whether it’s French Dub & English Sub or vice versa (like English Dub > Spanish Sub & etc.) since each language has their own way of conveying a message.

  • jaschen306@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    I can with Mandarin and English and there are many words that both languages don’t have. Also in Mandarin there are different levels of respect/ tones when speaking to an elder or a boss that gets completely lost in translations.

    • Crackhappy@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      English not having truly differing levels of formality/respect expressed through grammar or different words is definitely a big difference.