oddchelonian:gailsimone:ayellowbirds:gailsimone:sonofb...

oddchelonian:

gailsimone:

ayellowbirds:

gailsimone:

sonofbaldwin:

@GailSimone knows that Diana ain’t nuttin’ to fuck wit.

Damn straight.

It’s Wonder Woman.

Better bring TWO armies.

My sole complaint about this scene? The singular of castrati is “castrato”.

Yep.

This is the life of comics writers, I have tortured myself about that mistake ever since.

This is actually something I’ve always wondered about. Is there any process the editors use to ensure that foreign languages are used correctly in comics? I cringe almost every time I see Spanish used (which is my mother tongue), or hell … even any other language I have even a passing acquaintance with. The erros are very obvious and really break immersion from me.

The castrati/castrato was a very minor mistake btw, no need to beat yourself up over it. I’m more referring to cases where writers use really cliché terms like the dreaded “Madre de Dios!” and “Ay carmaba!”. I cringe every time I see those used.

In my experience it is usually the writer’s job to have the translations be accurate, however, there are so many people at the DC offices it is very common for someone to double check.

I do have one slightly amusing thing to say here, though…the quality of translations varies from flawless to absolute shit. I’ve heard of people using Google translator for translations, which is ridiculous, and often, as you point out, people take cliches from old comics and movies and use those.

But, and this is a little weird, you almost never, and I mean never, get a bit of dialogue in a foreign language through without SOMEONE complaining. I don’t know what it is, but even if the dialogue is beyond reproach (I had an Italian PROFESSOR actually give me some Italian dialogue, and some people complained it was inaccurate, I asked how that could be, and he said, “It’s because they don’t speak Italian”), someone will complain, even if their knowledge of the language is a bit spotty.

My friends who are professional Japanese and Chinese translators, native born, who do this for a living, they say it happens every time they help someone with a bit of proper dialogue, someone will say it’s inaccurate or makes no sense.

And what can you say in return? I don’t speak those language, my Mandarin is awful, my French and Spanish mostly forgotten, and that’s the extent of my toolbag. If I can’t trust native language professors who teach in their own country, or I can’t trust professional translators, I don’t know who to go to at all.

Language is tricky—people take it very personally, and with good reason. I don’t blame people for being protective at all. But it’s odd, sometimes.