mot very accurate translation but grategul anyway

SandraC May 17, 2020 11:09 am

In the raw version he says "my female" not "my bitch". In the spanish version they used "hembra" that means female. Why change the meaning in English? To sound hotter? It really does? The writer didn't use that expression so... what is the point? please... (I'm a translator and language teacher so this is only my recommendation) try to not change the meaning and translate everything as accurate as possible because sometimes you can change a character's personality or even the meaning of the story. Anyway thanks for translating and uploading the chapters. I know how hard it is. Thank you! Keep going! (づ ̄ ³ ̄)づ

Responses
    bi-lateral_general May 17, 2020 12:25 pm

    Bitch is used to refer to a female dog in heat, which is what he is saying regardless so I don't understand the discourse regarding this specific translation choice. It's degrading at the end of the day whether he cursed or not.

    Squibbles May 17, 2020 1:28 pm

    Well he used mesu which specifically only refers to non-human females so I don't think female, which can be used with people as well, carries the accurate connotation either.

    Fudanshi-Kun May 17, 2020 1:39 pm

    Hi, I'm the translator. Adding to what the others previously said: Renjaku says “mesu” in Japanese, which does mean female, but it’s a version of the word female that is usually used for animals. It's not a word that you would normally see used with people and is very degrading. Hence I thought “Bitch” would best convey that meaning.
    I wasn't trying to change his character, or make him sound meaner. This is just a part of Renjaku’s character. It's how he is.

    Also, it may not seem like it right now, but Renjaku is slowly changing. In the future chapters, you'll see that he's not all mean and angry.

    SandraC May 17, 2020 7:20 pm
    Hi, I'm the translator. Adding to what the others previously said: Renjaku says “mesu” in Japanese, which does mean female, but it’s a version of the word female that is usually used for animals. It's not... Fudanshi-Kun

    Hi again!

    According to the dictionary "mesu" means "female" (animal) and "mesuinu" is "female dog" (with the pejorative meaning). Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not a japanese native speaker and maybe you are) but the one I think he uses is "mesu". And he uses it to talk about his father's omega as well. So it doesn't specify that the meaning could be pejorative or negative. Also in the omegaverse world to call someone female is not pejorative... I think...(not sure neither) (I know that in the real world sounds weird). Also it's true that female dog in English can have a negative meaning but in other languages it hasn't. In other language, as mine, is the female fox which could be insulting (it can be an animal or a prostitute depending on the context) . I mean I know sometimes it's difficult to choose the right word but I'm not sure about this translation specifically. But anyway, as I've said before thank you for translating it.

    bi-lateral_general May 18, 2020 7:11 am
    Hi again! According to the dictionary "mesu" means "female" (animal) and "mesuinu" is "female dog" (with the pejorative meaning). Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not a japanese native speaker and maybe you are) b... SandraC

    I have a big problem with people referencing dictionaries and not understanding context. Yes, he used the word "female" but in the context of the sentence, his character, and his opinion on omegas, "bitch" was a more accurate way to translate it as to not cause any confusion. This is like when people pretend that men calling all the girls they fuck with "females" is any better than just calling them bitches. It's the same in this context! Just how you say that calling someone a female fox is similar to calling them a prostitute, in this context, he used "female" the same way you'd use "bitch" when referring to a dog in heat. It's a specific translation choice to make sure the reader knew that he was using a term meant for animals.
    Everything that this character has said and done, And y'all are cherry picking "bitch"?

    SandraC May 19, 2020 11:07 am
    I have a big problem with people referencing dictionaries and not understanding context. Yes, he used the word "female" but in the context of the sentence, his character, and his opinion on omegas, "bitch" was ... bi-lateral_general

    Hi,

    When you are translating, dictionaries are essential. So I don't understand your problem. Also, I think you didn't understand the "female fox" or "zorra" meaning. I used it to explain a different expression and how languages' contexts change easily (so it's easy to misunderstand many words) ╮( ̄▽ ̄)╭

    Anyway, as you have your opinion, I have mine (same as other people). It's not necessary to get angry girl. Hakuna matata ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

    Squibbles May 19, 2020 1:28 pm
    Hi, When you are translating, dictionaries are essential. So I don't understand your problem. Also, I think you didn't understand the "female fox" or "zorra" meaning. I used it to explain a different expression... SandraC

    No one's getting angry .__. What she's saying is that countering the translator's, who has a comprehensive understanding of both English and Japanese and the contexts in which both languages are used, explanation about how they translated a certain terms with "well the dictionary definition of mesu is female" is not a good argument. Dictionaries are important when leaning a language, sure, but are of minimal help when you translate because expressions often explicitly don't translate as-is to other languages and relying on dictionaries only leads to awkward and subpar results.

    Because just as you said, the language's context changes easily. For example, if someone were to translate someone calling another person bitch to your language, looking at the dictionary definition would lead to the wrong answer because the word "female dog" in your language doesn't mean what it means in English and instead, the closest word with similar connotations is female fox. Say you translated bitch to zorra and someone came to you like "well the dictionary definition of bitch is a female dog so you translated that wrong", wouldn't that sound extremely ignorant to you?

    Similarly, "mesu", while TECHNICALLY translated to "female" if you only look at dictionary definitions, carries a very different meaning in Japanese, where it's only used on non-human females compared to English where female is a term used on humans as well. And because the translator wanted the readers to catch the non-human way the guy refers to the omega, he went with bitch, the closest English counterpart. Makes sense, right?