UAE
SAUDI ARABIA
QATAR
No Result
View All Result
AZIMUTH GULF
  • Latest News
  • Digital Trasformation
  • Internationalization
  • Middle East Markets
Azimuth Gulf News
  • Latest News
  • Digital Trasformation
  • Internationalization
  • Middle East Markets
No Result
View All Result
Azimuth Gulf News
No Result
View All Result
Azimuth Digital Azimuth Digital Azimuth Digital
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Internationalization

Can You Translate Comedy?

Nardino Di Marco by Nardino Di Marco
July 23, 2021
in Internationalization, Translation Services
0
Can You Translate Comedy
https://www.linkedin.com/company/azimuth-international

Unfortunately for comedians, the infamous play-on-words, “a guy walks into a bar… ouch,” is not universally funny. In fact, partially due to language barriers, no joke is universally funny. But, does this mean that comedy can’t be made accessible to everyone? Netflix, the international video streaming service, is enlisting thousands of translators and language specialists to translate their programs, even the comedic ones. For their weekly show, Chelsea, starring the famously crude comedian, Chelsea Handler, Netflix has hired a team of 200 translators. Every week, these translators are given 12 hours to translate Chelsea’s profane humour into 20 different languages. This is no easy feat.  The translators have to be conscious of what is funny in each language, and even more conscious of what is not.

A frame of Netflix show "Chelsea"

Jokes are often so difficult to translate that sometimes interpreters or translators just skip them all together. After delivering a speech at a university in Japan, American President Jimmy Carter was confused as to why one of his jokes had received such an uproar of laughter. His Japanese interpreter later explained that rather than translating the joke, he had simply told the audience to laugh. This is not an uncommon practice among interpreters. Sometimes it is better to state that the speaker is telling a joke than to over-explain the joke.

Jimmy Carter on his visit to Japan

Translating a comedy show goes beyond translating words. A lot of time, humour depends on slang, word-play or idioms, which cannot be translated. Even onomatopoeias manifest themselves differently. are different. In English, the cat says “meow,” but in Vietnamese it says “meo-meo,” in Estonian it says “nau” and in Malay it says “ngjau.” This just goes to show that if the joke depends on a rhyme, a play on words or a specific sound, it is not going to be translatable. This means that translators have to find new ways to make the original joke funny, often having to change the original to be more linguistically relevant.

People laughing at the cinema

Understanding comedy often depends on whether or not you share a cultural background. For example, in order to understand Jerry Seinfeld’s New York-centric Standup routine, you have to understand the culture of New York. Without this cultural empathy, the jokes are no longer funny. This makes translating comedy extremely nuanced, but not impossible. The translator or interpreter must be an expert in the cultural references of the target language and able to convert the jokes into that cultural context. If the translator can do this, they can translate comedy.

Jerry Seinfeld

At Langpros, we have a team of excellent interpreters and translators. They are professional, experienced, and even skilled enough to translate your jokes.

Related Posts

saudi arabia
Internationalization

Vision 2030: Overview and Goals for Saudi Arabia’s Economic and Social Development

January 18, 2023
Jeddah landscape
Internationalization

Islamic Arts Biennale of Jeddah 2023

December 20, 2022
How To Translate a Business Website?
Business Interpreting

How To Translate a Business Website?

November 25, 2022
interpreter services - conference UAE
Business Interpreting

Why traditional interpreting services are coming back as a trend

November 11, 2022
Meta Business Suite - platform
Digital Trasformation

Meta Business Suite: boost your business for free

November 11, 2022
women work on mac in startup office
Digital Trasformation

Google Business Profile: New Features Live

October 26, 2022

POPULAR POSTS

  • Jeddah landscape

    Islamic Arts Biennale of Jeddah 2023

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Saudi Arabia Vision 2030

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • E-Residency: Dubai VS Estonia

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Why We Should Protect Endangered Languages

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Three Hybrid Languages You Might Not Know

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Azimuth Digital Azimuth Digital Azimuth Digital
Azimuth Gulf News

Keeps you up to date on the latest trends in the UAE and the Gulf market. Find out what your target customers need, search for new business opportunities, and learn how to reach new potential clients with compelling marketing techniques.
Find out how to move the right steps to expand your company overseas with the most successful digital transformation procedures and effective localization strategies.

  • Latest News
  • Digital Trasformation
  • Internationalization
  • Middle East Markets
Menu
  • Latest News
  • Digital Trasformation
  • Internationalization
  • Middle East Markets

AZIMUTH BOARD

© 2022 Azimuth International  | Built with by Azimuth Digital | Privacy Policy   Cookie Policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Latest News
  • Digital Trasformation
  • Internationalization
  • Middle East Markets

© 2022 AZIMUTH INTERNATIONAL - Azimuth Digital Azimuth Digital.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Manage Cookie Consent
We use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. We do this to improve browsing experience and to show personalized ads. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Go to mobile version