Not as funny as I think I am

Translations of English words and phrases into Spanish is a source of endless, childish amusement to me. Or maybe amusement is not quite the right word. I think it might be more to do with the fact that as I learn more Spanish I start to understand more of the writing that I see around me in a slightly more automatic way. I’m still pretty appalling at actually speaking Spanish, but I understand a lot of what I hear and read these days, so I think it comes down to the fact that I’m slightly thrilled at the fact that I can actually comprehend things, and that it isn’t all just unintelligible gibberish. So it isn’t making fun, exactly, it’s me being overly proud of the fact that I understand things. 

I find this most entertaining when I read the names of things that are familiar in English, and compare them to ways that they have been rendered in Spanish, like in the TV listings. True Blood, for example, comes out as Sangre Fresca (fresh blood), which, while it isn’t funny, it is a slightly different take on the concept. Hung is called Superdotado, which means ‘the extremely gifted person’*, for reasons either of prudery or simplicity. I understand that this must often come down to the fact that direct translations are often unwieldy, or even just nonsensical. Take, for example, the show Northern Exposure. The direct translation is Exposicion de Norte, which doesn’t have quite the same connotations in Spanish. So the Spanish title is;

Which is an admirably direct approach, though it lacks the mildly amusing play on words of the English version. 

 

Being forced to speak Spanish has been confronting in some ways, but it has also been interesting. For one, it has taught me a lot about the roots of English. And I have finally started to learn a bit of grammar**, which I don’t remember ever having to do at school (outside of ‘a noun is a naming word and a verb is a doing word’ my knowledge of grammar is non-existent). I think I enjoy the different translations of things because it appeals to the part of my brain that likes crosswords and puns – it’s just that slightly different way of looking at the world that requires a small amount of puzzling out. I don’t mean to sound as if I’ve suddenly become a multilingual genius. I am anything but. I can just about make myself understood, no more. But there is just such satisfaction, such an intellectual thrill, if I can put it like that, in that alone.   

 

*Imagine my joy at discovering that there is a selective school here;

The Serafin Argaiz Santelices foundation for gifted children

**Not that you can tell from reading the blether I write.