[ SECRET POST #3023 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #3023 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.


__________________________________________________



12.


__________________________________________________



13.


__________________________________________________



14.


__________________________________________________



15.


__________________________________________________



16.


__________________________________________________



17.


__________________________________________________



18.









Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 056 secrets from Secret Submission Post #432.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 2 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm going to disagree a bit. I believe that translations should be as true and accurate to the original as possible. Unfortunately, that does mean teeny, tiny details can get lost in order to capture the overall meaning in another language. Some concepts are universal. Other times, you have to do your best to come as close as possible. I'm not a professional, but I lean more toward capturing the spirit of what I believe the author intended as far as I can tell from the original text, than translating word-for-word and missing the true meaning.

What the OP did? It sounds like he/she honestly thought editing would catch it, only to later discover that they didn't. That's an editor fail right there. In fact, both editors failed. So I blame the editors more than the OP, personally.

[(Anonymous)]

Do you blame a criminal less than the police who fail to catch them?

[(Anonymous)]

A translator should never take for granted that the editor will catch all mistakes (let alone stupid jokes) in a translation. I know many translators who don't work so hard to translate properly when they know their translation will go through an editor or proofreader, and that's really lazy of them. A good professional translator should always do his or her best, no matter how many people are going to check the translation afterwards.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

That's a pretty idealistic viewpoint. In reality, literary translators (and by that I mean not business or technical translators, who do different work) get paid very little, which is why most "serious" literary translators are retirees who don't need to make actual money.

Even within literary translation, what I do pays a crap wage. In this industry everyone is working to churn out as much content as fast as possible so they can make a decent wage. If I put 100% into everything, I'd be making less than 30k, and I have bills to pay.

Meeting fast deadlines is imperative in my line of work. My clients like me because I can do things last-minute and done on time. That's what they value.

If the client wanted perfect quality they would give us all more time and pay us more. That isn't possible, so we have to do the best with the resources we have, which means it will not be a 100% perfect translation. It will be "good enough."

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Teachers don't get paid very much in the U.S. Do you think that's a valid justification for doing a poor job or deliberately screwing up a key aspect of their job? Let's say a teacher fails to teach the students in her care how to read, and nobody notices and somehow they manage to graduate high school anyway. Is that teacher a good person? Are they justified in failing to teach their students properly because if the school wanted kids who were literate, they would've paid the teacher more?

Or... do all your attempts at rationalization leave out the rather important fact that you made your little joke at the expense of the author, who likely has no control over what you're paid and is completely innocent in this situation. Much like the kids who have no say in how high or low their teacher's salary is, but who are forced to bear the brunt of the negative repercussions anyway?

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Are you seriously going to compare teaching children to translating fiction.

One of these jobs is clearly more vital than the other. On the one hand, children's futures are at stake, and on the other hand, some low-brow entertainment is at stake.

You are taking this way too seriously. What "negative repercussions"? Someone might giggle once over trivial line that is in no way important to the plot? Does that shame the author even slightly?

Chill, seriously.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

(DA)

There's a big difference between not doing a perfect job because lack of time or other resources and misstranslating something on purpose.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Fair enough. But the anon I was replying to was criticizing me leaving my editor to catch that detail and the practice of being a lazy translator and leaving more work to the editor.

[(Anonymous)]

Instead of going back and correcting it or pointing it out to the editor OP just let it slide and be published.


So s/he can still be blamed.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't understand your reasoning at all. If I steal a car and it's easier than I though tit'd be and the owner fails to stop me, is the owner more at fault for the theft, or am I?


"I lean more toward capturing the spirit of what I believe the author intended as far as I can tell from the original text, than translating word-for-word and missing the true meaning."

That's nice, but I'm not sure how it's relevant unless you're trying to argue that the OP slipping in a Doctor Who joke just for the lulz is somehow "capturing the spirit" of the book. The secret suggests that this is not the case and the OP deems it an incorrect translation.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Car theft, really? Incorrect translation is like car theft??