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Hunter

Lance-Constable
Feb 26, 2014
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I may be able to use another surprised verb instead of it, the only problem is in my head, I like to be loyal to the main text, this is why I go through this much trouble (and put you guys in trouble) for only one word. But I guess sometime you have to get bent by the rules, instead of the other way around.
thanks anyway everybody.
And hey pip, my 10 year old brother has the same looking cat, her name is Nabott (Farsi for RockCandy). She's 3.
 

Tonyblack

Super Moderator
City Watch
Jul 25, 2008
30,866
3,650
Cardiff, Wales
Just some sort of expression of surprise should do. These words have lost their original blasphemy over the years and people often don't realise where they originally came from. When people say "cor" these days, it has nothing to do with the original meaning. :) There even used to be a child's comic in Britain called Cor!!

 

Hunter

Lance-Constable
Feb 26, 2014
33
2,150
36
IRI
Cor! Situation Resolution

Thanks a lot for the info.
Okay so I used an exp. of awe which is both very popular in Iran and is kind of anti-blasphemy (!). We use things like "Holy x" here and some of them are as funny as the Cor! situation wanted the line to make. Like the one when after a surprise news you'd say Ya Abolfazl which is Farsi for Holy Abolfazl who was an Islamic warrior; but it has, over the years, lost it's original strength-gaining-wish (as in God-Willing) meaning, and it is most often used for comedy situations and isn't really a religious prayer-like phrase anymore.
So that's that. Thanks a lot for your help(s?).
 

Hunter

Lance-Constable
Feb 26, 2014
33
2,150
36
IRI
Watch People

Hi again.
I have 2 small questions. 1. How do you spell sgt. Colon? Is it like /cologne/ or like /cullen/? Or something entirely different from my guesses?
and 2. What is a Lance-Constable? What do I put in translation for it? Is it about around Major and the low grade normal soldier?
 

pip

Sergeant-at-Arms
Sep 3, 2010
8,765
2,850
KILDARE
Re: Watch People

Hunter said:
Hi again.
I have 2 small questions. 1. How do you spell sgt. Colon? Is it like /cologne/ or like /cullen/? Or something entirely different from my guesses?
and 2. What is a Lance-Constable? What do I put in translation for it? Is it about around Major and the low grade normal soldier?
Well Lance Constable is the lowest rank in the Watch anyway. it seems to be the automatic rank of any new recruit except for a few special circumstances.

Colon would be pronounced like - Coal - on . It could be taken as a play on a punctuation mark - :
or as the last bits of the indigestion system before the exit ;)
 

Tonyblack

Super Moderator
City Watch
Jul 25, 2008
30,866
3,650
Cardiff, Wales
Colon is pronounced like the punctuation mark colon : <-- or colon as in part of the large intestine. The second meaning could suggest that he was part of an anus. :mrgreen:

In The Fifth Elephant, when Vimes goes to Bonk in Uberwald, he meets a sergeant who reminds him of Colon, named Doppelpunkt. That word is the German for the punctuation mark called a colon in English.

Lance Constable is a mixture of an army rank and a police rank. In the army it would be Lance Corporal and in the police it would be just Constable. As far as I am aware, Terry made up this rank for his books. As a lance corporal is the next step up from a private, this suggests that a lance constable is one step up in rank from a constable.

I hope that helps. :)
 

Hunter

Lance-Constable
Feb 26, 2014
33
2,150
36
IRI
Thanks X4

Well, crap. Looks like I'm in trouble here. Because although they (both Colons) mean differently and are written all the same, they're completely different in Farsi.
Colon (mark) in Farsi: Donoqte (Do means Two {like spanish dos} and Noqte means Dot,Period}
Colon (anus thing): Pasroodeh (Pas meaning Back and Roodeh meaning Large Intestine)
Our language is pretty explanatory. They (Farsi Makers) don't usually choose or rather make a new word something that comes their way, instead they adjoin describing words to make a phrase. It's a real pain in the neck for us translators.

And I want to somehow bring the original purpose back in my version. You know what I mean? I need a word to be just like Colon, have 2 (fairly insulting) meanings and still be a proper last name.
I might have to completely change the darned thing. Just like what I (am forced to) do with proverbs like Bob's Your Uncle. I had to change it to (Your Master's your company) and it cooked up another trouble when King (of dwarfs) says back, "Quiet sure Stronginthearm is my uncle (not Bob)". But I managed. I have to, eventually.
Thanks a lot (again).
Funny Fact, Again in Farsi is "Dobare /dow buh reh/" and again DO is 2 and Dobare means For the Second Time. and When it's the third time you're saying Again, you're in trouble because the person you're thanking for the third time will point out it's not 2Bare, it's Sebare , Se=3.
So thank you guys 4Bare!
 

Hunter

Lance-Constable
Feb 26, 2014
33
2,150
36
IRI
َANOTHER

This one question is more like a puzzle. Or a research experiment. Or a "Who got time fo' dat" kind of favour.
I'm required a sort of prologue for this translated book. And in it, I have to tell the readers the things they need to know before reading the book. For example who's Ms Weatherwax or Sibil or Swamp Dragons, or Death.
These are the contents I already included:
The Universe and Great A'tuin and elephants and all.
Sybil Ramkin
Ramtops Mountain
Dwarfs
Swamp Dragons
Urangutan Librarian
Death
Witches and Wizards
Ankh Morpork short history (from book 1 to 7)
The Animals that are referred in this book.
Lord Vetinary
Unseen university and it's members.
Lady Palm and her house of you know.
Watch Characters
The Shades
The Palace
Unseen University
..............


So, What else is there the reader should know (if hasn't read the pre. books) and is better to know?
 

Tonyblack

Super Moderator
City Watch
Jul 25, 2008
30,866
3,650
Cardiff, Wales
Hmmm . . . I'm not totally sure you need to explain. No one ever explained who was who to me, except Terry when I read the books. That's the joy of reading - discovering the Discworld for yourself. :)

By the way, you mentioned Rosie Palm in your list. You may not know this, but Rosie Palm and her five daughters is a euphemism that existed before Terry created the character. It's a rather rude euphemism, so I would suggest to anyone interested, to only Google it is you are an adult. :naughty:
 

Hunter

Lance-Constable
Feb 26, 2014
33
2,150
36
IRI
rofl! I just... How could I not... omg it's really... good god what do I do now! It just got worse! Because we're not allowed to refer to you know.. and then again I can't (for the life of me) censor anything I'm translating. And then again, it's seriously hilarious. Pitty we don't have such jokes in Farsi and unless I explain it, they won't get it.

As for the list. The previous books havent been translated into farsi and (except 1 & 2 but from another publisher and those were not very good and popular and they're also expensive) and my readers' is going to be their first experience with terry pratchett's discworld (at least most of them). When I suggested to let's begin from the beginning they denied and told me I had to start at book 8 (which is first NightWatch book) and just explain to people what has happened before and at that, only the things that are related to the book. That's why I'm occupied form every angle. I mean, translating such a huge venture isn't easy as is. Start giving extra orders from out of the menu and you'll have a ****storm of a dish!
God help me on my journey!!!
 

=Tamar

Lieutenant
May 20, 2012
12,089
2,900
Hunter said:
rofl! I just... How could I not... omg it's really... good god what do I do now! It just got worse! Because we're not allowed to refer to you know.. and then again I can't (for the life of me) censor anything I'm translating. And then again, it's seriously hilarious. Pity we don't have such jokes in Farsi and unless I explain it, they won't get it.

As for the list. The previous books havent been translated into farsi and (except 1 & 2 but from another publisher and those were not very good and popular and they're also expensive) and my readers' is going to be their first experience with terry pratchett's discworld (at least most of them). When I suggested to let's begin from the beginning they denied and told me I had to start at book 8 (which is first NightWatch book) and just explain to people what has happened before and at that, only the things that are related to the book.
I think that some things should not be in the Prologue because they were written for the first time in Guards!Guards! and the reader discovers them as part of the book. For instance, although there was an occasional vague reference to the City Watch, the individual men in the Watch were not described. While you may need to describe the general idea of a City Watch as an early kind of police force with very limited powers, you don't need to give personal descriptions of Captain Vimes and his subordinates Nobby and Colon because they did not exist on paper until this book was written. They were new to all the people who had read all the earlier books. The same is true of Lady Sybil and the swamp dragons. Although the witches in general do not appear, there is one reference to Miss Garlick, who is Magrat, though she doesn't do any witchcraft, so you probably have to tell who she is and perhaps point out that in the Disc cultures the witches are more like respectable local doctors and social workers, but I'm fairly sure that Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are not mentioned at all. Lord Vetinari probably should be explained because his rulership is like that of the Medici in the city-states of Renaissance Italy; without that knowledge, his strange combination of great power with occasional apparent weakness could be very puzzling.

I don't think you need to censor anything. Just do as direct a translation of the name "Rosie Palm" as possible, and if the readers choose to find the joke, then they will find it without your help. If they don't, there's no harm done. Many people don't get all the jokes, even those that seem obvious to others.

But that is just my opinion, and I don't know your audience.

Your job will be much harder when you get to Men At Arms...
 

=Tamar

Lieutenant
May 20, 2012
12,089
2,900
I don't know whether these puns could be made to work outside of English: According to the footnote, Carrot is called that because he is broad-shouldered, but I think his name also works as a pun on the word "karat" as a measure of gold quality. Similarly, Minty Rocksmacker's first name could refer to mint-flavoring, implying she's sweet, but it can also refer to the process of making gold coins at the Mint.
 

Hunter

Lance-Constable
Feb 26, 2014
33
2,150
36
IRI
=Tamar said:
I don't know whether these puns could be made to work outside of English: According to the footnote, Carrot is called that because he is broad-shouldered, but I think his name also works as a pun on the word "karat" as a measure of gold quality. Similarly, Minty Rocksmacker's first name could refer to mint-flavoring, implying she's sweet, but it can also refer to the process of making gold coins at the Mint.
Oh, I didn't mention those. But unfortunately they don't.
Carrot is Havij in Farsi but karat is the same thing. And Minty is Na'na in Farsi but Mint is Zarabkhane!
It would have been really nice to be able to do so. You see the He is Carrot or a Karat (of gold) and wants to hit the Mint to become Money. Funny.

I think that some things should not be in the Prologue because they were written for the first time in Guards!Guards! and the reader discovers them as part of the book. For instance, although there was an occasional vague reference to the City Watch, the individual men in the Watch were not described. While you may need to describe the general idea of a City Watch as an early kind of police force with very limited powers, you don't need to give personal descriptions of Captain Vimes and his subordinates Nobby and Colon because they did not exist on paper until this book was written. They were new to all the people who had read all the earlier books. The same is true of Lady Sybil and the swamp dragons. Although the witches in general do not appear, there is one reference to Miss Garlick, who is Magrat, though she doesn't do any witchcraft, so you probably have to tell who she is and perhaps point out that in the Disc cultures the witches are more like respectable local doctors and social workers, but I'm fairly sure that Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are not mentioned at all. Lord Vetinari probably should be explained because his rulership is like that of the Medici in the city-states of Renaissance Italy; without that knowledge, his strange combination of great power with occasional apparent weakness could be very puzzling.
Thanks. That really helped a lot.
And again I didn't know the Italy part from Lord Vetinari but I should have known better, he's got an Italian name. I usually do some research by the names. But when I opened the Lord Vetinari Wiki Page (from L-Space) the article was so huge I just saved it for a less busy time.
But for something like Urdo Van Pew I did the search and got the name right. Urdo is Spanish for Cook up (make up) Van is, well, I'm not sure which one of many meanings is referred here, and Pew is simply pew, as in funky stink, right?
So Translated his name something like Sir Smell A Lot :laugh:

I don't think you need to censor anything. Just do as direct a translation of the name "Rosie Palm" as possible, and if the readers choose to find the joke, then they will find it without your help. If they don't, there's no harm done. Many people don't get all the jokes, even those that seem obvious to others.
Actually that's what I figured. I'm just gonna go with my guts, based on Sir Terry's.


Thanks for your help and guidance very much for the time you took and your help. It was really useful. I'm glad I found this place, and you guys. I'll make sure to thank you all properly in my book.
oh, one more thing:

Your job will be much harder when you get to Men At Arms...
And OMG!
 

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