Thread by @katrinaltrnsl8r, There's been a lot of discourse in the English-speaking anime world this [...]

There's been a lot of discourse in the English-speaking anime world this week about slang appearing in English localizations.

But how does slang end up in subtitles, dubs, or localized games, anyway? Translation theory and linguistics have the answer!

When certain people get upset about slang appearing in a translation, they assume it's for one of a few common reasons:

"They ADDED that for no good reason!"
"They don't know what they're doing and just MADE SOMETHING UP!"
"They're TRYING TO BE FUNNY. Just translate the show!"

Anyone who works in translation will tell you those assumptions are wrong! From a professional anime translator's POV:

1) We can't add stuff for 'no good reason'. That's how you get yelled at by your PM. You have to be able to explain and back up your translation choices.

2) We can't 'make stuff up' because too many viewers know Japanese and are quick to point out when we're wrong. If it's blatantly obvious that we put something completely unrelated in there, we'll get yelled at by our PM again.

3) We can't add humor for no reason (see #1). Sometimes our translations of jokes might fall flat--and sometimes it's on us--but sometimes the joke was actually that bad in source.

So if we're not just throwing stuff in willy-nilly, how DO translators decide where and when to put in slang?

Well, it's a lot more complicated than you might think! First, let me introduce you to a pivotal concept in translation: equivalence theory.

Anyone who uses language (that's you!) knows that words convey meaning. Words can have multiple meanings, too, depending on the context.

We all know a skateboarder "eating shit" isn't literally putting poop in his mouth.

When we translate the phrase "eating shit" into Japanese, then, we definitely shouldn't put "うんちを食べる" (eating poop). What's a Japanese trnaslator, to do then?

Find an equivalent, of course!

Equivalence, as defined by linguist Eugene Nida in 1969, is the "quality of a translation in which the message of the original text has been so transported into the receptor language that the response of the receptor is essentially like that of the original receptors."

In layman's terms: the translation makes the target-language reader understand the same meaning and react the same way as the source-language reader.

One great example of this is from the subtitles of the Oscar award-winning movie Parasite, translated by Darcy Paquet.

In this scene, Paquet changed the school from Seoul National University to Oxford in order for target English audiences to better understand the joke.

Quote from the man himself:

"In order for humor to work, people need to understand it immediately... [The director and I] decided together to change the name because the joke is hilarious, and if you don't get it, it's not funny."

For now, let's keep equivalence theory in mind: the audience should understand the same meaning and react the same way.

Now, let's take a look at the two main reasons why you might see slang in a translation.

#1: THERE WAS SLANG IN THE SOURCE TEXT

NEWSFLASH: Japanese has slang!

Because slang is so deeply rooted in culture, you typically can't make it work by translating it literally.

EX: A Japanese person won't understand why that loud woman at the front desk MUST be named "Karen".

When slang is used in the source, an easy way to create equivalent effect is by finding slang in the target that has the same meaning.

One extremely common example is the translation of 「中二病」 (chuunibyo) as "cringe".

How are these two terms equivalent? First, we need to understand what 'chuunibyo' means in general, then how it's used in context.

While originally coined in 1999 to represent early teens who desperately wanted to stand out and pretend they have secret fantasy powers...

...like most slang, it's evolved to refer to anyone of any age who acts self-righteous and has delusions of superpowers.

There are certain tropes associated with it that anime fans may be familiar with: eyepatches, burning hands, etc.

Problem is, that concept and those tropes don't exist in Western English-speaking culture.

We don't have an 'epidemic' of 13-year-olds running around like ninjas, eating silica packets to escape the simulation, or pointing at trash cans and shouting 'amogus'...

oh wait

While not a perfect representation of 中二病, "cringe" serves its purpose in equivalence. Every audience member has a sense of how those characters are acting and how we're meant to perceive them. The joke lands. Perhaps it was never a very funny joke, but it DOES land correctly.

#2: THERE WASN'T SLANG IN THE SOURCE TEXT, BUT THERE SHOULD BE IN THE TARGET

There are plenty of things that get 'lost in translation'. For example, in English, we have one personal pronoun: "I".

Japanese has a whole handful (watashi, boku, ore, wacchi, oira, ore-sama... etc.)

How, then, does a translator going from Japanese to English represent that choice of personal pronoun in English? Equivalently, of course!

For a character using "ore" (俺), the translator may choose to use gruffer or more masculine-sounding language in English.

A character using "atashi" (あたし) may sound more polite and traditionally effeminate in English.

An old man using "wacchi" (わっち) may take on a more comically elderly tone in English.

Unfortunately for us translators, that's hardly the hardest thing that gets lost in translation.

Japanese media makes frequent use of their language's formality levels in grammar to illustrate a character's personality and relationship to whomever they're talking.

In English, we don't conjugate verbs differently depending on who we're talking to. How do we show this change of register, then?

If you guessed "with something equivalent", then you're right on the money!

In English, we often represent register with word choice.

The phrases "Eat the food" and "Consume sustenance" just hit different. (And we see loads of memes playing off this very thing!)

When we shift more formal, we tend to use more formal word choices and wordier grammar.
When we shift more casual, we tend to use more informal word choices: including SLANG.

Using slang like this is incredibly precarious, though-- lots of slang is too specific, and we don't want our audiences getting the wrong experience out of our translation.

A well-placed idiom ("butter my biscuit!") or even a contraction ("didja") work perfectly fine.

Translation doesn't stop just at characterization or dialogue: we have to take a look at the work as a whole.

EX: Audiences have different expectations for the language and tone of a grimdark fantasy (Game of Thrones) than they might for a lighthearted fantasy (Gallavant).

Nintendo has been doing this for years--I'd say their use of slang in their translation of the new Animal Crossing is a great example of this!

FFXIV's localization is, too: their adaptation of fantasy writing styles makes the world feel more immersive to English speakers.

(this is part of a whole subsection of translation theory called polysystem theory, which goes in-depth about genre tropes and cultural-linguistic expectations of language in certain forms of media and THIS THREAD IS LONG ENOUGH ALREADY KATRINA, STOP IT.)

In any case, slang -- whether it's idioms, popular phrases, culturally-dependent jokes, or even references -- can and SHOULD be used, when appropriate, to help convey the source meaning and produce equivalent reaction in the target audience.

Another way to put it: "Would that character have said that if he were an English-speaking Westerner in his current setting?"

If the answer's "yes", then it's a good translation!

Unfortunately, this thread won't do much to dispel the discourse that some anime fans subscribe to.
Too many years of poor fan translations, a handful of poor official localizations, and a general lack of knowledge about Japanese and translation theory have poisoned that well.

There's not much for us professional translators to do but keep at it and ignore their poorly-informed opinions.

And that, my friends, is truly cringe.

ADDENDUM: WHY OXFORD AND NOT HARVARD, PAQUET?

In the Parasite example above, when Paquet was asked why he went with Oxford and not other high-ranking schools like Harvard or Stanford, he gave these reasons:

- The director really likes England
- I applied to Harvard as a kid and didn't get in
- Oxford is more memorable as it's not the obvious choice.

There are some great interviews out there with Paquet about his translation work -- definitely check them out!

ADDENDUM: WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE GETTING INTO

Any time a reference, pun, or bad joke pops up in a show, I know there'll be at least one person who goes "uhhhh did the translator just put that in because they're a filthy SJW?" I translate it accurately anyways because it's my job.

I got quite a few people yelling at me for this reference in Grimoire of Zero.
Spoiler: Japanese authors like Skyrim, too.

No matter how hard we try, there will be people out there, most of whom don't speak Japanese, who want to point at it and say it's wrong--with no actual reasoning to back them up.

Unfortunately, it's just something we need to grin and bear.

ADDENDUM: TIME FOR YOUR POLITICS INJECTION

One upset fan reason I deliberately avoided in this essay is the dreaded "You're injecting politics!"

This typically gets brought up anytime something tangentially feminism/LGBTQ+ -related shows up in a translation.

1. Japanese writers address feminism and LGBTQ+ issues in their works, too! (See: Fata Morgana) Like slang, just because it's there doesn't mean it was 'injected'.

2. It's more than reasonable to use language and concepts familiar in the target audience (See: people who want to watch SK8's dub) to better convey equivalent meaning.

Again, "Would they have said that if they were a flamboyant American in 2021?" (knowing ADAM, yes.)

ADDENDUM: SOME ANIME FANS ARE GOOD, ACTUALLY

There are plenty of fans out there who have some understanding of how translation works and are willing to try and explain it!

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