Translation - art & business » Lighter side of trans/interp »
Off topic: Why was six afraid of seven?
Thread poster: Petra Fischbäck
Petra Fischbäck
Petra Fischbäck  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:06
English to German
+ ...
Jun 18, 2017

Hello,

this phrase came up in a prepper video, and now I can't stop thinking of it. Especially: HOW would you translate this exchange? Imagine a demanding and irate customer and they want your translation to be just right, or else. So what do you do?

What you are to translate? "Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven ate nine."
 
Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:06
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
I should think you could produce a similar pun in German Jun 18, 2017

I'm not a native German speaker and I'm not quite sure how it would work out, but the pun in English is based in the similarity in sound of "eight" and "ate". I imagine something could be done with the similarity of "acht" and some form of "achten".

[Edited at 2017-06-19 06:49 GMT]
 
Liviu-Lee Roth
Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 05:06
Romanian to English
+ ...
Freud :-) Jun 18, 2017

The well known pun about Freud's theory: "What comes between FEAR and SEX?" A: "FÜNF" !
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 11:06
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Some things are untranslatable... Jun 18, 2017

... but you could presumably find another pun or play on words or numbers instead.
That sort of challenge is one reason why machine translation has not put us out of work years ago - it is just not that simple.
 
Ricki Farn
Ricki Farn
Germany
Local time: 11:06
English to German
Why was six afraid of seven? Jun 19, 2017

Because seven is a registered six offender.

Or the answer from Supernatural:
I assume it's because 7 is a prime number, and prime numbers can be intimidating.
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:06
French to English
like Jun 20, 2017

liviu roth wrote:

The well known pun about Freud's theory: "What comes between FEAR and SEX?" A: "FÜNF" !


Since I can't just "like", I have to say, I never heard this joke before and it made me laugh.

Only problem would be if the preppers were also prudes.
 


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Why was six afraid of seven?






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