Movie Poster Translation

[Eldacar351]

Greetings,

I am a researcher for a television show in the United States and one segment that we are doing on our show is the interesting ways in which a movie title from the US might be translated or changed in another language market.

Below I have the Thai language poster for "Little Fockers". From what I understand the title is completely different and I was hoping if somebody on this forum would take the time to translate it for me.

Thank you very much in advance.

Ari

[starrdog]

According to Rikker Dockum, it's “Zany Son-in-Law, Zippy Grandkids, Sour Father-in-Law”

http://travel.cnn.com/bangkok/play/15-hilarious-thai-translations-hollywood-movie-titles-091344

He's way above my level, so I'm sure it's right, though it's not what I would have guessed. Does เฟี้ยว really translate as "zippy"? And can anyone tell me what happened to ขอ, or can ขอเปรี้ยว be the same as เปรี้ยว? Thanks!

[Eldacar351]

Oh hey. That is a wonderful link. Rikker Dockum is a Thai language expert it seems. So I will assume he/she is a credible source for translations.

[Mole]

Actually, he got many of the translations not quite right.

Little Fockers

เขยซ่าส์ หลานเฟี้ยว ขอเปรี้ยวพ่อตา

เปรี้ยว usually means sour, but ขอเปรี้ยว is slang for charm or impress so the translation would be like "tries to charm father-in-law"

Unstoppable

ด่วนวินาศหยุดไม่อยู่

"Calamity Express Can’t Be Stopped"

could be more gallantly translated as

"Unstoppable Calamity Express"

Mars Needs Moms

ภารกิจแอบจิ๊กตัวแม่บนดาวมฤตยู

"Mission (to) Secretly Snatch Mothers on Uranus"

บน definitely does not mean to but on

ดาวมฤตยู is Uranus while มฤตยู means deadly or fatal, while ดาวอังคาร is Mars but อังคาร also means Tuesday

Probably the reason they used มฤตยู is it can be associated as "planet of death" rather than "planet Tuesday".

Narnia

อภินิหารตำนานแห่งนาร์เนีย 3: ผจญภัยโพ้นทะเล

"Mythical Legend of Narnia 3: Adventure Beyond the Ocean."

อภินิหารตำนาน would mean more like mythical or supernatural legend and โพ้นทะเล means beyond the ocean

Season of the Witch

มหาคำสาปสิ้นโลก

Great Spell/Curse of World Destruction

คำสาป usually means curse, but can also mean magical spell

The Warrior's Way

มหาสงครามโคตรคนต่างพันธุ

Great War of Clans of Different Species

โคตร means clan/family but is also slang for "a lot" or "very/quite", so the title could mean "epic war of quite different spieces"

พันธุ in this context means species

Source Code

แฝงร่างขวางนรก

Disguise (to) Obstruct/Stop/Prevent Hell

แฝงร่าง means to disguise but if you translate them separately แฝง = hidden ร่าง = body, but this only reveals the author's poor knowledge of Thai.

Drive Angry

ซิ่งโคตรเทพล้างบัญชีชั่ว

he obviously missed the word เทพ

โคตรเทพ means someone who's really skilled at something

บัญชี usually means account like bank account, but in this context it means to clear an evil debt

Sucker Punch

อีหนูดุทะลุโลก

ทะลุ usually means pierce, but ทะลุโลก means more like out of this world.

Most Thai movie titles are made with great thought. Often they'll have both literal and metaphorical meaning. If the author had more understanding of Thai, he would marvel of the complexity of the titles than mock them.

There are also certain trends involved in movie titles.

For example, every Jacky Chan movie must contain the word ใหญ่

Arnold Schwarzenegger contains คนเหล็ก

Steven Chow contains คนเล็ก

Edited January 24, 2013 by Mole

[Eldacar351]

Mole,

I really want to thank you for the clarification. It's important because I had already seen on the internet even before posting here that "Little Fockers" had been translated as "Zany Son, Zippy Grandchildren, Sour Father in Law" but really needed clarification because a lot of these supposed foreign title "mistranslations" are actually Western spoofs. A lot of the Chinese "mistranslations" on the internet as well as Thai basically smack of what Edward Said would call Orientalism. One example is the incorrect notion going around the internet that the Hong Kong version of the movie "Babe" (about the pig) was called "The Happy Dumpling-To-Be Who Talks and Solves Agricultural Problem"

So thanks again for the clarity. Because I am honestly trying my best to CONFIRM these title translations as genuine before I end up spreading something like the above example on national television.

I hope that you won't mind if I try to pick your brain on a couple of more sometime in the future.

Cheers!

Ari

Actually, he got many of the translations not quite right.

Little Fockers

เขยซ่าส์ หลานเฟี้ยว ขอเปรี้ยวพ่อตา

เปรี้ยว usually means sour, but ขอเปรี้ยว is slang for charm or impress so the translation would be like "tries to charm father-in-law"

Unstoppable

ด่วนวินาศหยุดไม่อยู่

"Calamity Express Can’t Be Stopped"

could be more gallantly translated as

"Unstoppable Calamity Express"

Mars Needs Moms

ภารกิจแอบจิ๊กตัวแม่บนดาวมฤตยู

"Mission (to) Secretly Snatch Mothers on Uranus"

บน definitely does not mean to but on

ดาวมฤตยู is Uranus while มฤตยู means deadly or fatal, while ดาวอังคาร is Mars but อังคาร also means Tuesday

Probably the reason they used มฤตยู is it can be associated as "planet of death" rather than "planet Tuesday".

Narnia

อภินิหารตำนานแห่งนาร์เนีย 3: ผจญภัยโพ้นทะเล

"Mythical Legend of Narnia 3: Adventure Beyond the Ocean."

อภินิหารตำนาน would mean more like mythical or supernatural legend and โพ้นทะเล means beyond the ocean

Season of the Witch

มหาคำสาปสิ้นโลก

Great Spell/Curse of World Destruction

คำสาป usually means curse, but can also mean magical spell

The Warrior's Way

มหาสงครามโคตรคนต่างพันธุ

Great War of Clans of Different Species

โคตร means clan/family but is also slang for "a lot" or "very/quite", so the title could mean "epic war of quite different spieces"

พันธุ in this context means species

Source Code

แฝงร่างขวางนรก

Disguise (to) Obstruct/Stop/Prevent Hell

แฝงร่าง means to disguise but if you translate them separately แฝง = hidden ร่าง = body, but this only reveals the author's poor knowledge of Thai.

Drive Angry

ซิ่งโคตรเทพล้างบัญชีชั่ว

he obviously missed the word เทพ

โคตรเทพ means someone who's really skilled at something

บัญชี usually means account like bank account, but in this context it means to clear an evil debt

Sucker Punch

อีหนูดุทะลุโลก

ทะลุ usually means pierce, but ทะลุโลก means more like out of this world.

Most Thai movie titles are made with great thought. Often they'll have both literal and metaphorical meaning. If the author had more understanding of Thai, he would marvel of the complexity of the titles than mock them.

There are also certain trends involved in movie titles.

For example, every Jacky Chan movie must contain the word ใหญ่

Arnold Schwarzenegger contains คนเหล็ก

Steven Chow contains คนเล็ก

[starrdog]

Little Fockers

เขยซ่าส์ หลานเฟี้ยว ขอเปรี้ยวพ่อตา

เปรี้ยว usually means sour, but ขอเปรี้ยว is slang for charm or impress so the translation would be like "tries to charm father-in-law"

That makes much more sense as I see เปรี้ยว listed as an adverb meaning "bewitchingly; charmingly; enchantingly". Thanks!

[Jingthing]

Humor Alert! (Related item about changing titles for different markets.)

These fictional Chinese titles of American movies were announced on Bill Maher's Real Time this week:

Different in China:

America:

All Dogs Go to Heaven

China:

All Dogs Come With Noodles

America:

Eat Pray Love

China:

Eat Again An Hour Later

America:

Honey, I Blew Up The Kids

China:

Honey, I Blew Up The Kids Because They Weren't Making iPhones Fast Enough

America:

Driving Miss Daisy

China:

Driving Miss Daisy Into The Guardrail

America: (XXX)

Deep Throat

China: (XXX)

Mid Throat