Some Idioms Do Not Translate
So, some twenty-twenty-twenty-two years ago, some Italian friends asked me to clue them in on a Ramones song. They understood English fairly well and consequently, my Italian never improved while I hung out with them. They wanted to learn all the nuances of "I Wanna Be Sedated" and I was happy to explain them as well as I could.
The thing that we all discovered together is that the song's title doesn't translate back into Italian, the idiom doesn't make any sense. Voglio essere sedato means "I want to be sedate," not "sedated." En Italiano, la canzone sarrebe "Voglio essere fuori" or, "I want to be out of it."
Remember though, there is no Italian translation for
fa-fa-fa-fa
fa-fa-fa-fa.
The thing that we all discovered together is that the song's title doesn't translate back into Italian, the idiom doesn't make any sense. Voglio essere sedato means "I want to be sedate," not "sedated." En Italiano, la canzone sarrebe "Voglio essere fuori" or, "I want to be out of it."
Remember though, there is no Italian translation for
fa-fa-fa-fa
fa-fa-fa-fa.
Labels: Italian Lessons
posted by Writeprocrastinator at 12:31 AM
7 Comments:
mwaaaaaaaahahahahahaaaa... thats hysterical!
Angel,
: )
Romantic languages are not meant to rock and roll. That's just how it is.
Although, interestingly, some Italian soccer team has taken the intro for "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes and turned it into a cheer.
I used to looooove that song. I still do. I can't believe it doesn't translate. well, I can. I just choose not to. is that denial?
Bubs,
The French do a fairly decent job in terms of inflection and intonation, but I couldn't tell you if they were spot-on, lyrically.
"Seven Nation Army" has the perfect beat to fire up the crowd. Not to mention, I'll be they're tired of singing
Ole
Ole
Oleee-ole-ole-ole
and
Olaaay-oh-oh
Olaayt-oh-oh
Katie-lah,
That's not denial. You'd think that with the drug culture of the sixties, that some idioms would change as a reflection of that movement.
ques que ce?
Eric,
Je ne parle pas Francais o Englais.
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