Question to non-native English-speakers: how easily can you translate humour to/from your language?

[Tooting Carmen]

Whether into/out of English or any other language. The problem is that word play and puns in particular often wouldn't work in the other language, while many cultural reference points would also be lost in translation. For example, in the British sitcom Birds of a Feather, when the overweight sister Sharon was having a dream about being rich, she dreamt she was going to meet the Queen and thus Welsh fashion designer David Emanuel was designing her dress and said to her "sorry Sharon, your figure is hardly Jerry Hall". Then her thin sister Tracey chips in to say "more like the Albert Hall". How on Earth would you translate that into your own language and keep the basic humour and meaning in tact?

[Your Old Comrade]

Hmm we'd probably use local examples where possible.

[Tooting Carmen]

Hmm we'd probably use local examples where possible.

So what example of a supermodel and major theatre or concert hall respectively would you use in the particular joke I explained?

[Tooting Carmen]

english literature student here. we simply dont translate because it is something cultural.

What do you mean?

[Tooting Carmen]

i mean if you are translating something like a movie, you could replace the joke with some other jokes in turkish(almost all languages have similar jokes), and that is not exactly translating it. however, sometimes you can direct translate the words, if the words do not lose their meaning but only intellectuals would understand it that way, not the general audience.

Out of curiosity, is subtitling or dubbing more common in Turkey? In the UK, most foreign-language films and TV programmes are subtitled.

[Your Old Comrade]

So what example of a supermodel and major theatre or concert hall respectively would you use in the particular joke I explained?

I haven't watched TV for 15, 20 years, mate...

[rothaer]

Whether into/out of English or any other language. The problem is that word play and puns in particular often wouldn't work in the other language, while many cultural reference points would also be lost in translation. For example, in the British sitcom Birds of a Feather, when the overweight sister Sharon was having a dream about being rich, she dreamt she was going to meet the Queen and thus Welsh fashion designer David Emanuel was designing her dress and said to her "sorry Sharon, your figure is hardly Jerry Hall". Then her thin sister Tracey chips in to say "more like the Albert Hall". How on Earth would you translate that into your own language and keep the basic humour and meaning in tact?

It's not possible. A translation has to be refrained from.

On the other hand the loss is not too big as you can presuppose that other languages do have respective jokes that can not be meaningfully translated.

[Your Old Comrade]

It's not possible. A translation has to be refrained from.

On the other hand the loss is not too big as you can presuppose that other languages do have respective jokes that can not be meaningfully translated.

Osdorp Posse once had a good one: Rijker dan de Gooyer (More Rich than Rijk (also the Dutch word for rich) de Gooyer).

[Mixdguy17]

Meh, many jokes in spanish don't work in English ans vice versa. I kind of have to adapt to each culture and work my humor around that. There's generally things that humans have a tendency to find funny, but a lot of it is cultural, humor is too subjective.

[rothaer]

Osdorp Posse once had a good one: Rijker dan de Gooyer (More Rich than Rijk (also the Dutch word for rich) de Gooyer).

Yeah, a nice one, although requiring some previous knowledge.

To exaggerate this in the other direction: If you have some friends and acqaintances with some common "insider" sayings and expressions, then this also provides the opportunity to a number of funny comments that you only get as an insider. It even increases the paradoxy and comedy when the comment otherwise is nonsensic or - at it's best - even has another meaning.