balls won't freeze off.
Much of the vulgarity in the show serves the purpose of depicting the realm of
Westeros as a place of brigands and cutthroats. It is a pitiless, dog-eat-dog world where might is right and nothing is sacred. It is therefore very important that the translations of certain characters’ utterances are commensurate with the ST. Only then can the feeling of the ST be properly conveyed. In the first episode, just as Daenerys’s army has reached Winterfell, Tyrion Lannister and Varys, both crucial advisors to the Dragon Queen, are sharing a
carriage and commenting on the frigidness of the North. Tyrion makes a joke at Varys000‘s expense by saying, “You should consider yourself lucky. At least your balls won’t freeze off.” Fans of the show will instantly understand the joke as Varys is a Eunuch (he was castrated by an evil mage when he was just a child). Almost every source involved in this paper made the same decision to translate the word “balls” as 「蛋蛋」, which is highly appropriate for the context as both words are very colloquial. The DVD version, however, made a drastic mistake by translating “balls” as 「睪丸」. The issue with the DVD version’s translation is one of register. The word 「睪丸」in Chinese is much more akin to “testicles,”
which is a term that would be more likely spoken in a medical context, not between two close friends. Tyrion’s joke actually contains a logical issue. Taken at face value it would seem that Varys still has “balls.” It seems he should have said, “At least you don’t have balls that can be frozen off.” ShinY corrected Tyrion’s logic by phrasing the comment as 「至少你沒有蛋 蛋可以被凍掉」. This is an example of how fansubbers work with more freedom.
Ex. 2
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Euron: The last ones with balls anyway.
反正是 家族僅 存有睪 丸的人
反正是 僅存帶 種的
最後的 有種的 海怪後 裔
反正是 最後兩 個有種 的「有 蛋蛋 的」
也就只有 我們兩位 還有膽量 了
最後兩個 有種的葛 雷喬伊
Also, in the first episode, the word “balls” comes up again, but in this instance, it is used as a pun and much more difficult to translate with the same effect as the ST. Euron
Greyjoy has pledged himself to Queen Cersei and is moving his armada to King’s Landing to have an “interview” with her. He has taken his sister Yara captive and bound her hands to a post on his ship. He bends down to her and makes a joke at their younger brother’s expense.
He tells his sister that he won’t kill her because they are, “The last Greyjoys left in the world.
The last ones with balls anyways.” The joke is multifaceted as the word “balls” can be taken literally as male gonads, but it can also be taken as a slang reference to a person’s courage, akin to “guts.” Yara, being a woman, clearly does not have the former meaning of “balls” but is a very brave individual. Theon is a pitiful character and at one point in the show betrays the Starks to show his loyalty to the house of his biological father. Later, he is taken captive by Ramsay Bolton and tortured. After some weeks of torture, Ramsay finally makes his piece de resistance by castrating Theon. Therefore, while Yara is a woman with balls, Theon is a man without them. At the end of Theon’s life, he sacrifices himself to save Brandon Stark, a son of the family he betrayed. It seems that the directors of the show wanted to make a point that he had to lose his physiological balls to inherit his figurative ones.
Visionary Sub translated the sentence as，「也就只有我們兩位還有膽量了」. This translation only touches on the connotation of courage but misses the point that Theon has been castrated and removes the humor that is quintessential in the show. In the TV version, the translator/s rendered the sentence as 「反正是家族僅存有睪丸的人」.This strategy conveys the former sense of “balls”, but in Chinese 睪丸 does not convey the sense of courage and also seems too clinical in this context. The DVD version was rendered as 「 反 正是僅存帶種的」. This translation could be the best as it both means courage in Chinese and also means the ability to procreate. testicles; however, most Chinese native speakers, at least those in Taiwan, don’t know the latter meaning and will most likely miss the pun.
YYeTs translated the sentence similarly as, 「最後兩個有種的葛雷橋伊」. ShinY also used
the same diction and rendered the sentence as「最後有種的海怪後裔」. This translation provides information that doesn’t even exist in the source text (that the Greyjoy’s are often referred to as the Kraken, a mythical beast of the sea). FIX also applied a similar approach, but is the only one to provide glossing，「反正是最後兩個有種的 『有蛋蛋的』. This translation approach allows the audience to understand both meanings of the pun without any confusion.
Ex. 3
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Euron: But first I'm gonna fuck the queen.
但我要 先搞定 女王
但我要 先搞定 女王
但我先 要上了 女王
.
不過首 先我要 上了女 王
但首先我 要把女王 搞定
但首先 我要上了 女王
Any discussion of foul language would be remiss without touching on the king of bad language, the all-purpose-semantically-varied-four-lettered curse word–fuck. In the same scene as described above, Euron Greyjoy reveals to his sister that he has plans to “court” the queen. Being a rather odious character, he speaks with little restraint when it comes to foul language. He tells his sister, “First I’m gonna fuck the queen,” a sentence that should never be spoken about someone as revered as a queen. Both prosub versions rendered the sentence as, 「但我要先搞定女王」. The audience will most likely get the sexual insinuation but this version depicts Euron as a man who might monitor his words. The unknown fansub also softened the crassness of the sentence with the word 「搞定女王」. ShinY, Fix, and
YYeTs all had the sense to retain the vulgar directness of Euron’s statement and rendered the
sentence as 「我要先上了女王」 . This is an instance where being faithful to the ST results in a superior translation.
Ex. 4
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Eddison: Well, if that's what it's come to, we really are fucked.
Sam: Well,
The word “fucked” in spoken language is always used in the sense of 「死定了」，
however, it could also be, albeit forced, taken literally as the same meaning as “to get laid,”
the passive voice of having sex. When the men of the Night Watch arrive in Winterfell, John, Sam and Eddison Tollett are reunited. John indirectly tells Sam that he is not needed on the battlefield. Despite being the antithesis of the traditional specimen of warrior, he claims that they will need him on the battlefield. Eddison Tollett says that if the success of the battle is reliant on Sam’s presence, then everyone is truly “fucked,” as in doomed. Sam quickly makes a repartee with an under the belt blow at Eddison Tollett’s virginity by saying “well calling you fucked wouldn’t be strictly accurate.” The men of the night watch are not allowed to
“take a wife”, which is a rule that is enforced to make them entirely loyal to their positions.
John and Sam, however, both have enjoyed intimacies with women despite their oaths. The only person amongst the three without sexual experience is Eddison Tollett.
The TV version translated the sentence as 「說你 “完蛋” 實在不精確」. This version not only misses the point but will also confuse the audience. It will be a mystery why Eddison Tollett is removed from the doomed situation that the rest of the people residing in Winterfell find themselves. ShinY translated the sentence as 「你說 “死定了” 並不是那麼 準確」. Again, the joke is lost in translation. Visionary Sub version translated it as, 「說的 好像你真的操過女人似的」. This version caught the meaning of the ST but will confuse the audience as it just seems like a non sequitur. How does being doomed have anything to do with having sex. YYeTs translated the sentence as, 「嚴格地說你們是不能用 “操” 這個 字眼」. This translation also confuses the audience. FIX is the only fansub group that made a valid effort to translate the joke but resorted to glossing in order to convey the original pun.
The sentence was translated as 「說你 “操蛋” [fucked 也有被操的意思] 嚴格的來說不太 準確」. This fansub group sacrificed a golden rule of brevity for meaning, but in this instance it is a worthwhile sacrifice. That being said, the glossing itself may not be enough for the audience to understand the joke, which is a little hard to catch even in English. Even fans of the show who have seen every episode wouldn’t be sure of Eddison Tollett’s
virginity.
Ex. 5
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Sandor: Cripples
and cocksuckers. 瘸子和 下流胚 子
瘸子和 下流胚 子
瘸子和 狗雜種
瘸子和 雞姦犯
瘸子和雞 姦者們
殘廢和傻 屌
The entirety of this chapter ought to give thanks to a handful of characters who just possess positively filthy potty mouths. One such character is Sandor Clegane, also commonly referred to as The Hound, due to his nature of killing who he is told. Up to the end of the fourth season, Sandor is always depicted as an incorrigible, self-centered lackey. But due to a near-death experience, he starts to fight for the side of the living, albeit still retaining much of his former roguishness. In the first episode of the eighth season, he visits Gendry as he is forging weapons for the oncoming battle. Gendry hands Sandor a battleax forged out of dragon glass and boasts about how difficult it is to use dragon glass to make a weapon of that size. Sandor dislikes Gendry’s cockiness and tells him, “You know who makes weapons for the wildlings. Cripples and cocksuckers.” Sandor is insulting Gendry by saying he is no better than an invalid or a homosexual. The TV and DVD version both translated it as, 「瘸 子和下流胚子」. This translation more or less conveys the meaning of someone degenerate, but Sandor intends the real insult to come from the reference to homosexuality. ShinY translated it as 「 瘸子和狗雜種」. This translation is also inaccurate as 「狗雜種」is essentially the same figurative meaning as bastard or mutt. YYeTs translated the sentence as,
「殘廢和傻屌」. The word 「傻屌」is the less common male equivalent of 「傻逼」, a foolish girl and fails to faithfully translate Sandor’s insult. FIX translated the sentence as,
「瘸子和雞姦犯」and Visionary Sub also made essentially the same choice of words,「瘸 子和雞姦者們」. These two groups are the only ones to emphasize that true insult of Sandor’s comment. The word 「雞姦」is a distasteful word for homosexuality and therefore these two translations are the amongst prosub and fansub choices, and a better translation than the clinical term 「同性戀」.
Ex. 6
ST TV DVD ShinY FIX Vision. YYeTs
Tyrion: Not the death I would've chosen. I always pictured myself dying in my own bed, the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and-
Tyrion and Jamie:
A girl's mouth around-
Jamie: Your cock.
Tyrion: My cock.
不是我
In the second episode after Tyrion and his elder brother Jaime have been reunited, they take a walk around Winterfell and begin talking about what seems to be their inevitable deaths at the merciless, cold hands of the Army of the Dead. Tyrion, being a well-known lecher, enjoys the company of women and often keeps a prostitute as companion, which was a major source of contention between Tyrion and his father Tywin, Lannister. Early in another season he mentions how he hopes to shuffle off this mortal coil during the act of coitus. He mentions to Jamie that he had always hoped for a more enjoyable death saying, “I always pictured myself dying in my own bed, the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and a girl’s mouth around…” and then, Jamie, knowing Tyrion’s famous quote, speaks with Tyrion
simultaneously, “my cock.” The prosubs translated the later part of the sentence as 「有個女 孩在溫存」. This translation coveys the gist of Tyrion’s comment, but in a very vanilla way.
It merely connotes the idea that a woman is passing the night with Tyrion. YYeTs translated the sentence similarly, 「找個女的陪著我,」which also emphasizing the company of a woman in his bed. ShinY fansub group rendered the sentence as 「一個女孩在你的身下」.
This translation literally means having a woman underneath you, but just emphasizes the idea of sex and isn’t very satisfying. FIX translated the sentence as 「 姑娘嘴裡含著我的屌」.
This approach is a very direct translation and captures the meaning of the ST. Visionary Sub translated the sentence as 「美人吹簫」. This translation not only captures the meaning of the ST but also uses a very standard colloquial phrase for the act of fellatio. It is the best translation of the bunch.
Ex. 7
ST TV DVD ShinY FIX Vision. YYeTs
Gendry: No, yeah, I've never had leeches put all over my cock.
In the second episode when Arya reveals her affection for Gendry, she begins asking him questions about his sexual experiences, and is specifically curious about his relationship with the Red Woman. She had abducted Gendry, the bastard son of King Robert, to use his royal blood in a black magic ritual. She bound both of his hands to her bedframe and disrobed in what seemed to be a gesture of foreplay, but in reality, was just a ruse to arouse him to extract blood from his erection. She then placed leeches all over his penis. Arya asks if
it was his first time, by which she means first time to have sex. Gendry, not having gone through with the act, speaks sarcastically by saying, “No, yeah, I’ve never had leeches put all over my cock.” The prosubs and fansubs had a variety of approaches to translating the word
“cock.” The prosubs, as might be expected, chose a rather PC approach by translating the sentence as, 「對，我從來沒有讓水蛭爬滿下體過」. This translation is very typical of professional sub norms, which is to render taboo topics as something more pleasant to the ear, but the word 「下體」doesn’t correspond to the word “cock,” nor Gendry’s speech patterns, which are those of an unlearned individual. ShinY translated the sentence as, 「算 是吧， 我還未被水蛭吸過陽具」. This translation is also not very accurate as the word
「 陽具」sounds like something that would appear in a poem. Visionary Sub translated the sentence as, 「呃是啊，我還從來沒被水蛭吸過命根」. Translating the “word” cock as
「命根」also feels like something that would appear in a poem. FIX translated the sentence as 「不，也是， 我從來沒讓水蛭爬滿我的老二」. The word 「老二」 is very colloquial and matches the register of the word “cock”; however, the sentence does not connote who placed the leeches. YYeTs translated the sentence as 「是啊，以前沒人在我老二上放滿水 蛭」. This translation is the best as it both translates the word 「cock」as 「老二」 and connotes that the placing of leeches would have been done by someone else.
Ex. 8
ST TV DVD ShinY FIX Vision. YYeTs
Tormund: Fuck
tradition. 去他的 傳統
去他的 傳統
去他的 傳統
去他的 狗屁傳 統
操他的傳 統
去他媽 的傳統
In the second episode, while everyone crowds around the fire to escape the bitter cold of Winterfell, Tormund begins asking Brienne of Tarth personal questions. She is an
exceptionally tall, fierce warrior and no less brave than any knight, yet she has been excluded from knighthood due to her sex. She tells Tormund that, “Women can’t be knights.”
Tormund stunned by the statement asks her why not, to which she responds that the tradition of knighthood welcomes only men. Tormund, who has in previous episodes confessed his admiration for Brienne, says, “Fuck tradition.” Overall, all prosub and fansub translations were more or less the same. Visionary Sub rendered the sentence as,「操他的傳統」, which is the least satisfying choice, but maybe is a choice based on the translator/s regional dialect.
Both prosubs and ShinY translated the sentence as, 「去他的傳統」， which is also very reasonable translation. YYeTs opted with a similar translation as well,「去他媽的傳統」.
The extra character doesn’t really add or remove any value from the first sentence. FIX rendered the sentence as 「去他的狗屁傳統」，the extra 「狗屁」adds a little bit of tone
The extra character doesn’t really add or remove any value from the first sentence. FIX rendered the sentence as 「去他的狗屁傳統」，the extra 「狗屁」adds a little bit of tone