Since I don't want to bore you all with constant press updates, I've added a sidebar link over there on the left if you feel like reading various mentions about ye olde Tadpole in the press. New additions today include round-up reviews from the Newark Star-Ledger and the Boston Globe.
The book also got a (slightly misleading but welcome all the same) mention in a delightful column by Ontario writer Ian Gillespie - which, my Canadian representative (read: my dad) informs me, ran in all of Rupert Murdoch's Canadian papers. Media conglomeration: working for me!
Anyway, the best part of the column is this:
The BBC reported that things recently went wobbly at Wembley Stadium when British opera singer Tony Henry belted out a somewhat distorted version of the Croatian national anthem.
Henry was performing the anthem Lijepa Nasa Domovino (Our Beautiful Homeland) before the start of a European Championship qualifying soccer game between England and Croatia.
Unfortunately, Henry erred on the last line of the second verse. He should have sung, "Mila kuda si planina," which roughly means, "You know, my dear, how we love your mountains."
Instead he sang, "Mila kura si planina," which translates into, "My dear, my penis is a mountain."
Oops.
"If I have offended any Croatians, then they have my deepest apologies," Henry said later. "The last thing I would do is brag about my (private) parts like that."
Read the full column here.
This reminds me of a time my senior year when our Headmaster was observing my AP French class. We were spending the class working on our conversational skills, and my friend Kelly was telling some story that - for what reason I cannot possibly remember - involved talking about how much she yawns. "I yawn," in French, is je bâille. Unfortunately, Kelly confused bâiller with another word, baiser. Which she repeated again and again and again: "Je baise, je baise, je baise."
I fuck, I fuck, I fuck.
My teacher nearly hyperventilated she was laughing so hard. When the headmaster asked what was so funny, she just waved her hands and said "Oh, it doesn't really translate."
Sometimes, lost in translation isn't always a bad thing.
press round-up
tags: canadaland, press, tadpole, translation
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3 comments:
Oh, God, I can totally envision Babeth doing that. That and the Croatian anthem story -- well, and all of your awesome press! -- totally made my day. :)
Heh.
I, too, am guilty of a mistake like this.
I was staying with a co-habiting French couple. The lady was a friend of a friend. For some reason we were discussing their marital status, a rather touchy and emotional subject. She said that he had never asked her to marry him. I think I asked something silly like 'Why not?'
Her answer was, 'Parce que je dis oui', meaning 'Because I would say yes' (please forgive me if the French is not quite correct). Anyway, I heard wrong, and stupidly repeated back to her: 'Parce que je jouis'. If my understanding is correct, what I repeated back to her would mean something like 'Because I would have an orgasm'.
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