Hrm, why is this a subjective trope? It seems pretty cut-and-dry: Either they changed things in an effort to make it work better in the new language/culture or they didn't. Whether or not they did a good job of it is subjective, but the trope itself isn't.
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The subjective nature of the trope is whether it's actually better or not. The trope as it stands isn't why the translator altered something, but simply fans stating things they liked.
I was wondering the same thing... What's the objective trope equivalent of this?
I know I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but I would suggest a super-trope to this, similar to "Cut-and-Paste Translation," titled something like "Translation Pragmatism," with the line, "Fans tend to really like this, and refer to such efforts as 'Woolseyisms,' after former Squaresoft translator Ted Woolsey, who made a number of pragmatic changes to the scripts of games he translated that resounded well within the gaming community."
I think the 1337 hammer bros in Mario And Luigi:Partners In Time would make a good page image.
Edited by 70.33.253.44 Hide / Show Replies
This comparison of the Japanese and English versions of Earth Bound would be a good image too:
I don't like the term "Woolseyism," since Woolsey's translations were far from perfect, given things such as dealing with the limited space of cartridges, Nintendo of America's censorship policies, and the like. He mistranslated the Star Wars naming gag in the SNES version of FF 6/3 ("Vicks" instead of "Biggs"), "Meltdown" as "Merton," and rendered "the empire's been bad for business" as "the empire's made me a rich man." His change of Grand and Leon / Grandleon to Masa and Mune / Masamume in Chrono Trigger was stupid and unnecessary as well. Maybe give the trope a new name like "True Localization."
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it's been called that longer than the wiki has existed and it's not going to change now.
Edited by razorrozar7 Migrated to Chloe Jessica!
The term "Macekre" has existed long before this wiki and the Internet, so why the hell does that page get renamed "Cut and Paste Translation," while Woolsey, despite being far from infallible, gets this trope still named after him?
Granted, Woolsey did do some things well, like changing "phantom beast" to Esper, and "magic-based" to Magitek, but don't pretend his work is absolutely flawless.
I think this needs a new page quote. The existing quote does not demonstrate the trope. How about the direct translation of a line subject to a well-known Woolseyism followed by the famous line itself?
Am I the only one who thinks that the picture doesn't exactly fit the trope? I look at it and think that the "Well said" part is sarcastic. It brings to mind Bowdlerisation rather than Woolseyism.
"You spoony bard!" is a correct and direct translation, as far as I'm aware. People found this amusing because the word "spoony" sounds like it was made up, thus making the line make no sense or sound bathetic. In fact, spoony is a real word whose meaning renders it an entirely correct choice for a literal translation - it is the word's obscurity which causes the line's failure and comic value.
For this reason, it is not a Woolseyism - a Woolseyism has to involve a certain taking of liberty with the original, like "Son of a submariner!". This is a case of a line being translated too literally.
Further, the DS remake of FFIV has a new translation, and an easter egg room where you can speak with NP Cs representing the development and localisation staff. The translator character explains that the line was in fact technically correct. That said, it was most likely preserved more due to its popularity.
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You're right about "spoony bard" not being a Woolseyism. It's not pragmatic localization. In fact, if it wasn't so old we'd call it a meme. You're also right that it hangs around because of its popularity. I would miss it if it got removed.
On the other hand, the translation of the "Tellah rages at Edward" sequence was played fast and loose from the very first, and there's nothing resembling "you spoony bard" in the Japanese script, which goes like this:
Enter battle screen.
- "How dare you [do this to] my daughter!"
"You're mistaken!"
"Mistaken about what?"
"Please hear me out!"
"Shut up!"
Corresponding English (SNES version):
Enter battle screen.
- "You swindler!"
"Please listen!"
"You spoony bard!"
"Please!"
"Shut up!"
"Spoony" is a real word used correctly, but that's as far as it goes.
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Why is it a subjective trope?
, started by PowerRider on Aug 19th 2011 at 5:00:40 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman