History Main / LostInTranslation

* In the third episode of ''LuckyStar'', Konata, after listening to an explanation about fraternal twins being from different eggs, makes a joke to the effect of "Speaking of eggs and sausages, I'm getting hungry!" The joke comes from the fact that the Japanese word for fraternal twins (''souseiji'') sounds almost identical to the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "sausage" (''so-se-ji''). Translators apparently couldn't find a way to [[{{Woolseyism}} Woolsey]] in a better joke. (Fortunately the joke is explained in the "Liner Notes" pamphlet included with the DVD.)

* In S1E3 of ''LuckyStar'', Konata, after listening to an explanation about fraternal twins being from different eggs, makes a joke to the effect of "Speaking of eggs and sausages, I'm getting hungry!" The joke comes from the fact that the Japanese word for fraternal twins (''souseiji'') sounds almost identical to the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "sausage" (''so-se-ji''). Translators apparently couldn't find a way to [[{{Woolseyism}} Woolsey]] in a better joke. (Fortunately the joke is explained in the "Liner Notes" pamphlet included with the DVD.)
* [[TowerOfGod Baam's]] meaningful name (it means Night) and it's homonymity to chestnut in Korean can't be properly translated, so several puns and metaphores need translator notes to explain them.

* The latin dub of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' also got "Twinkle toes" translated as two different things one for every season, and you can just imagine how much of Sokka humour got lost in translation.

* The Creator/TexAvery catoon "Symphony in Slang" is about a man telling his life story with lots and lots of idiomatic expressions, all of it illustrated by {{Visual Pun}}s (e.g. someone's "old flame" is depicted as an actual humanoid mass of fire, someone "draws a gun" on the hero... with a ballpoint pen, etc.) The cartoon was dubbed into Polish, and is still occasionally shown on the TV there. How did the translators manage to translate all this wordplay, you ask? Well, they ''didn't''. The Polish version of the cartoon is a surreal ride with a narrator speaking utter gibberish, as all the idioms were translated literally. Really, ''this'' is definitely the kind of a work which shouldn't even be attempted to be translated.

** Not entirely beyond comprehension, due to the Sanrio character Keroppi. Maybe a little too obscure for some younger readers, though.

* All {{Anime}} in the dub version falls into this trope.

** Really? In Spain at least, "y una mierda" is a near perfect equivalent, and I'd say it's definitely allowed in television (''mierda'' is closer to English "crap" than to "shit"). That sounds more like the translator not knowing the expression and coming up with whatever fit the situation.

** The ''Kingdom Hearts'' translation team is usually rather good at catching ArcWords, but in ''KigndomHeartsDreamDropDistance'' they seemed to have missed [[spoiler:Young Xehanort]] saying "We'll go together.", translating it as "Come with me." instead.

** Animeigo's dub of the series also used the title ''Those Obnoxious Aliens'' to translate the pun of the Japanese title. "Those Obnoxious Visitors" would've made a better localized title, considering the double meaning of the word "Visitor".
* Speaking of AnimEigo, in the ''Manga/LupinIII'' OAV ''Green vs. Red'', a MythologyGag involves one Lupin-impersonator spray-painting "Rupan" on a wall, and another asking, "Isn't that wrong?" This is a reference to the MarketBasedTitle "Rupan" that AnimEigo used on its English-language Lupin III releases. This is an example of an ''inverted'' LostInTranslation, given that relatively few Japanese viewers would catch the reference.

* In ''Manga/FutabaKunChange'', where a fire-fighting cyborg that was a shoutout to ''[[TokkyuuShireiSolbrain Solbrain]]'' used a monkey brain, which was afraid of fire. "Sol" in Japanese would be written "soru", while monkey is "saru".

* The Swedish translator of ''HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' left the name of the Erised Mirror, and its inscription, untranslated, apparently believing they were in some sort of fantasy language, while in fact they are simply [[SdrawkcabName sdrawkcab]]. When the mirror was mentioned again in the seventh book, it was [[InconsistentDub renamed]] the ''Mörd-spegeln'' (the Maerd-mirror), which is almost worse, considering the fact that "mörd" brings one's thoughts to "mörda", which means "to murder". Quite different from the intended meaning.

** In the Italian translations of the HarryPotter books, Professor Dumbledore is known as Albus Silente. The translators took the first part of Dumbledore's name - `dumb' in the sense of `unable to speak' - and made a literal translation.

* Russian transcripts of foreign names sometimes substitute H with G (for instance, HarryPotter is known there as ''Gary Potter''. This leads to an interesting case with Robin Hood, who becomes Robin Good - leading Russians with some knowledge of English to completely misinterpret the meaning of his name. It still kinda fits, though.

* Relatedly, the title of Marcel Duchamp's readymade [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marcel_Duchamp_Mona_Lisa_LHOOQ.jpg L.H.O.O.Q.]] is a pun. Reading the letters in French "Elle a chaud au cul" sounds like either "She has a hot ass" or "there is fire down below."

* Often, the word "disc" (in DVD context) is translated into "disk" in Swedish, even though the Swedish word for "disc" is "skiva." "Disk" usually means "dishes" (as in, what you use a dishwasher for.)

* Any humor in the pun-filled episode of ''TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'', "Pun Times with Punsie [=McHale=]", will be lost once translated and aired in a non-English speaking country. All that shall remain will be the NightmareFuel...

*** Specifically, one case is proven by a lighter being placed in a specific position on a mat that matches a piece in a Japanese game.

* In the MonsterRancher game and anime, a particularly evil Dragon is named 'Muu', which means darkness or emptiness. In English, he's named 'Moo'. Yes, after the sound a cow makes.

Faced with this problem, translators have come up with various tactics. In extremis, some do a GagDub, or a {{Woolseyism}}. Some even hang a [[LampshadeHanging Lampshade]] on the untranslatable term. A skilled translator might need to be almost as creative as the original writer in creating a satisfying parallel text. And when the translator is really excellent, we don't notice their work at all.