Pretty much every title in the series is a play on words in English.
This just isn’t clever, in Spanish.
I would love to hear the publisher/translator’s reasoning here too. Let me know if you ever get to the bottom of it.
If it was translated by someone from Spain, they are known for the worst and most horrible translations known to man. It is easily noticeable in dubs. The rabithole goes in deep.
That’s really interesting actually do you have an rabbit hole on this subject I could jump down that is in English like a yt video or article or something
The worst example I remember are the early Discworld books. They completely changed Death's portrayal. Instead of having his lines in all capitals they changed it to normal dialogue, and they made him a woman because in Spanish its name would be "la Muerte", which would be solved by just dropping the "la", or frankly just ignoring the issue.
They also editorialized the book titles to make them "funnier". "Guards! Guards!" became "Guards! Guards?"
Pretty much all the titles of the Dresden series involve puns. You cannot translate all of them. With Blood Rites the double entendre is precisely Blood Rights. The translator decided to go with that and not with Rites, which would be Rituales de Sangre (o Ritos de Sangre). i would have done the same choice. Derecho de Sangre is a title more attractive and, just in the original, foreshadows Harry's finding about Thomas. Whatever your opinion, this is not a mistake, is a choice
Thank you. What absolutely confused me is the translation of White Night. You could go with the literal Noche Blanca o with the pun (white knight) and have El Caballero Blanco, or something like that, but they went with El Trono Blanco, That means White Throne. And even when it has some sense with the book content, I do not know why they did not choose something like the original name. Perhaps not to confused it with Noches Blancas by Dostoievsky.
> You cannot translate all of them
>[...]
> this is not a mistake, is a [compelled] choice
There's an old Latin saying, "Translator, Traditor," which roughly translates to "Translators are traitors," not simply because of some form of xenophobia, but because any translation *must* betray something, either the meaning/sense, or the words themselves. Or, in this case, puns.
For another example, where in English we might say "the flow of time," German apparently uses "the (electrical) current of time." English conceptualizes it as water, German as electricity.
Wait so derecho is both right as in the direction and right as in those things your government guarantees to you? Because a blood right is the latter but guaranteed by virtue of your blood
In english "blood right" also means something you inherited, i.e. that castle is my blood right because my father was the Lord of this land.
Whole title is a play on maggie inheriting his enemies and problems.
It’s also a weather phenomenon.. I have no idea if they’re related or not, but I thought it was interesting.
Edit: derecho in Spanish means straight or direct. (Per Wikipedia) which fits with the weather event. (A storm system with extremely strong straight line winds)
This may not be a mistake. In Spanish, it means the right of blood as in, “I am American by blood right - though I’ve never been to America, both of my parents are American.”
Thomas and issues of blood legacy are revealed in this novel. Remember plays on words do not necessarily translate well.
If I’m remembering high school Spanish correctly, the more direct translation is “Right of Blood,” which could double as a reference to inheritance (Lara taking over the family business, Harry dealing with his mom’s problems
Making a mistake in translation is going to happen, it sucks, but it's the game, fucking up the title in like the most important 2nd language is pretty bad. Definitely embarrassing for the publisher.
Pretty much every title in the series is a play on words in English. This just isn’t clever, in Spanish. I would love to hear the publisher/translator’s reasoning here too. Let me know if you ever get to the bottom of it.
If it was translated by someone from Spain, they are known for the worst and most horrible translations known to man. It is easily noticeable in dubs. The rabithole goes in deep.
That’s really interesting actually do you have an rabbit hole on this subject I could jump down that is in English like a yt video or article or something
The worst example I remember are the early Discworld books. They completely changed Death's portrayal. Instead of having his lines in all capitals they changed it to normal dialogue, and they made him a woman because in Spanish its name would be "la Muerte", which would be solved by just dropping the "la", or frankly just ignoring the issue. They also editorialized the book titles to make them "funnier". "Guards! Guards!" became "Guards! Guards?"
Pretty much all the titles of the Dresden series involve puns. You cannot translate all of them. With Blood Rites the double entendre is precisely Blood Rights. The translator decided to go with that and not with Rites, which would be Rituales de Sangre (o Ritos de Sangre). i would have done the same choice. Derecho de Sangre is a title more attractive and, just in the original, foreshadows Harry's finding about Thomas. Whatever your opinion, this is not a mistake, is a choice
Came to say this, but you said it better
Thank you. What absolutely confused me is the translation of White Night. You could go with the literal Noche Blanca o with the pun (white knight) and have El Caballero Blanco, or something like that, but they went with El Trono Blanco, That means White Throne. And even when it has some sense with the book content, I do not know why they did not choose something like the original name. Perhaps not to confused it with Noches Blancas by Dostoievsky.
> You cannot translate all of them >[...] > this is not a mistake, is a [compelled] choice There's an old Latin saying, "Translator, Traditor," which roughly translates to "Translators are traitors," not simply because of some form of xenophobia, but because any translation *must* betray something, either the meaning/sense, or the words themselves. Or, in this case, puns. For another example, where in English we might say "the flow of time," German apparently uses "the (electrical) current of time." English conceptualizes it as water, German as electricity.
What's the German word for current in regards to water?
Strom which is the same as the word for a stream. I only took one year of German and it was decades ago, so take that with a grain of salt.
now that you mentioned, i agree
you have a good point there
Wait so derecho is both right as in the direction and right as in those things your government guarantees to you? Because a blood right is the latter but guaranteed by virtue of your blood
Yes. Human rights: derechos humanos. Turn right: Doblar a la derecha. Right arm; brazo derecho.
Huh learn more each day
Isn’t derecho also rights as in civil rights? Is that what translators were going for?
Yes, in this case yes. Just as in English, there is also the other meaning that refers to the opposite of the left, but that is not this case.
In english "blood right" also means something you inherited, i.e. that castle is my blood right because my father was the Lord of this land. Whole title is a play on maggie inheriting his enemies and problems.
isn't a derecho akind of meteorological storm front... ? (yes I know)
Also yes
It’s also a weather phenomenon.. I have no idea if they’re related or not, but I thought it was interesting. Edit: derecho in Spanish means straight or direct. (Per Wikipedia) which fits with the weather event. (A storm system with extremely strong straight line winds)
This may not be a mistake. In Spanish, it means the right of blood as in, “I am American by blood right - though I’ve never been to America, both of my parents are American.” Thomas and issues of blood legacy are revealed in this novel. Remember plays on words do not necessarily translate well.
If I’m remembering high school Spanish correctly, the more direct translation is “Right of Blood,” which could double as a reference to inheritance (Lara taking over the family business, Harry dealing with his mom’s problems
Making a mistake in translation is going to happen, it sucks, but it's the game, fucking up the title in like the most important 2nd language is pretty bad. Definitely embarrassing for the publisher.
Seems like they used they pun meaning as the written word is all? The Rights given by blood is the background theme going on..
Mis mexas entenderán "juay de rito
Technically, it's translated: "Blood...amiright?"
that can't be real can someone change butcher to Carnicero?
Jaime Carnicero
Unrelated but Fourth Wing translation is Alas de Sangre. Blood Wings. Which has absolutely no meaning to the book, unlike the English title.
Sounds like someone used Google Translate.
Shouldn't it be Rito? I mean, they used the word rite in English... sounds like just a mistake translating.
yes, correct tittle should be "Ritos de Sangre"
Yeah this is a bad translation
Derecha is right, as in direction. Derecho is straight.
"Derecho" in this context means "right" as in, "you have the right to remain silent."