Humor in different cultures: Culture Shocks

 



Humor in different cultures: Culture Shocks

Although few of us like to admit it, most of us appreciate a good pun. Puns can be a lot of fun. We even regularly use the adjective "punny" to describe puns that make us chuckle. This made-up word would still be confusing to many people around the world even if it were translated into everyone's mother tongue. Those who can speak English well may find this made-up word amusing. The problems in translating humor are first introduced to us by this unfunny issue.

There are four different kinds of puns that might make it difficult to translate humor.

Homonymy: identical sounds and spelling

Homophony: the use of the same sounds but various spellings

Homography: same spelling and different sounds

Paronymy: a slightly different pronunciation and spelling

 

 

Cultural references can be particularly challenging because a direct translation may not be the best course of action because pop culture icons, books, movies, or commonplace phenomena may not be comprehended by a foreign audience.

 

How translators overcome these difficulties

 

There are steps translators can take to perform a good job and keep the laughs coming when translating hilarious language. A translator may create jokes that are specific to the new target culture when it comes to jokes that cross cultural boundaries. Compared to simply translating the original joke, this can be more successful. Similar to this, a translator may need to change wordplay in humorous situations so that it makes sense in the target tongue. It is more crucial to catch the spirit of the original joke than to directly translate it in order to successfully translate a joke.

 

Translators should also be able to read laughs across different cultures.

 

‘kkk’- Korean

Koreans laugh in a distinctive manner. Their letter "k" has the same meaning as our letter "ha"—laughter.

 

'555' - Thai

With this one, you can kill two birds with one stone because five in Thai is pronounced "ha." You may now laugh and count in Thai from 5 to 5.

 

French for "MDR"

The phrase "mort de rire," which this acronym stands for, translates to "dying of laughter."

 

'хаха' - Russian

'jaja' - Spanish

'xaxa' - Greek

'xà xà' – Hebrew

'哈哈' – Chinese

 

Humor cannot be translated quickly or easily. To capture the intended tone and impact of the original humor, it may take several iterations and countless changes. To overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, however, is the translator's job. Translators can finish their work and make others laugh if they have the right skills and work ethic.

 

Need a translation? I’M Translation and ISIS Korea provides professional translation and interpretation services.

How might I’M Translation and ISiS Korea aid translation?

At I’M Translation and ISiS Korea, we can connect you with a professional translators and interpreters. We have over 30+ languages available on our platform and we are flexible and available regardless of the language pair, topic, and time zone. Please visit us at www.imtranslation.com and www.isiskorea.com/eng to request a free translation and interpretation quote. Thank you

 

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