Dec 20, 2018 19:27
5 yrs ago
1 viewer *
German term
SUBTITLER AND SCREEN TRANSLATOR
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
Hübsch sehen Sie aus!
German to English
Other
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Hi everyone,
I'm subtitling a TV movie in which two strangers decide to spend Christmas Eve together and pretend to be a couple.
He wants his kids to have a proper "family" Christmas - his wife is dead - and she wants to show her parents
that she does actually have a boyfriend.
The only problem is that they use the "Sie" form when talking to each other, so they decide to use "Du" when they visit her parents. The first thing the guy says when he turns up at her parents' house and sees her looking very pretty is:
-Hübsch sehen Sie aus!
She immediately corrects him and says:
-Du. Du siehst hübsch aus.
Does anyone have any brilliant ideas how I can render this in English and make it sound as natural as possible?
The "couple" in question are in their early 30s. Each utterance is about two seconds long, so it can't be too wordy.
Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.
Thanks.
Dez
I'm subtitling a TV movie in which two strangers decide to spend Christmas Eve together and pretend to be a couple.
He wants his kids to have a proper "family" Christmas - his wife is dead - and she wants to show her parents
that she does actually have a boyfriend.
The only problem is that they use the "Sie" form when talking to each other, so they decide to use "Du" when they visit her parents. The first thing the guy says when he turns up at her parents' house and sees her looking very pretty is:
-Hübsch sehen Sie aus!
She immediately corrects him and says:
-Du. Du siehst hübsch aus.
Does anyone have any brilliant ideas how I can render this in English and make it sound as natural as possible?
The "couple" in question are in their early 30s. Each utterance is about two seconds long, so it can't be too wordy.
Looking forward to hearing your suggestions.
Thanks.
Dez
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +3 | Get her name wrong |
philgoddard
|
| 4 +5 | You look lovely Ms. ... |
Tabitha Ashura
|
| 3 +1 | You look very nice/pretty/gorgeous/lovely, dear/honey/babe |
Ramey Rieger (X)
|
Proposed translations
+3
21 hrs
philgoddard
United States
United States
Native in English
United States
Six languages into flawless English
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English, Spanish to English, and 4 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
18
Selected
Get her name wrong
You haven't answered my question about how long they've known each other, but I thought I'd post this anyway.
This might work best if he got her name slightly, rather than completely wrong - for example if he called her Katrin instead of Karin, or another name with the same first letter.
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Note added at 21 hrs (2018-12-21 17:08:35 GMT)
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It's probably irrelevant how long they've known each other. I was still calling my second wife by my first wife's name years after I remarried :-)
This might work best if he got her name slightly, rather than completely wrong - for example if he called her Katrin instead of Karin, or another name with the same first letter.
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Note added at 21 hrs (2018-12-21 17:08:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
It's probably irrelevant how long they've known each other. I was still calling my second wife by my first wife's name years after I remarried :-)
Note from asker:
| I think that this is the most credible option... and it's quite amusing. It shows that they don't really know each other. The character in question is called Pauline, so it sort of makes sense if he calls her Paula, for example. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
TonyTK
: Exactly what I was thinking (I've been married 30 years but I've very occasionally had the same "problem").
4 hrs
|
|
:-)
|
|
| agree |
Ramey Rieger (X)
: Good one, it only needs to be "Marge' instead of 'Maria"
17 hrs
|
| agree |
Catherine Demaison-Doherty
: Or use the full name Pauline first, and then change to a nickname, if there is one, e.g. Line afterwards.
2 days 8 hrs
|
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "This is a tough one without actually seeing the film. Thanks to all those who suggested options."
+5
14 mins
You look lovely Ms. ...
I would have him call her Ms. last name, and have her correct him to use a first name most likely.
Note from asker:
| I think saying "Ms." sounds a little forced. The two characters have already spoken to each other quite a bit. And, as I mentioned, they're in their early 30s, so saying "Ms." doesn't sound completely natural to me. |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kevin Fulton
: One way to get around the issue
17 mins
|
| neutral |
philgoddard
: I don't think this really works, because English speakers don't tend to use titles except in very formal situations, whereas German does.
23 mins
|
| agree |
Michael Martin, MA
: Some (but not many) English speakers will use titles in informal situations even if they know your first name, so this is fine.
1 hr
|
| agree |
Eleanore Strauss
: Yes, Ms... ahem dear. LoL
7 hrs
|
| agree |
franglish
13 hrs
|
| agree |
Thayenga
: This is a good way to distinguish between formal (Sie) and informal (du).
17 hrs
|
+1
50 mins
You look very nice/pretty/gorgeous/lovely, dear/honey/babe
Same idea as Tabitha and Phil, but he uses her name. She corrects him:
Honey/dear/babe. You look beautiful honey/dear/babe/darling, etc.
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Note added at 1 day 14 hrs (2018-12-22 10:16:24 GMT)
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You look lovely, Margret!
Honey. You look lovely, honey.
Honey/dear/babe. You look beautiful honey/dear/babe/darling, etc.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day 14 hrs (2018-12-22 10:16:24 GMT)
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You look lovely, Margret!
Honey. You look lovely, honey.
Note from asker:
| I think this is probably a slightly better option, although I'm not sure he knows her surname and calling someone by their first name is hardly a reason for someone to correct you. ;-) |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
philgoddard
: I agree with Desmond.
20 hrs
|
| agree |
Lonnie Legg
: If she wants demonstrate intimacy, she might indeed take objection to being called by her name.
1 day 15 hrs
|
|
Thanks Lonnie, particularly if they're putting on a show for her parents.
|
Discussion
Other people also have work to do. I know that subtitling is hard, but this sounds more and more like the asker has never seen the movie (I know which one it is and have watched parts of it).
For starters, the quote is wrong.