Mould-on-the-Wold

[Steve]

---  "Geoff Bannister" <gbannister10 at ...> wrote:
>
> ---  "potioncat" <willsonkmom@> wrote:
> 
>  Geoff:
> > > Personally, I think that Mould-on-the-Wold is a wizarding village in the Cotswolds famous for its jelly-making.
> > > :-)
>  
> Potioncat:
> > I suppose you mean the gelatin like treats that are set in a mold and have a decorative appearance?
> > 
> > ...
> 
> Geoff:
> In the UK, gelatine is only used to describe the basic substance
> used for preservation etc.
> 
> Jelly was traditionally made in a moulded glass container. The
> phrase is  sometimes used to describe things such as cars which
> have exaggerated curves. ...
> 
> Jelly was a constituent of puddings for years - ...

bboyminn: 

In the USA, what you call 'jelly', our version has fallen on the curse of all marketing. Every brand wants to be a household word, but when the word becomes too common, it become generic and loses its meaning.

For example, a Xerox for all photocopies.

Kleenex as a universal word for all tissue or facial tissue.

And Jello as a universal word for all jelly, gelled, or gelatin-based deserts.

The other brand of 'jello' was Royal brand, we frequently had Royal Jello, which is akin to saying I'm going to buy a new car. I think I'll get a Chevy-Ford or a Dodge-Buick. 

And, though you probably know, Jelly in the USA, is a fruit based clear spread for bread or toast, that is made primarily of concentrated fruit juice and pectin. 

The classic PBJ, for peanut butter and jelly, doesn't mean peanut butter and Jello. It means peanut butter and gelled fruit spread. 

While jelly is clear and uniform in texture, jam or preserves have chunks of fruit in them. 

Also, in what way would you use the word 'jelly' to describe a car. Could you give us a sample sentence? 

Back on topic. The idea that it is OK to change the name of say, Godrics Hollow, I'm not sure I agree. To change the name changes several other things. For example, Godric Griffindor live in Godric Hollow. We were suppose to make that association, thin and subtle though it was. 

So, if you change the name of the town, do you correspondingly change the name of Godric Griffindor? And in doing so, do how many other related things change? It would seem a nightmare to keep track of it all. To make changes like that would imply that the translator was infinitely familiar with and understood the books in their original language, and it is clear that has not happened. 

As to the original name 'Mould-on-the-Wold', that doesn't even make a lot of sense in English. Beyond '-on-the-'usually meaning 'on the river'. Or perhaps Mould on the forest, or Mould by the forest. 

I think 'Ottery St. Catchpole' is nonsensical unless you understand (and hopefully I'm correct) that it means the village of St. Catchpole on the Otter River. 

Again, unless a name of a person or a town makes absolutely no sense in another language, or as in the case of 'Moody' has an alternate impolite meaning in the local native language, I see no reason to change these names. It immensely complicate the story and makes it that much harder to keep track of the subtle little clues that JRK dropped here and there.

All that said, I don't envy the life of a translator. It has to be a difficult, time consuming, tedious task, that satisfies no one. 

Just a few rambling thoughts.

Steve/bboyminn