Italian Translations and a little question

[rcraigharman at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 17843

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47 at m...> wrote:
> At 11:36 AM 4/28/01 +0200, Momiji wrote:
> >Albus Dumbledore=Albus Silente
> 
> What's "Silente" about him??

The translator was clearly unfamiliar with "dumbledor" meaning 
"bumblebee", and so just focussed on the "dumb" element.  Bad 
translator.

He/she should have gone with something like "Bombodoro" = "bumblebee 
of gold" ("bombo d'oro").


> >Madam Pomfrey=Madama Chips
> 
> She's not named after french fries, is she?

Gosh, I hope not.  I think her name is a rather transparent 
portmanteau word, made from "comfrey" and "pomade".

comfrey = Any of various hairy perennial Eurasian herbs of the genus 
Symphytum, especially S. officinale, having variously colored flowers 
in coiled cymes and long used in herbal medicine. Also called healing 
herb.

pomade = Perfumed ointment; esp., a fragrant unguent for the hair; 
pomatum; -- originally made from apples. 

Man, I wish they had had JKR explain her names to the translators.
Then, Madame Pomfrey  could have been "Madama Consolida", both playing 
on the herb --"consolida maggiore" in Italian--and simply "to console" 
= "consolare".  Grrr, this is so obvious!

 
> >Mad Eye Moody= Malocchio Moody
> 
> Does "Pinocchio" mean "pine eyes" then?

No, pinocchio meant "pine nut or pine kernel".  Nowadays, the word is 
usually "pinolo".

 
> >Nearly Headless Nick=Nick-Quasi-Senza-Testa
>  
> If his nickname is that long in Italian, he might as well stick
> with "Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington".

Actually, the Italian is only one letter (and one space) longer, and
at least here, the translation is exact.


> >Parvati Patil=Calì Patil
> 
> After Kali, the Goddess of Blood??
> She wouldn't like that, I'm sure...

As someone else pointed out Parvati is Kali.  (And heck, they are 
wizards after all.)

 
> >Professor Quirrel=Professor Raptor
> 
> Doesn't that kind of give away the game?
> (Raptor = vicious bird-of-prey or vicious dinosaur)

A bit - though I read "Quirrel" and thought "Hmm, like 'squirrel'.  He 
must be hiding something."

Maybe they could have gone with "Coiattolo".


> >Severus Snape=Severus Piton
> 
> What if Snape's name *is* an anagram?
> (You can't make "Perseus" out of the above!)

Actually you can.  SEvERUS Piton = PERSEUS + v,i,t,o,n

But I'm not exactly clear on what you would do with v,n,a,p,e in
English anyway.  Vapen?  Paven?  Hmmm.

Besides, Severus is a perfectly delightful name on its own.  And I see 
Snape as being related to "sneap" (to blast or blight with cold; to 
chide) and "snipe" (a contemptible person).  And doesn't 'sneap' sound 
like what the dementors do?  :^)

Piton is inexplicable.

....Craig