Uranus joke in different languages

[brinforest]

No: HPFGUIDX 34336

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., John Walton <john at w...> wrote:

> I want to compile a list of how the Uranus joke translates into 
different
> languages. 


Well, here are the points of the Finnish jury:

Lavender: "...Oooh, mikä se on, professori?"

Punurmio(Trelawney): "Se on Uranus, kultaseni."

Ron: "Saanko minäkin katsoa sinun Uranustasi, Lavender?"

Literal translation of Ron's line would be "Can I also look at your 
Uranus, Lavender?" 

I would say that the joke is kind of half there. It's hard for me 
to determine, because while reading the passage, I immediately 
realised how it must read in English and I got the joke because of 
that. But I still think that it only takes very little creative 
thinking to get the joke even if you read it in Finnish and don't 
know any English. I'm happy that the translator left it in, so that I 
was able to appreciate the joke.

And when it comes to Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Finnish translator has 
adapted it to Tom Lomen Valedro, which gives the anagram "Ma olen 
Voldemort" (I am Voldemort). Furthermore, "ma" is poetic Finnish 
(along the lines of "thou" in English). The more normal word for I or 
me is minä, but it would have been too translation-y to have the 
letter "ä" in Tom Riddle's name - it's in very few names anyway. 

Of course I could write a long post about the other names that were 
translated... maybe another time. But for me, "Punurmio" is one of 
the worse ones. All you gain is easier pronunciation, and I'd like to 
think we're past those days. 


Brin