š Hey guys! I need some help from my English-speaking readers š¬
Added 2025-05-07 09:00:33 +0000 UTCHere's the situation:
In the original Polish dialogue, Ciri says āSznurowana nocā, which literally translates to āa laced night.ā
I was thinking of having the king correct her with āFascinated,ā as a play on her mispronunciationā¦ but Iām not a native speaker, so Iām unsure if that really works. š¤
Another option is to stick with the official translation where she says āAn uncharted night,ā and he corrects her with āEnchanting.ā
What do you think works better for the meaning and the joke?
Iād love to hear your thoughts! š¤
Comments
Hi! Native English speaker here! Neither word really works in English, unfortunately for the joke, although they both work as him making a patronizing comment to her. Honestly, I didn't even know there was supposed to be a joke line because it's not kept in English translations of the novel. The closest you're going to get though is Enchanting. Fascinating means an interesting topic, and Enchanting means that you're lost in the moment because it's so lovely.
Maria Hendrickson
2025-05-07 11:38:32 +0000 UTCyeah, complicated. I'm sorry that I'll probably have to sacrifice the pun in the English version. In polish, 'enchanting' sounds like "Czarowna" which is close to "Sznurowana"
Yagi Hikaru
2025-05-07 09:27:16 +0000 UTCHey āŗļø Iām not a native speaker either, but I THINK āsince the night is not a living being ā it cannot be āfascinatedā. It would have to be āfascinatingā, but then I suppose your intended wordplay would be lost, sadly? š¤ Iām curious nowā¦ Does the king correct her with something else in the original version, or is it also the polish word for āenchantingā which sounds similar to ālacedā? š
Lina Jonas
2025-05-07 09:20:08 +0000 UTC
