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sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
2019-05-12 21:31:30

Before you do, bear in mind that Woolseyism is not "translation makes changes that are particularly clever". It's "translation makes changes to make something work in the other language". To quote the page itself:

Please note that this trope is about script changes in translation that do not change the actual story flow and only exist to ensure meaning is conveyed between cultures;

To use Pokemon as an example, translating the Pokemon Usokki's name as Sudowoodo. "Usokki" just means "liar tree" in Japanese, and Sudowoodo (pseudo wood) gets that same pun across where a direct translation would not. That it's (in my personal opinion) clever is a bonus, but the goal, and thus the Woolseyism, is that it gets the same meaning the Japanese name was going for across to English speakers.

Edited by sgamer82
AegisP Since: Oct, 2014
2019-05-12 21:35:33

I want to add that the early anime did do the Woolseyism thing really well. Until it went over and overdid the rewriting.

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