Humor and Translation Mark Herman [email protected] You Are Old, Father Chadwick “Father Chadwick” is a derogatory dency to hit the ball to left Pavano,” after Carl Pavano, who had slang term referring to a baseball player field. “Salami” is a grand slam home a great season with the Florida past his prime. How fitting, since the run. A pitcher “humps up” when he Marlins in 2003, after which he real Henry Chadwick was a baseball puts extra energy into a fast signed with the Yankees for four years journalist for the Galveston Daily ball. “Filthy” is what a hitter calls an and a lot of money, and then spent News, who, way back in 1897, decried excellent pitcher. And a “slutter,” a almost all of his time with the the “trash slang” used by sportswriters. word omitted by Dickson, is a pitch Yankees on the disabled list. As translators know, it is hard to that is both a slider and a cutter. A pitcher is also a hurler and a translate cultural references, such as Words that in other contexts refer to heaver, a horse if he can last a long those about baseball, into the lan- food are also rife. A “muffin” is a player time, a thrower if he cannot think on guage of a culture that lacks such ref- whose uniform is suspiciously clean. A the mound, and an artist if he can. He erences. It is doubly hard when the baseball can be referred to as an egg, an can throw a curveball, which is also a terms to be translated are slang words, apricot, an apple, or a stitched yakker (or yak attack), a hammer, a like those in the third edition of Paul potato. “Jelly beans” are rookies. A wrinkle, a bender, a hook, a 12 to 6, a Dickson’s The Dickson Baseball “fat” pitch is hittable, especially the one zigzagger, a pretzel, a cow’s horn, a Dictionary (Norton, 2009). This book, called a “ham-and-cheese.” dipsy-doodle, a snake jazz, an Uncle with more than 10,000 terms, was If a batter, even one ordinarily Charlie, a knee-buckling ball, or a introduced to me via the review by weak, finds a pitcher, even one usu- deuce, the last referring to the two- Nick Stillman in the June 1, 2009 edi- ally very strong, whom he can hit fingered indication of the pitch. tion of the Nation, from which most against well, that hitter has found his Fastballs can be gas, heat, hair, and of the information in this column was “cousin” and the pitcher has found cheese, among other things. And an taken. his “daddy.” exaggeratedly slow changeup is a Something that literary translators Some slang terms are based on “Bugs Bunny.” Left-handed pitchers always have to be on the lookout for players’ names. A couple are compli- are portsiders, southpaws, crooked is a veiled sexual reference. Slang mentary: a great home run is Ruthian arms, and corkscrew arms. And, baseball words are often a translation and a very fast ball is Ryanesque. But whether a pitcher is right- or left- trap in this regard, because many most are not: “Steve Blass disease” is handed, “traffic,” meaning the wind, baseball terms, completely desexual- an infielder’s loss of ability to throw can be a friend or an enemy. ized, do have sexual implications in accurately to first base; a player out of What does a baseball book trans- other contexts. Such terms include action for injuries may be “Wally lated into Urdu look like? “bush,” meaning completely unpro- Pipped,” that is, replaced by a supe- fessional or inappropriate or inferior, rior player, as Pipp himself was as in “bush league.” Then there is replaced by Lou Gehrig in 1925; and “hooker,” a right hander with a ten- the list of disabled players is “the Herman is a librettist and translator. Submit items for future columns via e-mail to [email protected] or via snail mail to Mark Herman, 1409 E Gaylord Street, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858-3626. Discussions of the transla- tion of humor and examples thereof are preferred, but It’s Time To Renew humorous anecdotes about translators, translations, and mis- www.star-group.net translations are also welcome. Include copyright information M Your Membership and permission if relevant. L Renew online at: C www.atanet.org/membership/renew.php ATA’s Client Outreach Kit and AR Skill Modules Thank you for your past support and Process automation in for renewing for 2010. www.atanet.org/client_outreach information handling ST 42 The ATA Chronicle n February 2010.