And in Spanish, we dance …

July 30, 2010 @ 12:54 pm · Filed by under Linguistics in the comics, Lost in translation

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Dance translations for the culturally inexperienced:

Is this a loose translation?

July 30, 2010 @ 12:54 pm · Filed by under Linguistics in the comics, Lost in translation


10 Comments

  1. xyzzyva said,

    July 30, 2010 @ 6:30 pm

    I want to see a translation of the Macarena into Waltz.

  2. Peter Taylor said,

    July 30, 2010 @ 6:33 pm

    I think the original is probably looser than the translation…

  3. rone said,

    July 30, 2010 @ 9:42 pm

    Depends on which meaning of 'translation' was intended.

  4. Tom D said,

    July 31, 2010 @ 2:15 am

    I'd say it's a pretty loose translation. Hula, while dance, also has religious, political, and storytelling significance. Flamenco does not, as far as I'm aware, do any of these things.

    If this were a snowclone, one might also be able to apply it to other culturally-specific things; for example: "Sanshin with banjo translation."

  5. Q. Pheevr said,

    July 31, 2010 @ 6:42 am

    "The beginning is flamencish, and the ending is… Danish."

  6. Dan Lufkin said,

    July 31, 2010 @ 10:24 am

    Shouldn't that be Flemish translation?

  7. JimG said,

    July 31, 2010 @ 11:29 am

    Hula dance: Isn't that redundundundant? A hula dancer, now, might be correct.

  8. ?! said,

    August 1, 2010 @ 8:49 am

    re Flamenco- some tocas have political significance, Mineras for example being a reaction to the sadness in mining towns due to the high mortality workers experienced. But yes, mostly it's passion and sex. Oh and granainas evokes the music of the Muslim occupation I suppose.

  9. richard howland-bolton said,

    August 2, 2010 @ 7:07 am

    I'm glad you didn't have the 'click to embiggen' rollover, 'cause when I did it got smaller

  10. Nito said,

    August 4, 2010 @ 5:05 pm

    Most flamenco palos do have an attached meaning, often carried in their name: soleá (Andalusian for "soledad") signifies loneliness, alegría signifies happiness, bulería (from Spanish "burlar") signifies a party, carcelera is a prison song, martinete is a smith's song, etc…

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