Actually, yeah, you guys wanna see my favorite way a translator ever handled the furigana shenanigans in a manga?
Some background: Japanese is written with a mix of kana (which are phonetic characters that each represent a sound) and kanji (more complex characters which have both a meaning and often multiple possible sounds).
But little kids aren't expected to know every kanji yet, and there can be obscure words or names with oddball pronunciations that would puzzle any reader. So you can also put some small kana alongside the kanji to tell people how to pronounce it. Those are called furigana, and they're common in a lot of manga for youngish audiences.
As an example, here's the kanji 神 (meaning "god") with the furigana that say かみ (kami) in case you didn't know how to spell that one in kanji yet:
But at some point someone figured out that, hey, you don't HAVE to have the furigana match the kanji. There's nothing stopping you from just...
Using a foreign or made-up word but with a built-in definition: the kanji 祓魔師 (exorcise-demon-professional) pronounced as the English word エクソシスト (ekusoshisuto = exorcist)
Letting a character talk to himself really literally: 俺 (me) with the furigana おまえ (omae = you). You, by which I mean me,
Harping on the fact that you have a light themed villain this arc: 光 (light) but with the OTHER WHOLE KANJI 闇 (darkness) as the pronunciation. Darkness, but our darkness is Different because it's actually Light...
Clarifying what someone means like a little parenthetical statement: 俺達 (us/we) pronounced イルミナティ (iruminati = Illuminati). We, the Illuminati...
And many more. Those were just examples from Blue Exorcist that I already had saved to my hard drive. I cannot emphasize enough how much manga likes to create double meanings this way.
As you might imagine, this can be awkward to translate into a language that doesn't have even the slightest concept of furigana.
Usually you end up doing something that either ignores it (just pick the word that was most important of the two, or use the made up word but only define it the first time) or gets the job done but feels a bit like a cop-out (list both words, or put one in parentheses after the other)
But not always. Not in this one case from the first chapter of Blue Exorcist, translated for Viz by John Werry:
Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
物質界（アッシャー）に存在しながらにして 虚無界（ゲヘナ）の神であるこのオレの炎（ち）をひく
物質界（アッシャー）The material realm, Assiah (kanji say material realm, furigana say Assiah)
に in/at
存在する to exist
ながら during/while
にして despite (物質界に存在しながらにして = Despite/even while existing in the material world...)
虚無界（ゲヘナ）The realm of void, Gehenna (same deal as Assiah above)
の 's, of
神（かみ）god
である is
この this
オレ me, I (it's not weird in Japanese to say "this me." It just emphasizes the me. I, who am the god of Gehenna...)
の 's
炎 (normally pronounced ほのお) flame
ちをひく (normally spelled 血 for that ち) to inherit/be descended from (literally, to pull in their blood)
So we've got 炎 (flame) but we're pronouncing it ち (blood) here due to shenanigans
We've already defined Assiah and Gehenna earlier in the chapter, so we can just call them Assiah and Gehenna and not worry about the kanji. It's the 炎（ち）をひく that's a pain to deal with. Rin, our half-demon main character, has inherited Satan's flame in the same way that you have your ancestors' blood in you. Which means we gotta come up with a way to say bloodflames on the fly in English.
And this was a good way, okay?
You exist in Assiah, but the flame of the god of Gehenna runs through your veins!
Goddamn that was slick. You guys saw that, right? I'm not the only one who saw how smoothly that went, am I?
What a good use of the idiom "my blood runs through your veins." You've got word A as furigana on word B, so you find an English set phrase that uses word A and swap word B in instead. Reader expected A and got B, so now both words are in their head and you've gotten the unconventional double meaning across. It's as near a perfect solution as you're probably gonna get.
I'm sure it's not the first time a translator landed on that general solution to the problem, but it was the first time I saw someone do it and it left an impression y'all.
at some point we gotta acknowledge that getting the majority of your news and takes and general opinions from tumblr is not meaningfully different than getting it from tiktok even though on here it's in textual form. understanding the world through the lens of viral videos vs understanding it through breathless unsourced text posts written by dykeastarion69
#this is what made me switch to actually reading news sites regularly some years ago#(and when something's controversial or doesn't seem quite right I look up multiple news sources to try to get a fuller picture) (@thirddoctor)
A quick reminder that the Associated Press is totally free, and also often covers the news stories that Tumblr users say no one is covering. NPR is also free. So is ProPublica.
Also, here's a chart that might be helpful, in terms of determining bias and reliability: Interactive Media Bias Chart
Adding that while I do also read AP and NPR, US media institutions are scared shitless by the admin and certain lobbies. I go to Al Jazeera for international news. Being a Qatari state media institution is honestly much less significant than the influence current US political forces have on US media outlets at the moment.
when I was in high school I had a literature teacher who had a policy of unlimited extra credit. All you had to do was read a book by a notable author (his discretion) and have a little chat with him after school to prove that you read it. No limits, no need for variety (one month I decided I really loved Kurt Vonnegut and just read everything of his I could get my hands on).
Yes, I was tearing through books constantly, and talking to this teacher at least weekly. Because even though I always loved reading as a kid, literature was always a very weak subject for me in terms of a teaching-to-standardized-test school setting (I just do awful on "what color were the curtains" type multiple choice questions. Those details don't stick in my memory THEY JUST DON'T). But that didn't matter for this class. I could just read my way out of any bad test score. I have always had fond memories of how I "fudged" my way through that class and "abused' the extra credit policy.
I was thinking about it again today, and only just now realized that he absolutely tricked me into being well-read, while my teenage self thought I was totally getting away with something. THAT MOTHERFUCKER. I hope he's doing well.
This has been my main argument against "AI" from the very beginning.
OpenAI scraped the entire web. All of which had been a labor of love from humans. Wikipedia is the backbone of a lot of LLMs, and that was volunteer human labor. They stole it and now they're selling it back to us.
And worse, they're trying to destroy the free sources that they stole from. It's destruction of human knowledge on an unprecedented scale. The burning of the library of Alexandria has nothing on this.
Yes, this is the bitter truth that the world's media are trying to hide from you: Gaza is a genocide. Gaza has been annihilated, unfortunately. The world has witnessed a genocide that was filmed, documented, and broadcast live in full view of everyone.
The explosives dropped on the people of the Gaza Strip are equivalent to 20 nuclear bombs like those dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Does anyone still doubt that Israel committed and continues to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing against us here in the Gaza Strip?
We have been through so much, and we are still alive thanks to your help and donations. Without them, we would have perished long ago. The campaign has not received any donations in the last seven days, and the last donation was 7 days ago. Thanks to your donations, we can buy food and medicine and pay for the surgery for his daughter Iman, who was injured in her legs during the war. Iman is a child who needs care; she has already suffered enough during the first three of her eight years. Please don't hesitate to donate now. Please donate now.
GOFUNDME Please give this little girl hope and donate
The original post by @funwithlanguages can be found here.
First Verbs
be - no equivalent in Arabic
there is - هُنَاكَ
have - عِنْدَ
do - فَعَلَ
go - ذَهَبَ
want - أَرَادَ
can - قَدَرَ
need - اِحْتَاجَ
think - فَكَّرَ
know - عَرَفَ
say - قَالَ
like - حَبَّ
speak - تَكَلَّمَ
learn - تَعَلَّمَ
understand - فَهِمَ
Conjunctions
that - اَلَّذِي; أَنَّ
and - وَ
or - أَوْ, أَمْ
but - لٰكِنْ
because - لِأَنَّ
though - رَغْم أَنّ
so (meaning “therefore”) - لِذٰلِكَ
if - إِذَا, لَوْ , إِنْ
Prepositions
to - إِلَى
from, of - مِنْ
in - فِي
at (a place) - عِنْدَ
at (a time) - فِي, عَلَى
with - مَعَ
about - عَنْ
like (meaning “similar to”) - مِثْل
before - قَبْلَ
after - بَعْدَ
during - خِلَالَ
Question Words
who - مَنْ
what - مَاذَا, مَا
where - أَيْنَ
when - مَتَى
why - لِمَاذَا
how - كَيْفَ
how much - كَمْ
which - أَيّ
Adverbs
a lot - كَثِير
a little - قَلِيلًا
well - جَيِّدًا
badly - بِشَكْلٍ سَيِّئٍ
only - فَقَطْ
also - أَيْضًا
very - جِدًّا
too (as in “too tall”) - جِدًّا
so (as in “so tall”) - جِدًّا
more - أَكْثَرَ
less - أَقَلّ
than (etc. "bigger than", "easier than") - مِنْ
as - كَمَا
most - مُعْظَم, أَغْلَب
least - أَقَلّ
at least - عَلَى اَلْأَقَلّ
better - أَفْضَل, أحسن
best - أَفْضَل
worse, worst - أَسْوَأ
worst - أَسْوَأ
now - الْآنَ
then - ثُمَّ
here - هُنَا
there - هُنَاكَ
maybe - رُبَّمَا
always - دَائِمًا
usually - عَادَةً
often - كَثِيرًا
sometimes - أَحْيَانًا
never - أَبَدًا
today - الْيَوْمَ
yesterday - أَمْس
tomorrow - غَدًا
soon - قَرِيبًا
almost - تَقْرِيبًا
already - قَدْ
still - لَا يَزَال
even - حَتَّى
enough - كَافٍ
Adjectives
the - اَلْ
this (masculine) - هٰذَا
this (feminine) - هٰذِهِ
that (masculine) - ذٰلِكَ
that (feminine) - تِلْكَ
good - جَيِّد
bad - سَيِّئ
all - كُلّ
some - بَعْض
no - لَا
any - أَيّ
many - كَثِير
few - قَلِيل
other - آخَر
same - نَفْس
different - مُخْتَلِف
enough - كَافٍ
one - وَاحِد
two - اِثْنَان
first - أَوَّل
next (meaning "coming", e.g. "next week") - قَادِم
last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”) - مَاضٍ
last (meaning “final”) - آخِر
easy - سَهْل
hard - صَعْب
early - بَاكِر
late - مُتَأَخِّر
important - مُهِمّ
interesting - مُشَوِّق
fun - مُمْتِع
boring - مُمِلّ
beautiful - جَمِيل
big - كَبِير
small - صَغِير
happy - سَعِيد
sad - حَزِين
busy - مَشْغُول
excited - مُتَحَمِّس
tired - مُتْعَب
ready - مُسْتَعِدّ
favorite - مُفَضَّل
new - جَدِيد
right, correct - صَوَاب
wrong - خَطَأ
true - صَحِيح
Pronouns
I - أَنَا
you (masculine) - أَنْتَ
you (feminine) - أَنْتِ
you two - أَنْتُمَا
he - هُوَ
she - هِيَ
the two of them, they - هُمَا
we - نَحْنُ
you (masculine, more than two) - أَنْتُمْ
you (feminine, more than two) - أَنْتُنَّ
they (masculine) - هُمْ
they (feminine) - هُنَّ
Nouns
everything - كُلّ شَيْء
something - شَيْء
nothing - لَا شَيْء
everyone - الْجَمِيع
someone - أَحَد
no one - أَحَد لَا
Arabic - الْعَرَبِيَّة
English - إِنْجْلِيزِيَّة
thing - شَيْء
person - شَخْص
place - مَكَان
time - زَمَان, وَقْت
time (as in “I did it 3 times”) - مَرَّة
friend - صَدِيق
woman - اِمْرَأَة
man - رَجُل
money - مَال
country - بَلَد
city - مَدِينَة
language - لُغَة
word - كَلِمَة
food - طَعَام, أَكْل
house - بَيْت
store - مَحَلّ, مَتْجَر
office - مَكْتَب
company - شَرِكَة
manager - مُدِير
coworker - زَمِيل
job, work - عَمَل
problem - مُشْكِلَة
question - سُؤَال
idea - فِكْرَة
life - حَيَاة
world - عَالَم
day - يَوْم
year - عَام, سَنَة
week - أُسْبُوع
month - شَهْر
hour - سَاعَة
mother - أُمّ
father - أَب
parents - وَالِدَان
daughter - اِبْنَة, بِنْت
son - اِبْن
child - طِفْل
wife - زَوْجَة
husband - زَوْج
girlfriend - حَبِيب
boyfriend - حَبِيبَة
More Verbs
work - عَمِلَ
see - رَأَى
use - اِسْتَخْدَمَ
should - يَجِبْ أنْ
believe - اِعْتَقَدَ
practice - تَدَرَّبَ
it seems - يَبدو
come - جَاءَ
leave - غَادَرَ
return - رَجَعَ
give - أَعْطَى
take - أَخَذَ
bring - أَحْضَرَ
look for - بَحَثَ
find - وَجَدَ
get (meaning “obtain”) - يَحْصُلُ عَلَى
receive - اِسْتَلَمَ
buy - اِشْتَرَى
try - حَاوَلَ
start - بَدَأَ
stop (doing something) - وَقَفَ
finish - خَلَّصَ
continue - تَابَعَ, اِسْتَمَرَّ
wake up - صَحَّى
get up - قَامَ
eat - أَكَلَ
happen - حَدَثَ
feel - شَعَرَ
create - خَلَقَ
cause (aka “make”) - جَعَلَ
meet - اِلْتَقَى, تَقَابَلَ
ask (a question) - سَأَلَ
wonder - تَسَاءَلَ
reply - أَجَابَ
mean - عَنَى, قَصَدَ
read - قَرَأَ
write - كَتَبَ
listen - اِسْتَمَعَ
hear - سَمِعَ
remember - تَذَكَّرَ
forget - نَسِيَ
choose - اِخْتَارَ
decide - قَرَّرَ
be born - وُلِدَ
die - مَاتَ
kill - قَتَلَ
live - حَيِيَ
stay - بَقِيَ
change - غَيَّرَ, تَغَيَّرَ
help - سَاعَدَ
send - أَرْسَلَ
study - دَرَسَ
improve - حَسَّنَ, تحسن
hope - أَمَلَ
care - اِهْتَمَّ
Phrases
hello - مَرْحَبًا, أَهْلًا, سَلَام, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ
goodbye - مَعَ السَّلَامَة, إِلَى اللِّقَاء
thank you - شُكْرًا
you’re welcome - عَفْوًا
excuse me - لَوْ سَمَحْت
sorry - آسِف
it’s fine (response to an apology) - عفواً, لَا مُشْكِلَة
please - مِن فَضْلِك
yes - نَعَم
no - لَا
okay - حَسَنًا
My name is - اِسْمِي
What’s your name? - مَا ِاسْمُك؟
Nice to meet you. - تَشَرَّفْنَا
How are you? - كَيْف الْحال؟
I’m doing well - أَنَا بِخَيْر
How do you say ... ? - …كَيْفَ تَقُولْ
What does ... mean? - …مَا مَعْنَى
I don’t understand. - لَا أَفْهَمُ
Could you repeat that? - هَلْ يُمْكِنُكَ إِعَادَة ذٰلِكَ؟
Could you speak more slowly, please? - َهَلْ يُمْكِنُكَ التَّحَدُثَ بِبُطْءٍ أَكْثَرَ؟
Well (as in “well, I think…”) - حَسَنًا
Really? - حَقًّا؟
I guess that - أَعْتَقِد ذٰلِكَ
It’s hot. (talking about the weather) - الْجَوّ حَارّ
It’s cold. (talking about the weather) - الْجَوّ بَارِد
Nakba Day is commemorated annually on May 15. It marks the beginning of the destruction of the Palestinian homeland, and the mass displacement in 1948 of the majority of the Palestinian population.
Nakban muistopäivä - Nakba day
Viidestoista toukokuuta - May 15th
Palestiina - Palestine
Palestiinalainen - Palestinian
Pakolainen - refugee
Diaspora - diaspora
Israel - Israel
Israelilainen - Israeli
Sionismi - Zionism
Sionisti - Zionist
Muisto - memory
Katastrofi - catastrophe
Trauma - trauma
Etninen puhdistus - ethnic cleansing
Kansanmurha - genocide
Joukkomurha - massacre, mass murder
Verilöyly - massacre, bloodbath
Väkivalta - violence
Pakkosiirto - forced displacement
Miehitys - occupation
Karkotus - deportation, banishment
Kansankiihotus - sedition
Mielenosoitus - demonstration
Lakko - strike
Marssi - march
Puhe - speech
Paluuoikeus - right of return
Valloittaa - to conquer, to take (a country, territory, etc.)
Miehittää - to occupy
Hyökätä - to attack
Taistella - to fight, to combat
Karkottaa - to drive away, to deport, to banish
Tyhjentää - to empty
Puhdistaa - to cleanse
Tuhota - to destroy
Hävittää - to destroy, to demolish, to annihilate, to exterminate
Ampua - to shoot
Pommittaa - to bomb
Polttaa - to burn
Räjäyttää - to detonate, to blow up
Miinoittaa - to mine, to sow mines on, to lay mines in
Tappaa - to kill
Teloittaa - to execute
Kuolla - to die
Haavoittua - to get wounded
Raiskata - to rape
Ryöstää - to rob, to loot
Mellakoida - to riot
Osoittaa mieltään - to demonstrate, to protest
Muistaa, muistella - to remember, to commemorate
Lisätä tietoisuutta - to raise awareness
im so sick of unnecessary dinner scenes in movies 😡 every fucking movie they just want to titillate you with some food because they think you’re a dumb animal who just wants to see mashed potatoes bouncing. if its an IMPORTANT dinner scene where they explain lore then whatever i understand. but they shove useless meals into every movie these days and its disgusting
Jaaaa mein Gott sorry das ich dem geschenkten Gaul ins Maul geschaut hab. Was wenn der Karies hat. So wie ich Pferde kenne hab ich dann innerhalb von drei Tagen einen toten Gaul und dann ist keiner von uns beiden glücklich. Kennst du irgendwelche Tierärzte.
Yeaaah dude sorry for for looking the gift horse in the mouth. What if it has caries. For all I know about horse medicine, I might have a dead horse on my hands in three days and then neither of us will be happy. Do you know any vets around here
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