I’ve heard lots of good comments about SB19’s new song VISA, and as your resident translator, of course I was curious how the official English subtitles compare to the original language.
The translation of “anak ng pating” to “son of a gun” sufficiently gets the feeling across. However, it does not explain why they show a kid in a shark costume right at this line—It’s because the original line literally translates to “child of a shark.” And in Filipino, “shark” is a figurative term for a swindler. Additionally, in English, a shark is also someone who “takes advantage of others through usury, extortion, or devious means” (Merriam-Webster).
With the baby shark here having an APPROVED stamp on its head, the whole scene becomes a reference to nepo babies who can just buy their way through government processes
Edit: While I’m at it, I’ll go ahead and explain the surrounding lines as well
Original Filipino lyrics:
Wow! Ang galing! Nabusog lahat sa’king sinaing ’Nak ng pating Nagreklamo pang lata yung kanin!
Official English translation:
Wow! Amazing! Everyone ate from what I cooked Son of a gun! But now my cooking’s got complaints!
The cooking metaphor in the original language is actually more specific. Here’s a word-for-word translation:
Everyone felt full from the rice I cooked They complained that the rice [had too much water]
The word “lata” in Filipino is often used when the food is overcooked or had too much water, resulting in the food being wet/soggy
