The English Oracle

Is there an enhancing, slangish word to put after statements, like the Norwegian slang word "ass"?

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Track title: Hypnotic Puzzle3

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Chapters
00:00 Is There An Enhancing, Slangish Word To Put After Statements, Like The Norwegian Slang Word &Quot;As
03:35 Answer 1 Score 1
05:23 Accepted Answer Score 6
06:38 Answer 3 Score 2
07:22 Answer 4 Score 6
07:50 Thank you

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Tags
#singlewordrequests #slang #translation

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 6


When subtitling, this word is God's gift to you!

Here's your predicament as I see it: you are bound to render speech, presumably casual dialogue, in subtitles. A word that seems to be a cross between an epistemic intensifier and a filler keeps being repeated. It has no obvious counterpart in the target language, but a lot of good renderings exist. The main point appears to be to sound colloquial.

My advice: Do not try to translate the word, especially not by making a list of possible English renderings and alternating between them. Just translate the meaning. If the meaning and style (and not the original wording in Norwegian) call for "man" or "you see", etc., then by all means put it in (even if the source phrase does not contain "ass").

I'm sure you are already doing that, but "ass" keeps bothering you. It would be a serious problem in dubbing (as your audience would be lip-reading). With subtitles, you want to be minimalistic; you may need to put less than the original while being truthful to it. So personally I'd be very happy and try to put all the colloquial, buddy-buddy feel of the conversation into the wording of the phrase itself.

So

"Jeg vet ikke, ass."
No idea.
or (if you must)
Really, no idea.




ANSWER 2

Score 6


In Canadian English we tack "eh?" at the end of sentences for a similar effect. It has (as you call it) a lazy or careless tone, and is similar to "don't you know?" in Irish English. For example, "It's windy today, eh?"

In Singapore English they use the word "lah" at the end of sentences for emphasis, but I think most people outside of Singapore and Malaysia will not understand what it means.




ANSWER 3

Score 2


I have two possible suggestions.

One would be to use the Jeeves and Wooster (P.G.Wodehouse), upper-middle-class don't you know.

I've seen better football matches on my local park than that charade between Arsenal and Chelsea, don't you know.

It was so kind of you to come, don't you know

Nowadays it would come over as slightly Edwardian i.e. very early 20th century.

Or you could go for the Northern Irish, repetition ending - as in the following examples. (It has a specific name, but I have forgotten what it is.)

She's a fine lass, so she is.

He's a marvellous dentist, so he is.

It was dreadful weather that day, so it was.

He seems to be ill, so he does.

Both Trump and Clinton will each face an uphill task should they win, so they will.




ANSWER 4

Score 1


At the moment, I'm using man a lot, as in "You have to try it, man." but I think some variation would be good. I realize that I could just use nothing, since the word carries only some meaning and is not that crucial, but I still feel it would be better to use something, to capture the feeling of the sentence.

(German has some words like this, e.g. doch.)

Hopefully over time, this nostalgic urge to make your English mirror your Norwegian will dissipate. In the meantime, you need some variety, so the people you're talking with won't go totally batty.

Sorry, scrap that last paragraph, I just reread your question and saw that you're writing subtitles, not making conversation in your own everyday life. For the subtitles: you need not translate that filler word every time!

Here are some filler words you can use from time to time:

After all, it's good to be open to new things.

Well, it couldn't hurt to try something new.

It's a pretty good idea to try new things from time to time.

You should totally try this.

Hey, you should definitely try this new game.

Give this new thing a try, eh? (Canadian in origin, but works anywhere)

The new one isn't bad, I think.

The new one isn't bad, you think?

The new one isn't bad, see what I'm saying? / you catch my drift?

I'll try the new ice cream, why not? / what the heck / what the hey / sure / good idea.

I'll try the new one, actually.

And for homework, I want you to listen to people talking, and jot down the filler-extra words they put into their speech. They won't always be at the end of the sentence.

(Scrap that last paragraph too -- sorry!)

Note, furthermore, subtitles should be succinct, so the eye can spend more time on looking at the images, less time on the text.