57 Times Original Movie Titles Got ‘Lost In Translation’ In Other Countries

As a Lithuanian, I often find myself baffled by the way we translate foreign movie titles. In our country, Superbad became Hard Nuts, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was transformed to The Power of Feelings, and This is the End was renamed to Christmas Cakes, Drugs, and Sex. Turns out, we’re not the only ones doing this.

As one linguist said, while the practice of translation is always a work of adaptation, it is much more so when it comes to translating movie titles. For instance, how should the Russian villain in a typical Hollywood production be presented in Moscow cinemas? And what do we do about cultural references? In addition, there is the fact that the title of a movie is supposed to summarize and condense a two-hour story. Therefore, the translator must rifle through nuances, overtones, examples of polysemy, as well as a number of other approaches.

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What makes it even more difficult is that the reader has no context to understand the translated title of the film; a title should be evocative and should work with no other references than its own semantic values and connotations. The translator can’t use contextual elements to supplement or clarify the meaning. And, as you will see in this list by Bored Panda, sometimes the end result can be pretty far from the original.

#1 If You Leave Me, I’ll Erase You (Italy)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#2 Mr. Cat Poop (China)

#3 Die Hard: Mega Hard (Denmark)

#4 The Urban Neurotic (Germany)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#5 I Will Marry A Prostitute To Save Money (China)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#6 Meth Dad (Slovakia)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#7 This Hitman Is Not As Cold As He Thought (China)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#8 Mom, I Missed My Plane (France)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#9 My Boyfriend Is A Psycho (Russia)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#10 Big Liar (China)

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#11 I’m Drunk And You’re A Prostitute (Japan)

#12 Six Naked Pigs (China)

#13 Rita Heyworth, Key To Escape (Finland)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#14 Son Of Devil (China)

#15 Knight Of The Night (Spain)

#16 Pigs And Diamonds (Mexico, Spain)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#17 He’s A Ghost! (China)

#18 Vaseline (Argentina)

#19 One Night Big Belly (China)

#20 Sexy Dance (France)

#21 The Hole Of Malkovich (Japan)

#22 The Gun Died Laughing (Israel)

#23 Warm Shots (Czech Republic)

#24 If You Drink, Don’t Marry! (Brazil)

Image credits: cinema.magic

#25 The Unbelievable Trip In A Wacky Aeroplane (Germany)

#26 Super Power Dare Die Team (China)

#27 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Behaved Very Nicely Around Me (Malaysia)

#28 My Partner With The Cold Snout (Germany)

#29 American Virgin Man (China)

#30 Captain Supermarket (Japan)

#31 The Eighth Passenger Three (Israel)

#32 Zany Son-In-Law, Zippy Grandkids, Sour Father-In-Law (Thailand)

#33 Just Send Him To University Unqualified (China)

#34 007 Dies Twice (Japan)

#35 Floppy Coppers Don’t Bite (Germany)

#36 Odd Couple, Wacky Trip, Go Together In Time For Birth (Thailand)

#37 The Teeth From The Sea (France)

#38 Santa Is A Pervert (Czech Republic)

#39 Meetings And Failures In Meetings (Portugal)

#40 Dimwit Surges Forth (Thailand)

#41 His Powerful Device Makes Him Famous (China)

#42 Hey, Where Are The Babies? (Sweden)

#43 A Supertough Kangaroo (Spain)

#44 Inspector Harry (France)

#45 Excitement 1995 (China)

#46 A Twin Seldom Comes Alone (Germany)

#47 Full Of The Nuts (Germany)

#48 Mysterious Murder In Snowy Cream (China)

#49 It’s Raining Falafel (Israel)

#50 Urban Neurotic (Germany)

#51 17-Year Old Girl’s Medical Chart (Japan)

#52 Super Speeding Cleaning Evil Accounts (Thailand)

#53 Satan Female Soldier (China)

#54 Please, Do Not Touch The Old Women (Italy)

#55 Super Cool (Latin America)

#56 Juno: Grow, Run & Stumble (Mexico)

#57 Cat, Don’t Touch His Hat! (Croatia)


Source: boredpanda.com

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