Acceptable Acceptability in Verbal Humor Translation
Afterwards, the word, the phrase, the clause, or the sentence used by the subtitler is not in accordance with the rules of the target language TL. In
addition, the meaning of the verbal humor in the source expressions are not conveyed and the style of the verbal humor expressions are culturally failed to be
rendered in the target language. It is translated literally which makes no sense for the target audiences because using unfamiliar expressions and dictions. For
example:
SE : Pedro : We could have been legends. We already are super-mega-dope,
but... You know what Im saying?
Nico : We had it all. The undiscovered talent, the big idea, the
inspiration. but if we cant bring these guys to Rio, we got nothing. Nothing?
Rafi : Hold your mangoes. We still have Eva. Nico and Pedro look
weirdly to Rafi. What?
TE : Pedro : Kita bisa menjadi legenda. Kita memang sudah terkenal, tapi...
Kau tahu apa yang sedang aku katakan?
Nico : Kita telah memiliki semuanya. Talenta yang belum terungkap ini
ide besar. Inspirasi. Tapi jika kita tidak bisa membawa mereka ke Rio.. Kita tidak mendapatkan apa-apa. Tidak mendapatkan
apapun.
Rafi : Tahan mangga kalian. Kita masih punya Eva. Apa?
In the dialogue above, Rafi said hold your mangoes because his beak’s
shape is like mango. Therefore, what he meant by mango was mouth. The translator did not use
“mouth” but rather use the word literally “mango” which means mangga in Bahasa Indonesia. It does not make any sense. Therefore,
definitely it is unacceptable in translation of verbal humor in the target expression. It must be translated as tahan mulut kalian or tutup mulut kalian.