Modulation Translation Strategies of Dirty Words
90 The word tosser in case number 21b is uttered to address Obbo, the drug
dealer. Based on analysis, lexical meaning of word tosser in the ST is an unpleasant person. However, in the TT the translators decide to translate it into
pengedar by looking at the context in which the word is being used. Stevens and Schmidgall-Tellings 2004, p. 257 note that edar, the root of word pengedar,
means being in circulation from one hand to another or being availabe on the market. Thus pengedar is a person who circulates something or distribute
products. Stevens and Schmidgall-Tellings call it as distributor or dealer or pusher. Eventhough the translation is not equivalent, by translating the word
tosser into pengedar, the translators facilitate the readers to know who Obbo is. The phrasal verb fuck off found in case number 24a is a taboo slang used to
ask the target to go away. However, the translators decide to translate it into sialan, a swear word because the context in which Krystal utters the word actually
does not ask Fats Wall, the target, to go away. The word fuck in case number 44 is an expletive uttered when Obbo tries
to rape Krystal in the kitchen. The translators render it as bajingan. Stevens and Schmidgall-Tellings 2004, p. 79 explain that bajingan is usually used to address
rascal, rogue, or any villain in English. This Indonesian meaning refers to quality possesed by Obbo. Therefore, though the translators do not translate fuck into its
equivalence, the readers can feel the offensiveness possesed by word bajingan. Krystal says word screw in case number 51b to her mother, Terri Weedon.
In ST context, screw is a slang for coitus. However, in the TT the translators decide to substitute the actual meaning of the word into somewhat milder,
91 piaraan. Stevens and Schmidgall-Tellings 2004, p. 749 note that piaraan means
a domestic animal or a mistress, a concubine if it is referring to a woman. Based on the analysis, the translators decide to translate screw into piaraan by referring
to Terri’s willingness to have sex with any man, including Obbo. Based on the analyis in part A, it is known that the word fuck in case
number 57 is actually intended as fucking but Krystal does not finish it as she remembers that Barry Fairbrother does not like her swearing. Analyzing the
context in which Krystal using the word, the message in her utterance is showing that Krystal is not scared facing St. Anne’s rowing team. Therefore, in the TT the
translators translate it as peduli setan or nggak peduli setan if it includes the negative
ain’t. Nggak peduli setan is a phrase used to say that one is dare enough to do something and he does not care about anything that blocks his way. Even
though the meaning of the word in the TT is not equivalent to the word in the ST, but the translators can render the essence of Krystal’s speech.
The word lezzers and muff muncher are other dirty words that have got translated differently in the TT compared to the ST. Both words are slang words
referring to lesbians. Krystal uses both words to address the girls of St. Anne’s, which is an all-girls school. The word lezzers in case number 60 is translated into
bosen, while actually in Bahasa Indonesia bosen means bored, tiredsick of, fed up with something Stevens and Schmidgall-Tellings, 2004, p. 152. Based on the
researcher’s analysis the translators decide to translate it that way referring to condition of St. Anne’s that is an all-girls school so that its students will feel
bored not seeing or meeting any boys. The word muff muncher is translated into