Japanese Lolcats

December 6th, 2007
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Anybody think this would be fun to start? Ha ha ha. I don’t think much of the goofiness would translate, but I like the idea… But enough about what I think. So…whatcha think? Doable? Fun? Stupid idea?

Original Crabby Old Lolcat by ICHC. Original photo by Vina the Great.

Original Raptor Kitten Lolcat by ICHC. Original photo by peter_hasselbom.

Original Lolchipmunk by ICHC. Original photo by 4Durt.

If you find yourself completely at a loss, read up on this tutorial for how to create a “lolcat.” The gist of it is this, find a cute or otherwise amusing picture of an animal, add ridiculous internet expressions (LOL = laughing out loud) / captions spelled horribly wrong, and you’re gold. I’ve gotta work out the funny spelling and “voice” and diction commonly associated with lolcats. Just doesn’t seem to translate. Hmmm. Thoughts?

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  • James
    What a fabulous idea!

    I've learned several languages over the years, and have run into these kinds of troubles over the years.

    For good translation of the ordinary type, you have to be able to recreate in your head the raw idea that the author had in mind, then turn around and express that as a native in the other language would.

    For humour, you have to really dig into the culture. The only truly successful humor translation I've seen are the Astérix comics by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. You'll find humour in the different languages that don't exist in the original French, and conversely French that humour doesn't come across when you do a word-for-word translation is discarded.

    For example, a key running line in the comics is the phrase, "These Romans are crazy." In the Italian translation of Astérix, the translators did a play off of the famous Roman line SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus) by putting in bold the initiall letters S-P-Q-R of "Sono Pazzi Questi Romani" (these Romans are crazy). A lot of care went into the translations.

    Claytonian has a good line of thought about using childish language. Lolspeak is intentially childish and ignorant. The bad spelling is a big part of coming across as ignorant. Of course, it won't come across in Japanese if you try to imitate the English. (English uses alternate spellings (to/two/too) for disambiguation similar to how Japanese uses kanji, but that's not what is going on here.)

    Some lolcat memes can translate without problem. Ceiling cat and basement cat could work if done right. Those are spoofs of God and Satan, and while not native to Japan there are native traditions of good/evil kami (and exposure to Western traditions) that provide enough cultural overlap that ceiling and basement cat may work without modification. The same goes with, for example, monorail cat and the invisible bike/etc. memes. Try starting with the "Invisible Bike" kitteh and see how it goes. にゃん or にゃ might work for building compounds. (Does 地下 にゃん work?)

    There are memes that don't think would translate well, such as Caturday (猫日 probably doesn't produce the same attachment to 土日). There are new memes to be discovered in the same way that the spoofed SPQR was produced.

    Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with childish Japanese to get too specific, but Claytonian's line of thinking IMHO is spot on.
  • Emily - Double YAY!!

    Clay - I showed them to two teachers. One thought it was really cute and suggested that I put them up somewhere. The other one looked at me like I had seven heads. I guess it's a hit or miss medium. Ha ha. Lemme know how it's received.

    Tori - Thanks for the compliment!
  • Tori
    Good stuff!
    I always crack up at the stuff that you translate into Japanese.
    Even when humour sort of fails to translate it is still golden.
  • I put em on the English corner at school

    claytonian's last blog post: My studies continue (cause I can't quit you, babe)
  • Emily
    YAY!!
  • Cool. I'll take that into account should I decide to translate some lolcats again. I have a feeling most people saw this and secretly made fun of me in their minds. I thought it was fun. I dunno. Ha ha.
  • yeah no way I would have gotten that spelling without my wikipedia polyglot trick.

    yes, my motogf definitely uses that kind of voice to project what her dog is thinking.

    claytonian's last blog post: Life after the big test
  • Michaels
    Oh yes, so true, I endured years of it living at home with my Mum. First the Hamsters, then the Bird, then the Cat...ugghh. Seems to be a female thing, in my experience.

    I gotta admit, even though I'm not a fan of cheap internet English, some of those lolcats are hilarious, but in a clever way. I'm up to page 10 of icanhascheezburger.com. :P
  • Yeah, obviously I was a little confused on the translation of velociraptor. Hence, resorting to "dinosaur." Ha ha. Yeah - I suppose it's just that I am unacquainted with childish Japanese...being a boring high school teacher... I guess people talk to their pets in the voices that they imagine their pets having? No idea.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E...
    you can find it on youtube

    claytonian's last blog post: Life after the big test
  • velociraptor is ヴェロキラプトル

    I think childish Japanese would be the best fit. A lot of でちゅ instead of です and ちゃま instead of さま. That sort of thing. If you've ever seen that dirty hamster cartoon in Japan...

    claytonian's last blog post: Life after the big test
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