Slang English
In the United States, many "street" people (not all though) speak in a slightly-different way that for lack of a better word, They use slightly different expressions and vocabulary.
I watched Happy Feet 2 in English with Spanish subtitles and it looked like this:
English: Yo Mumble, my man! Glad to see y'all still kickin'. That iceberg over there went pumpin' and thumpin'. That's messed up!
Spanish Subtitles: Oye Mumble! Me alegre que estén vivos. Ese iceberg se cayó en nosotros. ¡Qué terrible!.
Wouldn't a more accurate translation into Spanish incorporate slang and street expressions to convey the character of the person saying the dialogue? Basically, I'm asking, how would a Spanish speaker have written a different translation? Or does Spanish lack a street-style of speaking? Or is it not considered proper to put it in movies?
2 Answers
I am no expert in current slang. But rest assured Spanish has a lot of street slang to go on forever. If I understand your phrase correctly, I'd translate it as follows:
Mira, murmullo, qué bueno que no han estirado la pata. Ese mojón hizo más ruido que prostituta en cuarto de motel. ¡Delirio total!
Everyone speaks with their own slangs. Spanish is FILLED with slangs that are spoken in one country and outright random sounding in another. That's how language is almost anywhere, including between the different English speaking countries. There are different slangs from city to city, and state to state. Italians may use certain slangs, "street people" a certain slang, and "country bumpkins" something else. That's without including the Italian street people and country bumpkins.
Well, everybody speaks differently, and thank goodness (although there is a difference between slang and butchering English without knowing another option). Age is also a factor in the slangs one may not understand/use.
"English: Yo Mumble, my man! Glad to see y'all still kickin'. That iceberg over there went pumpin' and thumpin'. That's messed up!"
Some of that is really stereotypical (added for kicks).
"Yo" = Oye/esuchá (generally common amongst youths, possibly/maybe outdated)
"my man" = güey/parcero/tío etc. (maybe kinda common, but rather outdated)
"y'all" = vosotros (common amongst most southerners)
"still kicking" = vivo y coleando (who doesn't say still (alive and) kicking?)
"That iceberg over there went pumpin' and thumpin'." = nobody says that....
"That's messed up!" = there are slangs in Spanish to say "messed up." This is also a common phrase amongst many people.
más ruido que prostituta en cuarto de motel
That's much worst than the unheard of "went pumpin' and thumpin".... I'm guessing "went pumpin and thumpin" is supposed to mean, "fell noisily"
Moraleja, everyone speaks differently, and slangs don't always match between languages (in terms of phraseology), so as long as the point is translated, there is no need to try to find and use a slang (which likely would mean the same thing, but not be worded the same as in English anyway.)
Meanwhile, if they used "güey" or "parcero" instead of "my man" etc they'd be using slangs from particular countries, rather than something generally used all over Latin America etc.
