i tried to listen to the video to see if the translator was actually translating all of the insults. from the little iraqi that i know (i'm more familiar with other dialects), it seemed like he was substituting much less offensive language, though perhaps he was using words that i didn't know or that have a different connotation in iraqi arabic. i couldn't make it through the whole video, i had to stop. iraqi policemen have literally the most dangerous job in the entire world, and they are major targets for violence while out on the strets, while guys like this asshole frolic around in the green zone, behind high-tech security fences backed by tanks and radar and all kinds of stuff. his racist, arrogant, colonialist "pep talk" turned my stomach. i hope he gets killed in iraq.
That's partly what made me wonder about the translation. Regardless of whether there are direct translations for the phrases being used, I was also curious if the translator was watering it down a little. Thanks for the info!
no problem. i think at one point the american said "fucking bullshit" and the translator said "junoon" (madness), if that gives you a sense of some of the 'watering-down' that was going on.
Indeed it does. If he had actually translated it as "fucking bullshit" (assuming such a direct translation exists), would it have had the same force as it does in English in the dialects you're most familiar with?
i don't know of any vulgar intensifier like "fucking" in arabic, though i'm far from fluent, but in many cases i would say that cursewords in arabic are much stronger than in english. on the whole i think cursing in english is more flippant and casual, and of course there are casual, mild swears in arabic, but there are also strong ones that can start fights in a way that english doesn't really have.
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